We had a staff meeting at work the other day.
We all gathered in a large conference room so that we could eat lunch during the meeting.
The meeting was conducted by the CEO and the joint venture partners. As they reviewed the forecast numbers for the year, I paused for a second and scanned the room.
There were 33 people in the room.
13 white men
13 white women
3 asian women
3 black women
1 black man
I had to ask myself...is this really diversity?
I'm happy to be in the room but how far do we have to go??
Hollatchaboi
thats not diversity, unfortunately people, companies, management, etc do enough ( like having only one black man in a room of 33) so others wont complain
ReplyDeletehmmmmmmmmm
ReplyDeleteat least you were in the boadroom....at my last company, all the support staff were black, except for one or two white men, one white woman and one asian guy. that was a staff of about 40. buuuuuuuut, all the admin staff was white men, save for me and one black man. we have far to go but it's still a step at a time, ya dig?
The story of My life I know all to well It's really Unfortunate that there is only 1 brother per company specifically in any role that puts a company at risk.. sometimes theres 2 and you seem to be totally different from each other LOL. What i find amusing is sometimes you are considered the "Voice" on all things in your culture I'll stop there can you tell you hit a nerve LOL
ReplyDeleteBlessings - No
Sad to say, but you don't find many black men in the work place...especially not in science and healthcare. Where I work, we only have two, and neither one of them are American. Out of the four women (yes, only four out of a whole department), only two of us are black, including myself.
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised. Try working in investment banking(depending on what division) there will be all white men in a meeting. I'm the only black in my immeadiate group along with one asian dude.When I go to the cafeteria that's where I see the black people! We all give each other a secret head nod or smile. We ahve 3 elevator banks and 52 floors so you can't see all the brownies! My mom is a director of nursing at a hospital and there are NO black nurses(male or female). That's a shame!
ReplyDeleteThere are a lil over100 employees just in my building. Only 5 black men.
ReplyDeleteThis is so common in every industry and profession. I remember being the only black, and the only woman in a training class of 30 white men. It took me years, and alot of agression to make the point that i wasn't going anywhere, and i deserved the same respect as each of them. I know that is besides the point...really, but yes, the gains we've made in corporate America have been small, but that is due to an overwhelming consensus that there is still a problem w/race in America.
ReplyDelete@ Everybody
ReplyDeleteIt's comforting...yet sad that my story is not alone. WOW
Well, I am THE SOLE Black in my ENTIRE company. It's a small company, under 150 employees, but yep... 1 Black... FEMALE
ReplyDeleteNO it's not diversity and its unfortunate that your situation at work is common in the professional world. I was the only black female in my doctorate class, the 2 black males that started with me are no longer in my class :-/
ReplyDeleteThere are five black people including me in my my company's London office there are around 300 people in total. One is on reception, one is the stationery boy there are two secretaries and one a manager. lol
ReplyDelete