My Job Is Talking About Race, And Yet I Dread Talking About It At Work. Here's Why
I am used to talking about race. I am a Black woman and an attorney. I am also an equal employment opportunity officer, a position referred to as chief diversity officer in some organisations.
My office investigates employees’ allegations of discrimination based on race, sex, disability, sexual orientation and other categories specified in various laws. Employees’ complaints have included accusations of sexual harassment, harassment because of a disability, being called a racial epithet and being denied a salary increase because of their race or gender. In addition to making determinations about whether discrimination has occurred in particular cases, I also advise managers on how to comply with anti-discrimination laws and how to achieve a more diverse workplace.
And yet I dread talking about race at work. I’ve learned that most white people are not interested in having honest conversations about race, white supremacy or white privilege.
My career has always been contoured by race. Being a Black woman whose job is to talk about inequality has presented unique challenges because I’ve experienced sexism, racism and other forms of discrimination in the very same institutions in which I worked to create more equitable and inclusive workplaces for others.
I’ve had colleagues repeatedly question my advice or opinions while readily deferring to white colleagues who had less expertise than me. When I attended a meeting with one of my white direct reports, a white colleague assumed the white employee was the director of my department and that I was the direct report. He apologised profusely when I corrected him, suddenly realising that he needed to examine his own biases.
While representing a health care system in a race discrimination case before the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, two white women requested that I be removed from the case because they thought I would sabotage it and side with the Black employee who had filed the complaint...
