“After the Egyptian and Indian, the Greek and Roman, the Teuton and Mongolian, the Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with second-sight in this American world,-a world which yields him no true self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revelation of the other world. It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his two-ness,-an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.”
-W.E.B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk
On Tuesday, our team hosted a virtual learning lab that explored the complexities of race and blackness in the workplace. Re-Examining the Double Consciousness: A Virtual Town Hall on the Black Experience in Corporate America served as an opportunity to have authentic dialogue around the emotional and psychological toll of being black in corporate spaces. The dialogue included the perspectives of diversity and inclusion thought leaders, as well as community and social justice advocates. Topics discussed spanned from the role of colorism, to the influence of our social climate on the workplace experience, and even offered action items for white allies.
Below are some of the insights shared by participants:
- I left Corp America for similar reasons—felt constrained and limited and defined and confined
- When I am passionate I am often viewed as aggressive, but “others” are viewed as go getters. One carries a negative connotation and the other is praised.
- The African American plight in Corp America is the constant management of White fragility.
- We don’t leave part of ourselves outside the workplace.
- The issue isn’t being tired of dialogue it’s being tired of not seeing change
- We should see color- but respectfully- when you say you don’t see my color- then I interpret that as a denial or dismiss of my cultural experience.
- By knowing 1 black person, you don’t know them all. We’re all different.
Words of advice from our panelists:
- Treat everyone as a new experience. -William T. Rolack, Sr.
- If you don’t have one friend, an intimate friend, who is of a different race than you, find one. -Damon Rawls
- Practice Empathy. -Valda Valbrun
- Exposure, Experience, Education, and Empathy—these are all critical to developing the competence to have these tough conversations across differences. -Mary-Frances Winters
We are honored to be able to create opportunities for dialogue around topics that are often time overlooked or avoided in D&I. For more information and to check out our archives, click here.
