Post by smarywills on Jan 29, 2007 12:13:24 GMT -5
I received a question, recently, that asked me if Federal law applies to cases of discrimination where the person doing the discriminating is of the same race as the person being discriminated against. It’s a very good question. I wanted to briefly share the answer, which is a resounding…
YES!!!
Federal law recognizes same sex harassment. Similarly, there is no distinction made, when it comes to race/color based discrimination or harassment. If a person’s rights are being infringed upon, it doesn’t matter what gender or race the perpetrator represents.
And, yes, in case you’re wondering, there are Black people who will target each other simply because of race and/or color. We all come from different backgrounds and have different perspectives. Black people are no more homogenous than any other race of people.
A light-skinned manager might commit color discrimination by targeting the only dark-skinned Black worker in her department because she has an inherent dislike for dark-skinned Blacks—a feeling she has vocalized by saying that dark-skinned Blacks are stupid, lazy, ghetto, embarrassing, etc. and making similar comments to her Black subordinate. Or, the opposite may be true with a dark-skinned manager harassing a light-skinned subordinate for being prissy, arrogant, a White wanna-be, etc.
In both examples, if the managers are impacting their subordinate’s ability to do his/her job (stripping them of assignments, transferring them to hard-to-reach locations, constant bullying, making threats against their jobs, bumping into them in the hallways, staring them down, refusing to answer phone messages or emails, etc.) these managers would likely be guilty of harassment because they’ve created a hostile work environment for the workers and have made it difficult or impossible for them to perform their duties. It doesn’t matter that the individuals involved are of the same race. What matters is whether the complainant has received a significant and negative change in the conditions of his/her employment, which make it hard to carry out the requirements of the job.
I once worked with a West Indian woman that often spoke of how ignorant West Indians were, especially the men. She thought West Indian men were wife beaters and drug dealers. She thought West Indian women were unattractive and she disliked anyone with dreadlocs. She thought dreadlocs made people look dirty and disgusting.
When a Black/West Indian, female manager (her manager) wearing dreadlocs was being attacked by White managers, this West Indian woman actually signed the false statements (against her manager) that were given to her by the company. This was despite the fact that her manager fought to get her a substantial salary increase and title change. So, why'd she do it? She disliked the woman for wearing dreadlocs and she had disdain for her own people. It was her personal bias!
She did everything asked of her, by her employers, to bring this woman down--and even laughed about it to some of us! She ended up having to recant EVERY statement she made during a Federal investigation, but she waited until the last minute to admit she'd lied about everything. Her reason for assisting the campaign against her manager was based on her dislike for fellow West Indians and those wearing dreadlocs. Her motives were purely discriminatory. In fact, this woman was so against her own kind, she wanted to go back to reporting to a White manager that said she was the dumbest person who ever worked for him (this is what he told her new Black/West Indian manager). Yet, this woman thought this man was the "best manager I ever had!" There are many people with race, color or other biases that can impact how they behave.
So, don’t feel that you have to tolerate mistreatment from a Black manager, coworker, etc. anymore than you would have to tolerate mistreatment from a White manager, coworker, etc. Treat infringements upon your rights in the same way!
S. Mary Wills
theblackfactor.blogspot.com
The Black Factor is a useful resource for anyone who is Working While Black. The blog provides strategies for dealing with racially-based problems in the workplace, provides perspectives on workplace racism, and allows visitors to share experiences.
YES!!!
Federal law recognizes same sex harassment. Similarly, there is no distinction made, when it comes to race/color based discrimination or harassment. If a person’s rights are being infringed upon, it doesn’t matter what gender or race the perpetrator represents.
And, yes, in case you’re wondering, there are Black people who will target each other simply because of race and/or color. We all come from different backgrounds and have different perspectives. Black people are no more homogenous than any other race of people.
A light-skinned manager might commit color discrimination by targeting the only dark-skinned Black worker in her department because she has an inherent dislike for dark-skinned Blacks—a feeling she has vocalized by saying that dark-skinned Blacks are stupid, lazy, ghetto, embarrassing, etc. and making similar comments to her Black subordinate. Or, the opposite may be true with a dark-skinned manager harassing a light-skinned subordinate for being prissy, arrogant, a White wanna-be, etc.
In both examples, if the managers are impacting their subordinate’s ability to do his/her job (stripping them of assignments, transferring them to hard-to-reach locations, constant bullying, making threats against their jobs, bumping into them in the hallways, staring them down, refusing to answer phone messages or emails, etc.) these managers would likely be guilty of harassment because they’ve created a hostile work environment for the workers and have made it difficult or impossible for them to perform their duties. It doesn’t matter that the individuals involved are of the same race. What matters is whether the complainant has received a significant and negative change in the conditions of his/her employment, which make it hard to carry out the requirements of the job.
I once worked with a West Indian woman that often spoke of how ignorant West Indians were, especially the men. She thought West Indian men were wife beaters and drug dealers. She thought West Indian women were unattractive and she disliked anyone with dreadlocs. She thought dreadlocs made people look dirty and disgusting.
When a Black/West Indian, female manager (her manager) wearing dreadlocs was being attacked by White managers, this West Indian woman actually signed the false statements (against her manager) that were given to her by the company. This was despite the fact that her manager fought to get her a substantial salary increase and title change. So, why'd she do it? She disliked the woman for wearing dreadlocs and she had disdain for her own people. It was her personal bias!
She did everything asked of her, by her employers, to bring this woman down--and even laughed about it to some of us! She ended up having to recant EVERY statement she made during a Federal investigation, but she waited until the last minute to admit she'd lied about everything. Her reason for assisting the campaign against her manager was based on her dislike for fellow West Indians and those wearing dreadlocs. Her motives were purely discriminatory. In fact, this woman was so against her own kind, she wanted to go back to reporting to a White manager that said she was the dumbest person who ever worked for him (this is what he told her new Black/West Indian manager). Yet, this woman thought this man was the "best manager I ever had!" There are many people with race, color or other biases that can impact how they behave.
So, don’t feel that you have to tolerate mistreatment from a Black manager, coworker, etc. anymore than you would have to tolerate mistreatment from a White manager, coworker, etc. Treat infringements upon your rights in the same way!
S. Mary Wills
theblackfactor.blogspot.com
The Black Factor is a useful resource for anyone who is Working While Black. The blog provides strategies for dealing with racially-based problems in the workplace, provides perspectives on workplace racism, and allows visitors to share experiences.