Tina,
MI.

These six terms are my experience as it relates to every work environment I’ve encountered. I’ve been successful whereever I’ve worked and am now busy doing the “enterepreneur thing” (successfully). My employment experiences have all been the same. Single black female, alone in a sea of white as if no other qualified blacks (or any other minority) exist. It’s lonely. It actually sucks. And I’ve realized that, sadly, the lack of diversity has nothing to do with qualifications, but extreme nepotism. Sure, authors write about this phenom in the workplace. But, to actually witness whites hire people that only look like them/act like them, simply because its comfortable is mind blowing. It allows them this safety net so that they don’t have to try to get to know others. And sadly, most whites don’t even know they are succombing to racism. The need to mix with only white is so common and feels so natural, they they never question it. Meanwhile, I’m drowning in a sea of white and while so many people of color would love to dip their toes in this water, the sign above the pool says No Coloreds Allowed. Oh, except for me. Lucky me.