Four Types of Black People Who Won’t Protect You at Work
We all have that moment when we start a new job and relentlessly look if there are other black people in the office. We always try to make sure there will be at least one person you can be your true self with because let’s face it, code-switching is an exhausting muscle that we have to use but hate to use. Once we find that one black person, there is a secret unspoken pact for which you say to each other, I will protect and vouch for you in this workspace. However, sometimes some black people don’t keep that secret pact, especially in blatant times of racism. Below are several categories of these types of people:
1. Black people enamored by whiteness. Often, they’ve grown up in a segregated community and are usually the only black person in their friend group. If not enamored by whiteness, they are enamored by its culture of individualism. They often have no sense of community, so they will throw you under the bus because they play by the same rules of whiteness. Often, you are quite aware of this person because they do things that culturally does not feel right. They won’t speak up for you if you are in trouble, but will come to you when they feel singled out.
2. Older black women (sigh). If you are a combination of the following attractive, educated, black, and woman, there are often older black women who try to attack you because of that. It is an unfortunate cultural practice. We like to hide this in our intracommunity discussions, but there are times when older black women who have lived hard lives lash out on younger black women. My hypothesis is that because their light was dimmed by the world, they, in turn, do the same thing to rising black women.
3. Black men who want to keep the token position. Black men who are ok with being the token have no problem folding themselves into a white corporate culture. They bring coolness to white people, while not being threatening. They show they aren’t threatening by proving their loyalty to whiteness by disrespecting black women. One way he does this is by undermining black women’s work in big meetings. This is usually to show that he has no bias and will not be lax because she is black. Or if you are threatening or they don’t like you, they use racialized words to describe you like angry to incite others’ unconscious biases.
4. Young, catty, and insecure. This is another black woman usually your age. She is used to having the spotlight, so she does whatever it takes to tarnish your reputation so that she can look like the only competent black woman in the company. She’s usually very curt or outright rude and you leave interactions with her thinking am I tripping? If she isn’t rude, she pretends to bond to gather information and use it at an opportune time.
Unfortunately, this is a thing we have to be aware of. So, instead of assuming your skin folks will be there for you, test them to make sure you have a team that is truly for you.
