Are You A Member Of The Secret White Emails Cabal?

Summary

The article discusses the author's experiences with racial exclusion in the workplace, particularly through "secret white emails," which undermine diversity and inclusion efforts.

Abstract

The author, drawing from personal experience, sheds light on the phenomenon of "secret white emails," a form of workplace racism where white colleagues exclude non-white peers from communications, often to undermine their authority or take credit for their work. This behavior creates a toxic work environment, leading to stress, mistrust, and negative impacts on mental health for those excluded. The author recounts an incident where a significant partnership was jeopardized due to such exclusionary practices, highlighting the detrimental effects on both the individuals involved and the organization as a whole. The article calls for awareness and empathy among white colleagues to foster truly inclusive and equitable workplaces.

Opinions

The author believes that secret white emails are a manifestation of racism and exclusion in the workplace.
These emails create a sense of "othering" and contribute to a toxic work culture.
The author feels that such behavior has significant negative effects on the mental health of those excluded.
The article suggests that the exclusion from decision-making processes and the undermining of leadership roles can lead to the failure of projects.
There is a call to action for white individuals to reflect on their participation in exclusive group emails and to actively include diverse perspectives.
The author emphasizes that diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives require concrete actions beyond mere acknowledgment.
The author expresses hope that the exclusion in these emails is not always intentional, indicating a desire for change and better understanding among colleagues.
The article concludes that empathy and inclusivity are essential for creating respectful and productive work environments for everyone, regardless of their background.

And did you know that might make you a racist?

Photo by saeed karimi on Unsplash

I was watching Issa Rae’s Insecure the other day when in one of her reflections she refers to “Secret white emails”, the fact that her white colleagues were sending secret white emails amongst themselves about a beach trip she was in charge of organizing for their students.

Rae is surprised and rightly so, by them doing this behind her back and it made me think of the many times this has happened to me in the corporate world.

It starts a lot like this: You’re working on a project with your white colleagues, and you’ve been asked to lead it. You feel empowered, motivated, happy even, and then you find out that they are sending secret white emails among themselves, sometimes questioning decisions you have taken or speculating about the success of the project.

Basically, they create their little club where they may be openly mocking or undermining you or strategizing about how to take credit for your work if it’s successful or ensure you take all the blame if it isn’t.

Secret white emails take toxic work cultures to a whole new level. They create exclusion and fuel “othering” within the workplace. As a Black woman, they’ve made me feel stressed because I don’t know who to trust. And living in that environment for several hours a day has had dire consequences on my mental health.

I was once in charge of developing a large partnership that involved several donors. I was particularly proud of my work because my colleagues didn’t believe a public sector organization would sign a deal with the private sector company I worked for at the time. I had proved them wrong.

From the moment it became clear that the deal would work, my colleagues started taking an interest in the project. I was keen on getting diverse perspectives on the partnership and welcomed them, but this came at a price.

I should have seen the signs that my white colleagues were sending secret white emails and even having secret white meetings without me, but I was in denial. I tried to convince myself that they were just keen on collaborating with me and nothing more. Soon it was too late to ignore. With their secret plotting, they started making decisions that they all seemed magically aligned with — as though they had had a meeting to agree.

Within a bit, they were literally taking over my project and I was relegated to a minor role. I shared my concerns with my white boss who literally gaslit me and said it was all in my head.

He even went on to say that he didn’t want specific leaders for projects in his team and that he expected me to be a better team player. He too was probably a member of the secret white emails cabal. I explained that without a dedicated leader, the project would go nowhere and he accused me of being negative. He wasn’t listening and I gave up trying to convince him.

I tried, I really tried to stay motivated but I couldn’t. The partners — some whom I’d known for decades, would call me to ask why I wasn’t on such and such a call. At first, I’d give excuses, and pretend as if the reason I wasn’t on a particular call was that micromanagement wasn’t in my style. Soon, it became clear that I had no decision-making power — that decisions I made could be easily overturned in an instant. It was humiliating.

The budding partnership was still in its early days, it was fragile. I knew it needed a strong leader to get it through the embryonic phase. The lack of a clearly identified, strong leader would pose a threat to its existence. The partners came from diverse cultures and it was important to be respectful of that. For example, when addressing the Minister of Health of Kenya, it was important to refer to him as “Honorable Dr. (last name). My white colleagues insisted on referring to him by his first name, which was considered disrespectful by our Kenyan partners. I struggled to keep the coalition alive, but once all partners realized my limited influence, they too lost respect for me. It was only a matter of months before the whole thing fell apart, and all this because of those secret white emails. That’s how the whole thing started unraveling in the first place.

Now, I don’t know if secret white emails are always done consciously. I think that people feel more comfortable with others that look like themselves and might not always realize they are excluding a person that is different. Maybe again I’m just being in denial here, but I really want to believe that they aren’t intentionally blocking Black people or any other different person out, at least I hope not.

All this to say that if as a white person, you are being added to emails that exclude others, please think twice as to whether this is right and ask the group “why”. Is there a justifiable reason as to why such and such isn’t in the group? After you’ve thought about this, ask yourself how must it feel to be one of few Black people in a team, and how getting excluded would impact your mental health. At the end of the day, practice empathy with others. We are all human beings and secret white emails and conversations hurt those that aren’t included. In the end, it can also compromise a project and negatively affect the organization — as was the case with the example I shared.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are empty shells if we don’t put concrete actions into them. That’s the only way, we can make our workplaces happy, respectful, and productive spaces for all our colleagues regardless of the color of their skin, their religion, or their sexual orientation. We must seek to include and not exclude and those that engage in secret white emails are simply expressing their closet racism.

Thank you for reading my perspective.