Workplace Woes
Tengo muchos pensamientos sobre el tópico del discriminación lingüística pero el articulo sobre sutil formas de racismo. Una “microaggression”no es el mismo de discriminación lingüística. Muchas gente de la diáspora africana experimentan el racismo abierta y encubierta describir en este artículo. Es una pena que la comunidad latina y africana no pueden unirse contra el racismo y el sistema de “ white supremacy” que hacen nosotros “la otras” or “las delincuentes”de sociedad.
La autora solo da una sugerencia a dirigirse una “microaggression”.
Aquí están tres mas para las “microaggressions”en su trabajo:
Decirle a la persona directamente que su comentario fue inapropiado
Decirle su jefe or una persona que trabajo en “Human Resources.” Pueden ayudarte
Documentarlo. Escríbelo cada vez alguien en su trabajo hace un comentario inapropiado o racista. es posible que necesite la evidencia en el futuro
https://psychologybenefits.org/2013/09/26/how-latinos-experience-subtle-racism/
This was one of my homework assignments for a Hudson County Community College Spanish in the Workplace class. We were assigned to read an article and write a short paragraph on our thoughts on language discrimination. The article is about microaggressions which is a little different. I’ve experienced far too many forms of overt and covert racism in the workplace to count so for the assignment, I chose to write about the importance of solidarity across communities of color and what to do when you experience microaggressions at work. Here are more of my thoughts:
Address it in the moment.
During my tenure as an allocations analyst at JC Penny corporate office in Dallas, I came into the office one day with straight hair. It was the normal departure from my pulled-back afro puff. Everyone in the office was overly expressive and complimentary about the change, but my manager crossed the line inappropriately. He said, “O! your hair looks so much more professional straight.” I was so shocked I instantly blurted out “Mike! You can’t say that! Don’t worry the fro will be back. This is temporary.” He apologized. I washed my hair and returned my fro to its natural glory by Monday.
Tell Leadership. ASAP.
Hopefully it’s not your manager making subtle racist remarks but if so you can always choose to escalate to HR. Even though it’s illegal, I always fear retaliation so involving HR comes with risks. I get it. When I was working as business analyst and planner at Nike one my managers got saucy with me because she was repeatedly spelling my name incorrectly and I politely corrected her and even told her proudly that I was named after my great-grandfather, Jewell Gilbert. Via email my manager told me to watch “my tone”. I was so hurt. I gathered my thoughts before writing back and asked her if we should speak on a video conference with human resources to clear this up. She offered an apology and declined to get HR involved. She also never spelled my name incorrectly again.
Document it.
Write everything down! Time, date stamps and what was said and who said it. It’s a costly privilege to pursue a case like this in court so even if you don’t choose that route writing down what happen to you is still a powerful practice. Writing things can be healing and help you process the emotions of feeling unsafe at work. I actually forgot about an instance of management microaggression because this company was so egregious. I stumbled on this old email to a former manager and ally.
Meanwhile I have documented emails of me working 14-hour days at this company 4 days/week. I was promoted to Senior Assistant Merchandiser and entrusted with my own accounts. I was responsible for creating the seasonal design direction for a neckwear collection for TJ Maxx, Ross, Burlington and sell the collection to buyers from these stores. I increased our sales at Macy’s flagship store on 34th Street and our Macy’s Massapequa, NY locations and that’s just a handful of my contributions to this company but yet I am lazy…? Yea okay. Mind you I did all this with Lupus.
This is the same company that a sales rep showed up to company Halloween party dressed as Jackie Robinson in full 42 uniform and wearing blackface. In March 2009 our Chicago sales director presented our annual sales recap dressed as Oprah, and also covered in blackface. It was a parody skit gone horribly wrong on so many levels I cant even get into all the mess. I just remember my ancestor’s molly whopping my body when she stepped onto the stage and into the spotlight. The band played on. (Our marketing team was a mock late night show band and they quite literally played on like the whole room wasn’t gagged.) People later whispered at the company sponsored dinner that all she was missing was fried chicken and watermelon juice props. Human Resources sent a vague email not quite addressing the situation days later. We weren’t surprised by that though because the owner of the company described the Civil Rights Movement as an “incident” as we ate cake in the boardroom for his birthday. He also “joked” that he sent his wife to Auschwitz to learn how to iron his shirts. He wife is the only Holocaust survivor who has allowed me to see her tattoo. Nobody laughed.
I started looking for new jobs immediately after the Oprah blackface debacle; and was hired at JC Penney’s corporate office within 5 months. I traded radical racism in New York for a dash of discrimination in Dallas. ::Sigh:: Definitely one of the reasons that I molded my life around meditation and started my own business. I totally get that entrepreneurial ventures are not for everyone and there’s a certain level of privilege with being able to relocate for a new job, especially if you have a family to consider, but it’s my personal belief that feeling safe at work is a number one priority. If every level of leadership continues to be overtly and covertly racist (or ignore it) then it’s worth considering earning money elsewhere to protect your mental health.
