Urban Thought | 8 Observations One of my colleagues walked up on me the other day to seek my opinion on a matter, which has been disturbing him. He told me that he felt discriminated against because of the color of his skin. Actually, it wasn’t just the color of his skin that was the problem but his specific shade of brown (which he pointed out that we both share).
Malcolm: Can I talk to you for a minute?
Urban Thought: Sure. What’s up?
M: Have you noticed that there are no customer service coordinators (CSC) our complexion (while pointing to his bare forearm)?
Note: A CSC is a higher position than the one defaulted to Malcolm, which is a Customer Service Attendant (CSA). It pays a little bit more than his current position.
UT: That isn’t true. James is on shift today and he is ‘our complexion.’
M: No. He is lighter than us. Plus, he’s Hispanic.
UT: OK. What about Sharon?
M: Nah. She is half Asian.
UT: But she is brown.
M: But she isn’t all Black.
UT: Her father is black.
M: I think they are racist. They won’t let me be a CSC. I’ve done it in the past. So I know how the position works.
UT: You think they are racist against a particular shade of brown? Are you serious? Think about what you’re saying. You say I’m the same shade as you and I’m you’re supervisor so for them to be racist and not give you a higher position doesn’t make much sense to me.
M: Yeah, but you aren’t a CSC.
UT: Charles is darker than me and you put together and he has that position.
M: True
He went on to tell me that he had signed up for CSC on the schedule and was demoted back to CSA when he reported in for the shift. He said he still got paid the higher rate but he thinks they are harboring feelings about an incident that had transpired two weeks prior.
So now, we get to the meat of the matter. He fucked up. They haven’t forgotten and he is upset by that. It isn’t racism I told him. You screwed up and they don’t want you repeating the behavior.
Not trying to discourage the dude from wanting to be better at his job, I told him to follow up with the manager and get a clear understanding on what he can do to obtain the position. I told him to be cautious in his words and how he presents his case. He can’t go around pulling the race card every time he doesn’t get what he wants. Keep crying wolf and when something really goes down people are going to look at you like… Here he goes again.
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Tags: employment, ignorance, racism, stupidity
I think its human nature to look elsewhere for reasons why our life is the way it is. For some we can easily face the fact that it was our choices, decisions and behavior that led us to this point. While others will chose outside factors as the reasons…In this case Malcom. I remember when I was younger and I use to always throw the race card as a reason why my career was never taking off. In some industry this is very true, but as I matured, I realized that it is not the case for every employer. With the right work ethic, attitude and equal opportunity you can get any position you want.
“Shades of Brown???” Yeesh! I have observed how lighter skin is deemed better in all but the colorless folk who like darker skin. Funny as in “this is quite odd” not “ha ha”
While I believe that racism and prejudice exist, I believe that the constant focus on race makes it persist. Playing the “race card” really annoys me. I notice it annoys the successful Colorful people, too!
I’ve mentioned Younger Dude in my blog - he’s a pretty dark Black man. He’s 66 years old and has actually been the “First Black” at a couple of companies. He’s never played the race card and is annoyed by those who do. He strives for excellence and he achieves that. He’s very inspirational but it’s not like he’s trying to be.
He was the “first black” to do certain jobs because he was the best. I’m essentially agreeing with Christian!
I’ve been reading about letting go in order to be free. Letting go involves seeing the truth and as it’s said, “the truth shall set you free.”
When you’re blind to your own weaknesses, you are trapped by them. Hopefully, Malcolm will let go of his excuses!
Yeah this is not racism but exactly what you said. Malcolm is reading too much into. If he screwed up he has to take account for that. And making a complaint of this nature might get him into deeper trouble since it is like crying wolf.
Christian: I’m so glad that you have that realization. I always say that we make our own future. I know people say that people don’t see past my color and blah blah blah. But the entire world isn’t built like that. People actually see people sometimes. And what you put on your resume or how you handle yourself in an interview counts for something. We also have to understand that if you are so worried about your color getting in the way then perhaps you should step your game up and be sure that your actions over shadow all else.
Ms. Q: I’m feeling your words. I find myself making my own truth rather than letting folk define what my truth will be. Or am I speaking of my future or my present rather than truth. In either case, we can only allow our selves to be held back. We can either deal with the glass sealing or break through it. Sometimes breaking through it means to move on. Some things aren’t worth fighting for. They say a mind is a terrible thing to waste. I also feel a mind is very hard to change. And when someone has their mind set on something they often are too ignorant to see past their own views.
Ricardo: I already look at Malcolm with the screw face. I’m so glad he came to me with it rather than any of the managers. Corporations these days have systems set up for these kinds of things. You don’t want to be put on anyone’s “black list” and not be recognized for your achievements but rather your complaints.
I agree that you can’t keep pulling the race card when things don’t work out in your life as a person of color. While racism does exist for sure, you can’t just sit down and cry when it does pop up. You have to just knock it down, knock it out, or climb right over it.
That’s what I do.
That having been said, I don’t think that all people are able to see racism when it is there, most especially caucasians, because they really don’t have to acknowledge it, as it almost never affects or happens to them. You can be so completely unaware of something going on right under your nose simply because the experience is not happening to you.
Also, those not affected by it would prefer not to have to constantly hear about it. They become annoyed and prefer to think you’re delusional simply because they can’t relate, and the world as is works just fine for them. Why change anything? “It’s not broke…so why are you trying to fix it?”
I can go into a store right behind you, or sit in the same restaurant as you and be treated totally differently from you, and you won’t even realize it.
That’s an unfortunate reality.
There really is a still a race problem, and colorism exists worldwide, but no, you can’t focus on it all the time, or you’ll go crazy. As the person experiencing it, of course.
Racism.
Sometimes it’s there.
Sometimes it’s not.
In this case, it wasn’t.
Do I think there is complexion racism…sure there is but it doesn’t seem to be the case in this situation. Too many of us use our race as a crutch. When things don’t go right it is never out fault so it must be something that we can not control like our race. In most instance it’s just a cop-out and it makes the true cases of discrimination seem more trivial.
FD: I’m right there with your way of thinkings. We’ll exhaust ourselves explaining it to those who have no clue as to the experience that we’ve had a lifetime of dealing with.
TT: This is why I tried my best to beat dude over the head with the crutch. The moment it does happen they are going to look at him like he cried wolf.
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