As I wander this often lonely road of job hunting, I realize there is a huge difference in who I am now as opposed to when I first joined the workforce. When I was younger, as long as the money was good, I was in there. Whatever the job requirements were, I simply told myself "I'll just learn it as I go." I never particularly cared where the job was or who worked there. At the end of the day, I just wanted a check. At almost 35 years old, my Sharingan is much sharper. I have a real understanding of what "good money" actually is based on market research for the position. I have my previous work experience to leverage to get what I'm worth at a job. What I've learned about myself after looking at some 200 different job postings and companies is this; WHO works there matters to me. Though the majority of jobs are remote, I still feel a slight. . .something in my mind when I see that I will potentially be the only black guy "in the room".
Photo by (e)ScapeLife Photography
WHY IT MATTERS
To put it simply, there is an. . .uneasiness that comes with being the only ( ) in any situation, but it becomes amplified when you're talking about where/how you earn your money. Recently, I had the pleasure of reading an article by Chika Ekemezie entitled "Why It's Hard for People of Colour to be Themselves at Work" and it showed, through several examples, how the smallest things can make BIPOC feel selfconscious in the workplace. The way you wear your hair to speaking with your hands to your accent creates this unspoken divide between you and the majority white office you work in. Personally, as I look at various startups, I see no one that looks like me. Now, I'm a big boy. I can fully handle that different people can coexist and work together in harmony under rainbows, but there is something to be said about looking at countless company group photos and seeing 1 out of a hundred companies has ONE black man. And this is just my experience. I know that there are so many women who experience the same, so many POC who experience the same, and when you start to cross those two it becomes quite disparaging. That's not to say that I or others don't still apply to these positions (because we absolutely do), but I can say for myself, there is a measure of apprehension every time.
WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS
Over the last few years, the concepts of representation have come to the forefront of entertainment. Be it comics, TV, or movies, the understanding that people in general, and children specifically, need to see themselves in certain positions in order to feel that they are attainable. Now, I grew up on Long Island, NY in a small town called Roosevelt. When asked what we wanted to be when we grew up, we would say doctors, policemen, teachers, etc. These are things we saw other black adults doing. Out of the people I still have contact with from my childhood, I know a single teacher. We simply spoke on what we knew at the time as being possible. As adults, we do the same. I was an online tutor for English language learners around the world for over 3 years. When I would tell people I grew up with about that, they would always react the same, "What!? Yo how did you get into that? I never even knew that was a thing." You can't reach for what you don't know exists.
When people are job hunting and they see hundreds of teams of people happy, smiling, and seemingly successful and not one person there resembles them, on some level they feel like it's not for them. Some childlike part of their brain tells them, "That game isn't for me" even though they are more than capable of doing the job just as well as anyone else. Others won't even look in certain areas because they don't know it even exists. It's like trying to find something on Google when you don't know the words to type in. How exactly do you find what you're looking for then?
HOW DO WE MOVE FORWARD
The onus is twofold in this situation. It is up to BIPOC to destroy those barriers in front of and above them so that they can stand as shining examples to others that they can achieve and they do belong. We must educate ourselves, we must push beyond our limits, and never give up because we never know who may be inspired to do more because of the moves we make. Though it is easy to be discouraged and simply accept the hand you were dealt, there is some obligation to those that are able to say "This hand is unacceptable", flip the table, and shoot everyone at the card game. . .OK maybe not that last part, but you get the point.
On the other hand, HR, CEOs, and board rooms need to look past. . .no, need to accept the curly kinky hair, the accents, and talking with ones hands because it is these things that are the foundation of vibrance that is your audience. So many companies across multiple industries target POC in their advertising and their products, but POC are not in their boardrooms, the startups, or their marketing teams. This needs to change if these companies are going to continue to claim inclusivity and non-discrimination. This is not to say to just hire POC just for the sake of it, but you cannot possibly make me believe you can't find excellent candidates within those circles.
AN ALTERNATIVE FUTURE
If we continue to see everyone but ourselves in these scenes, it may be time to create our own. Personally, I love to shop black for a myriad of products including toilet paper, laundry detergent, and I plan to move to black banking as well. Seeing artists create new characters that represent BIPOC experiences is always more welcome to me than forcing an established character to be played by a different race (come on, Magneto just shouldn't be black). If we are not invited to the table, we make our table pop. If they don't want us in the building, we'll make our building pop. If they don't want us in the country. . .well, you've seen how big Kpop has become with Hip-Hop's influence. Be it food, entertainment, or commerce, it is historically proven that we can do bad all by ourselves (Black Wallstreet, Chinatown in ANY city) so this needs to always be an option. Ultimately, ownership will change the conversation and how office spaces look.
Photo by Rebrand Cities from Pexels
So yeah, this was my public self-therapy session dealing with the demoralizing picture of what the majority of places I have applied to looks like. This is not a woe is me situation, but a real one that a lot of people who look like me are going through with or without a job. I ask anyone who has had the privilege to never feel this way just be a bit more aware of the added pressure your co-worker, partner, friend may be going through during this time and at all times.