The White Male Struggle with Black Authority

First of all let me clarify something, I am NOT a psychologist who has done any type of research on this subject.  I can only speak from experience, which I'm almost sad to say.

Until recently I never considered, to any real degree,the dynamics of white men working under the leadership of blacks.  Yes, President Barack Obama had a large staff of folks who were predominately white but I saw them as people who were just happy to be working for the President and had his genuine interests at heart.  I, on the other hand, have always worked for white males during my long career in radio and television news.  It's a given that your news manager will more than likely be a white male.

Last week I was promoted to a project leader position within the company I am currently at.  I was given a team, which includes one white male.  Once he realized he was on my team and not the team of my white male counterpart, our relationship became adversarial.  From day one, he made it clear through his mannerisms and arrogance that he didn't respect me.  When my white male counterpart passed out reading materials for the project, he made it a point to say "thank you" loudly enough for the entire room to hear him.  When I passed them out, his silence was deafening.  On another occasion, he asked ME to step out of the room so HE could have a conversation---a conversation he could've easily dealt with at my desk.  Then to add insult to injury, he sent me a note using incorrect grammar (slang), which I saw as INTENTIONAL and totally unnecessary.  I kindly told him, with a big beautiful smile on my face, that I had a journalism degree and he could feel free to use some of those $10 words he had stored in his vocabulary bank.  My guess is he doesn't have any but that's beside the point.

THE POINT IS:  Because white men come from a place of privilege, some of them have a tough time respecting the leadership roles of blacks in the workplace.  They are used to running the show or working for someone who looks and acts like them.  They don't see us as their equals so having to take orders from us is beneath them.  Some think the only reason we're in the positions we're in is because of affirmative action.  What some whites fail to realize is their skin color has provided them with significant benefits.  They don't understand or could care less about the fact that we have work twice as hard and go above and beyond to prove our qualifications while their "good ol' boy network" works well for them.  They don't have to worry that their credibility as a leader could be tarnished in any way by the implicit racial bias that people have.  They can also rest assured that any conflict they might have with a Supervisor of a different race won't impact them as much as it will on their leader.

To be perfectly honest, his behavior does bother me because he seems to feel emboldened by this new political era ushered in by Donald Trump.  But in the end I will have the final say when I do his evaluation and recommend if he should be considered for new projects.  He still has time to turn it around and I will definitely give him that opportunity.

But there is a saying about KARMA.......you know, right!

What a Week for News!

What a week for news and it’s only Wednesday! After weeks and weeks and weeks of Anna Nicole Smith news, the announcement of the baby daddy news took a back seat to the drama that unfolded over the “nappy headed ho’s” comment that Shock Jock Don Imus made in reference to the Rutgers Women’s Basketball Players. I wonder if their coach had been white if he would’ve made those same remarks. Tennessee Women’s Basketball coach traditionally has a majority of black females on her teams and this year was no exception. Why weren’t they singled out as “nappy headed ho’s” as well? What else is surprising for me is why I haven’t heard from any other Women’s Basketball coaches on the subject. Have they all been told to keep their distance on the subject? Why not rally around one of your own?

And then today came the announcement that ALL charges would be DROPPED against the three Duke University Lacrosse players who were accused last year of allegedly raping and kidnapping a stripper they hired for the party. I was working in television news when that story broke. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I didn’t quite believe it the way it had been presented. Why did the victim drive to a Kroger parking lot without notifying police immediately? Why did the victim lie about being enrolled as a college student at North Carolina central University? Why was the young lady who was with her so eager to get an agent?

Now I do believe those Duke players made some derogatory statements about her and about black people in general---but the extent of the assault didn’t register on my Richter scale.

I had the opportunity to speak to one of the attorneys involved in the case and I invite you to listen to his interview. He’s my Baby Boomer on the Move for this week! Check out my podcast on thetop right side.

Thank God Imus isn't a Baby Boomer!

As someone who grew up in Ohio, I remember listening to "Imus in the Morning" on a radio station in Cleveland. I recall that he was funny and he played good music. The Don Imus we are hearing about today is definitely not the shock jock I remember from "back in the day."

His age has started to show in his behavior. He is cantankerous, obnoxious and no longer funny. Isn't this what we say about old people? The 68 year old Talk Show Host should've known better. But maybe he figured if Rush Limbaugh can get away with some of the comments he makes, then why can't he. Imus' reference to the Rutgers girls basketball team as "nappy-headed ho's" isn't all that shocking to me because it's something I'd expect to hear from a white man who was born and raised during part of the Jim Crow era--before the Civil Rights Laws of 1964 were passed. It's a statement that doesn't surprise me coming from a white man who is a part of the good ol' boy network. His comments are a part of the way white men think of black women---dating back to slavery days.

What Imus said aloud is what is in the hearts of many "white shirts" in America who make decisions daily in Corporate America. I was one of those black women who was talked down to by white bosses who wanted to "keep me in my place." As I documented in my book, "Whatever! A Baby Boomer's Journey Into Middle Age," I had one manager tell me he thought I wanted him to show me favoritism because of my race. This was in response to a question I raised about not being included in the discussion of assignments for reporters because as an Assignment Editor it was my business to know who was doing what. My response to him in the heated exchange was, "No I want you to show me favoritism because I'm GOOD at my job!"

What Imus said is another wake up call about race relations in America---but sadly, many people never hear the alarm going off.