Pattern of corporate racism

• Workplace Unfairness
• Female
• African-American
• Other
• Left & Caring for Self or Others
• Dress Code
• Recruitment
• Uncredited Work
• Unwelcoming Environment

Throughout my career I have experienced various levels of racism from very blatant to subtle comments. When I began my career at a large automotive company in Michigan I reported to a "good old boy" who worked for the company for more than 30 years. During my first month on the job during one of our one on one meetings he stated, "I don't think women or black people should be in the workforce." Needless to say I began documenting everything from that point on.

I had the opportunity to recruit undergraduate finance students at an HBCU in Atlanta. When I requested a corporate credit card from the Executive Admin, she stated "we recruit at the University of Michigan for a week, why do you have to recruit at that school for a week?"

My saga continues. During graduate school I interned for a large fortune 100 company. Of all of the interns I had the largest assignment and was the only African-American. At the end of the internship all interns had to provide a summary of their summer assignments. Following my presentation, I was told that I was too professional and some of the panel did not believe that I had actually accomplished all that I stated during my presentation. I was extremely offended by these comments.

Following graduate school I worked for another fortune 100 company in Texas. I worked for a caucasion woman who was clearly intimidated by my knowledge and ability to create alliances. She made daily comments during my employment from subtle digs to creating a constructive discharge environment which resulted in my finally deciding to leave the company. I worked in a corporate casual environment, however she wore shorts, t-shirts and flip flops on a regular basis. She constantly made comments that I made her feel uncomfortable because I dressed so well. She stated that she was "surprised" that I was so comfortable with Executives. She stated that she would never hire anyone with an MBA again because our expectations were too high. The comments and stories escalated from there.

In my most recent role I faced additional racism. The company did not celebrate MLK Day. I inquired as to the use of our floating holiday and if it would be possible to alternate MLK day with the other holidays in which they alternate. I was told "no one celebrates that here". (in Boston) When I explained that the West Coast office employees often take off that day and have requested to celebrate, I was chastised for wanting to celebrate the day at all. There were also several subtle comments made by my management regarding their shock that I was so professional. Again I was the only African American in my group and the company only had 1% African American as a whole.

Racism exists everywhere, I have lived and worked around the world and have experienced constant racism and sexism in the business world. No matter how many degrees, what work ethic or how professional a woman of color is, we will have to constantly prove that we deserve to be there as well. At this time, I am taking time off to heal my soul and decide what professional route is right for my future.