Young, Black, and Corporate.

An essay on micro-aggression, passive aggressiveness, and the overzealous minority token.

Like many children growing up in an Afro-Caribbean home, there was an expectation that you would be respectful, study hard, pursue higher education, and become successful. Before the internet took over the world, there were a few careers that were set as the default. Doctor, Lawyer, Engineer, Nurse, Teacher, and Military Personnel. This was back in the dawn of history, prior to Millennials taking over the world, and daring to be different. As for myself, I settled on becoming a doctor, a pediatrician to be specific. That also was before I discovered the pure evil that is Organic Chemistry and the stupidity that is the MCAT, but more about that at another time. Giving up on my dream of becoming a doctor in my junior year of undergrad, I made a seamless transition to pursuing a career in public health, and I couldn’t be happier with that decision.

After completing my master’s degree in Public Health, I like many others joined the bottomless online chasm that was applying for jobs. For several months, I was stuck in the position of applying for entry level jobs that required 3,000 years of experience, a blood oath, and my first born, or stay in my current position that paid less than the cost of my degree. Eventually, I was recruited into a salaried public health position, with pay more commensurate of my self-worth. Prior to completing my master’s degree, I held several paraprofessional positions, so I had experience in a formal work environment, but not quite like this.

You often hear from those that came before you about the corporate struggle that most minorities have to face, regardless of their profession, accomplishments, and ability. It was just a “thing” that happened and learning how to navigate the environment was going to be important to stay in everyone’s good grace and of course employed. While I can definitively say that I have never had any overt negative experience in my work environment as a result of my age or blackness, I have dealt with micro-aggressions, passive aggressiveness, and the overzealous minority token.

Shortly after crossing the threshold of any corporate space in America, you will generally become accustomed with the patronizing whites that inhabit this weird world of voluntary toil and labor. While these individuals generally never use racially insensitive language to discuss your presence in your presence, they are masters in the art of micro-aggressions. Yes, white people, micro-aggressions are a thing, and you know that, whether you want to admit it or not. For me, given my generally young age and 6’5 stature of blackness, white people generally were befuddled at how I had arrived at such a place in our organization. Of course, they never came right out and said it, but they would say things like “oh wow, you’re only 24, I didn’t get into this area of public health till I was much older, what’s your secret?” To which I would respond, “there is no secret, I went to school."

To naive individuals, these questions may seem genuine or as a roundabout compliment, but after a year of working there and still getting a wide range of this same sentiment, I knew it was a tool used to remind me, we don’t know how your black ass got in the door and on the elevator, but we see you and are watching. Nevertheless, I don’t let the micro-aggressions of the whites stress me out or affect my daily life, and I am quite good at returning shady quips that usually go over their heads when they try my life. “Shade came from reading but reading came first” – Paris is burning.

Another irritating phenomenon just waiting on the other side of those grossly cramped rotating doors into corporate America was the overwhelming palpability of white mediocrity. I will preface this by saying that not all white people in corporate America are mediocre at their job, some of them are quite deserving of their roles, and are even good at them. But as the saying goes, one spoiled apple can ruin the bunch. Since working at my new job, I have run into several white people that scream mediocrity. In the way that they carry themselves, talk, walk, and even execute the duties they were assigned. Now I know some might say, well you never know what they are doing behind the scenes, but I know for sure, the people that I am referring to, do the bare minimum required to not be fired. Blacks and other minorities in these spaces on the other hand, are usually killing themselves to constantly prove to someone that they are worthy of employment and the position so graciously granted to them. *inserts another caveat* Not all Black people and minorities do exceptional work either, some of them have decided to follow the path led by others into mediocrity. I guess if it worked for them it could work for us. WRONG! But that’s not what this is about. Mediocrity is a poison in the work environment that far too many Black people are familiar with, especially with people who are supposed to be your superior but lay their burdens at your feet.

Finally, if you are [A] black and have spent any time in corporate America you probably have run into the worse type of person in the corporate world, the token Black (minority). This person usually started from the bottom and is now “here” and has grown very territorial over their space in the office. This territorial nature always creates an environment of competition for “white favor” even when your jobs couldn’t be any more different from each other. Whether through kissing up, or simply excelling at their job, they earned a spot in the heart of their overseer and refuse to relinquish it for the new minority piece being introduced around the office. This type of person is more annoying than the whites in my opinion. They go out of their way to have an issue, create drama and competition even when it doesn’t apply.

Somehow, they can’t see that banding together over mutual side-eyes of the overseers was more profitable than hating each other.

While everyone’s experiences in corporate America are different, I am confident in saying that Black [minority] people are familiar with at least some or all of these types of people. We have all developed or are developing our coping mechanisms for the daily struggle that is employment. Coping skills probably ranging from cursing in our heads, to downing a bottle of wine and remembering that bills require employment to be paid. No matter your unique experience, remember that you deserve to be there, and micro-aggressions, passive aggressiveness, or the overzealous token won’t change your mind.

#young #black #corporate #corporateamerica #microaggressions #race #equality #workplace #publichealth