you just got your dream job in the office, but as a blackman you can tell you not exactly popular, from the white co workers and the uppity blackwomen(who for some bizzare reason seem to look down on me, but thats another story, i will deal with them later)
so anyway how do you go about dealing with the snide comments, without resorting to violence.
i was inspired to make this thread after watching big brother, cos after what science went through with the white housemates and the black women i felt exactly the way he felt cos its just the same as my situation.
anyway any blackmen in here gone through the same thing, tell me how you dealt with it.

well i just wanna know how to deal with these people.
i dont wanna appear docile or weak, or submissive, i know thats how they want all blackmen to appear. i also dont wanna appear aggresive to justify their racism, just need to find a balance to deal with these idiots

Yow from a black brother to a brother... Maintain and conduct yourself with the upmost dignity!!!... Never for one minute believe you need to sound white, act white or be white. Letthe uppity black sisters know you are proud to be B-L-A-C-K!.

Be a true son of the soil be black and proud. However, the most important thing is be good at your job! And most importantly be courteous! it goes a long way. But never tolerate overt insults or implied belittling comments directed at you. In most cases call the culprit aside immediately or at least before the end of the business on the said day and them know you do not appreciate their comment. (Make sure you don’t get all emotional (i.e. Infuriated /long rants). It should be done very business like at the same time with a look of devil in your eyes-Don't just say this in a kind of gentlemanly way... mean it and let the culprit know that you can be a trouble maker i.e. legally, whistleblower kind of person if frenchconnectionuked with and will most definitely defend yourself if threatened physically- its all about your body language , .( This has always worked for me over many years… however, I find myself using this less often as I’ve grown older… as I am hardly toyed with.)
(However, ensure you always hold the high moral grounds in this regard in the way your point is made without alluding overtly to racism!).
The worst mistake in an office environment is to let sh!t slide... tackle racial issues here head-on( well this works for me)


Most importantly let it be known that you are good at your job and you are a force intellectually to be reckoned with by and large. If there are black peeps in other department within your company look out for the ones who know they are black and form friendship with these peeps. Information is power. Most black exec in companies get on by defining their game rule and sticking firmly to it. The office world here in the West was never defined with the black brother or sisterin mind it is purely a white male environment! Therefore you need to study your office politics to a large extent and define how you fit in and then get to work.


Don't worry about thefemale/male Knee-grows they always come round and you'll soon have them eating out of your palm. Most of the b**ching among black sisters you see at work towards black brothers is a result of most brothers not holding their corners. Too many sellouts ..Modern day coons and minstrels still plague the offices.

Be good at your work. Be confident professional but always be yaself; look peeps always in the eyes when talking and generally never forget that you are a force to be reckoned with at work...(They always try the isolation method or the blatant what is he talking about behaviour!).... Nahh don't watch that..

Maintain your ground its all part of the office racial game. As we say back home “no shaking Man nah man� blkafro

@colo-mentality

Bwoy, you sound like you got the office thing sussed!Some of what you've said, I've learned it the hard way. It's taken a long time, but I finally learned.

The rest? Well. I'm about to cut'n'paste thensummarise it to bullit points,so I can print it out to remind myself when I have another little 'incident' to deal with.

Most important thing I learn over the very recent years, is your 'don't let sh*t slide' comment, boy did that one save me some heartache once it finally sunk into my head!

@orthadox, take heed, you've been given about twenty years experience worth of wisdon in CM's post.

Seriously, CM, you want to think about running workshops or mentoringon this, I can't believe you've just summarised all that info in one post. I'm telling you I wish I'd bumped into you or someone like you when I started out!.

Noir UK

@Timeline

See paragraph 3 of CM's post, I understand it to advise against alluding to racism!

(However, ensure you always hold the high moral grounds in this regard in the way your point is made without alluding overtly to racism!).

This was one of the things I found very difficult asits in my nature to say it as I see it. One of the tricks I used to get over this bit, was to ALWAYS wait at least a while, maybe 2-3 hours cooling off,rather than respond off the cuff. Then use equally ambivalent language to the perpetrator, ensuring that while THEY know exactly what I'm refering to, repeating the same words to a third party will be innocent sounding because as CM said, it's in the body language and the eyes.

A case of turning theirown weapon against them I suppose.

Noir UK

Its all about power. I remember when I worked in a £m company ownedbya relative people white/black/asianwere very deferential. In a different situation I was like nothing, and would be stepped up to.I remember the VILE confident, arrogant racism of white co-workers, and the heart burning, soul destroying condescencion of Black superiors. NOw that I amfortunate to be in a pretty senior position I make a point of NOT using my authority to de-skill people but to raise ppls confidence and make my work environment a place that is fun, stimulating, cosy, but at the same time driven. As a result I get lots of loyalty and good results through my team.

banana.gif

Overlord:

All joking aside sometimes this is the only way to make a difference. When you have a record that they can see it makes them think twice. It is a shame that you have to go to that extent but you gotta live peaceful by any means necessary!

That's exactly howI would deal with it timeline - fight it like for like. I don't know if its the same in the US but here we have a problem in that all the whites clam together to protect their 'own' no matter whether they did a right or wrong thing. That is where handling the 'problem' can get sticky.

all & unorthodox

Its ridiculous what we have to do to survive (sigh)

Onething though-I doubt trying to be better then themat our jobs would do any good - why break our necks for people whowon't appreciate it?

I say just do the minimum required so they can't say you didn't do it but that's all.

Tell me who would lose out in that scene- nah the bosses? - so who are the bigger fools?