Black Workplace Culture

The Black Woman Sabotages Her Own AGAIN

Why don’t Black people support their own more often?

Backstory

One of my colleagues (let’s call them X) has been due for a raise for almost two years now. They’ve been underpaid and consistently putting in the work to better a company that is number one in its industry; the bottom line is the company has money and the resources to pay their employees top dollar, but they’ve been slow about it — this is beside the point, though.

Thankfully, X has recently acquired a new manager who advocates for getting them the pay they deserve. And guess what? X’s new manager is a White male.

But here’s problem #1: X is a black female, and the person pushing back on her raise is also a black female — who happens to be the Head of HR (aka in charge of the raises at this particular company).

I have another colleague (let’s call them Z) starting at the same company in a few weeks, and their starting salary is only 6,000 behind X’s salary who is a manager. This is a clear example of how effed up the company’s pay structure is for more senior employees.

But here comes the second surprise: Instead of the Head of HR being okay with paying Z their starting salary, she suggested paying Z lower and keeping X at the same pay.

Let’s pay Z less, since X is getting similar pay.

All X’s managers and senior leadership are on board with her getting a pay raise, but the black woman who is Head of HR is pushing back hard to ensure both black individuals stay underpaid.

My Personal Experiences With Black People In The Workplace

If you’ve read my article — Dear Minorities: My Best Bosses Were White Women, then you’re familiar with my own experiences in the workplace.

To date, I have never had a catastrophic work experience with a non-colored, white individual. All of my negative work experiences have derived from people of color — and most frequently Black individuals.

I don’t know what it is about the crab and competitive mentality many Black people have, but it has to stop. It’s hindering and hurting the Black community in so many ways. I am so damn tired of having to hear the same story repeatedly from other Black people in the corporate world.

Here’s my list of woes from Black people in the workplace to date:

• Two black women worked their asses off to get me fired at two different jobs.
• A Black man, who was my boss, rudely insulted me in front of several customers on my first week of work.
• A black woman (who wasn’t even my manager) constantly criticized me about everything for no reason — despite my excellent and positive working relationship and stellar record with my actual manager.
• A Black man tried to get me to complete all of his work and take the credit for it.
• A black woman tried to use me as her trashcan to speak toxically about other black women at work (btw, I shut that sh*t down quick).

Note To Black Individuals

Be kind, supportive, thoughtful, and uplifting to your Black counterparts. And know that when you aren’t, it affects people; it affected me to the point where whenever I was asked to be on a panel to discuss racism in the workplace, I always had to say no because the only people that tried to hurt me and my career were mainly Black individuals.

Let’s all be on the same team and elevate our lives together. Let’s build each other up. Let’s be each other’s number one fan because when one of us does good, it helps the rest of us.

I don’t believe in competition, and I don’t believe in toxic behavior — especially in the workplace. We are here to work and get sh*t done. We must remember the workplace is for professionals, not amateurs and people who don’t know how to handle professional settings.

Note To Black Individuals In Leadership

Take your role seriously. Don’t take it for granted. I know it sucks, but everyone is watching you. Everyone takes notice of the Black people in leadership, and everyone remembers how they handled the opportunities. I hate to see Black individuals take their leadership roles for granted and abuse their roles and the people who work under them.

I hate to say it, but (for now) I prefer not to work under Black leaders because my experiences with black people in the workplace have scarred me. I know there are plenty of superb Black leaders out there, but I have yet to come across them in my own experiences. Let’s do better Black people because this sh*t is getting old.

Seize Leadership Opportunities & Make Something Good

The Head of HR undermined the person that hired her, the CPO, who was, unfortunately, let go. Now two other people are leaving the company under the current Head of HR’s leadership. Recently, a person anonymously asked the company’s CEO to get a new Head of HR because the current one is not doing her job well.

For a company that is already struggling with diversity, this is another bad look for POCs. One bad apple doesn’t define the whole lot, but it sure doesn’t help our need and desire for diversity in the workplace. If you’re given a shot, seize it and excel!

A Juneteenth Sidenote

X had a conversation with the Head of HR about making Juneteenth a company holiday before it was implemented at the federal level, and do you know what she said? “No. This is not a day that needs to be recognized because if we recognize this day, then other minorities will want their holidays recognized.”

On the other hand, I asked my CEO (who is not Black) to make Juneteenth a company holiday, and he said: YES. My company is 10x bigger than X’s company; we had more to lose than gain with this kind of implementation, but he did it anyway because he is a forward thinker.

I rather see non-black individuals in leadership positions that can help change our course of history than black individuals in leadership positions that keep us in the same position we’ve always been in.

Let’s Keep The Conversation Going

Tech & Career Reads

If you enjoyed this article, please check out a similar read from Johnny Silvercloud, called: Toxic Black Bosses.

Destiny S. Harris is a writer, poet, entrepreneur, teacher, and techie who offers free books daily on amazon. Destiny obtained three degrees in political science, psychology, and women’s studies. Follow her on Instagram, Facebook, or @ destinyh.com