|
Joe R. Feagin, Kevin E.
Early
and Karyn D. McKinney
excerpted from: Joe R. Feagin, Kevin E. Early and Karyn
D. McKinney, The Many Costs of Discrimination: the Case of Middle-class
African Americans , 34 Indiana Law Review 1313-1360, 1328-1334 (2001)(186
Footnotes)
The daily struggle against racial attacks and slights can be seen
clearly in many aspects of the focus group transcripts. The intensity of
the pressures are clear when the respondents speak of the means they use
to cope with anger over racial discrimination. Resignation and
reinterpretation of events are among the coping tactics. One respondent
told of an incident in which a young black man came to her workplace to
donate items to the service organization for which she works. Her white
boss asked the young man why he was donating, and the latter answered that
he had grown up in the service organization, though in another location.
The woman concluded the story:
And he [her boss] said "Oh, I will have to call him. I know the
person who directs the organization down there. I'll have to tell him
that you didn't end up in jail." And the guy just, he's like,
"I don't . . . know quite how to take [that]." But he [her
boss] says this [stuff] all the time.
Although the woman recognizes her supervisor's comments to be
stereotypical, she tries to understand his ignorance:
I think that he just doesn't know any better. . . . I've come to
grips with him, I've worked for him for many years. . . . I let him know
that I don't like his comments and that they're inappropriate, but
there's nothing I can do about it. But I just think he doesn't know any
better.
This woman's workplace situation exemplifies that of many African
Americans, who often find ways to attribute the behavior of white
coworkers to things other than overt racism in order to be able to work
with them on a daily basis. Contrary to white notions of African American
"paranoia," most frequently struggle to find explanations other
than racism for the negative behavior of many whites.
Some participants spoke of trying not to let their anger over racism
take root deeply in their lives. One government employee discussed this
approach to discrimination:
To never get upset. Not to let that rage consume you, and after, and
it really takes a lot to be really thoughtful, and to get beyond that,
and, and try to educate them [whites]. I, that's what I've found works
for me. And it helps me not to go home and to have that just simmer in
me-that I can just leave it.
Middle-class African Americans, who often have high levels of
interaction with whites as coworkers, find various ways to
"leave" their anger, and may use a combination of coping
strategies for discrimination. Extant research suggests that, before
choosing a coping strategy, African Americans often reflect on the source
of a white person's discriminatory behavior. Some discuss methods of
mentally or physically withdrawing from a hostile situation, while others
verbally or physically confront discriminatory whites. Sometimes African
Americans attribute racist behavior to ignorance and choose to educate
whites as a response to discrimination, which can give a sense of
empowerment. Yet others describe a "shield" they must use in
order to protect themselves in white society. Many discuss social
networks, whether in the family, community, or church, as important
buffers against the harmful psychological and physical effects of
discrimination.
Many African Americans discuss the importance of "choosing one's
battles" in regard to confronting racism. Most indicate they do not
have the energy to confront each instance of discrimination. However,
repressing emotions can be problematical. A too-restrained response to
one's anger over workplace problems can bring even more suffering because
of the feelings of impotence, which in turn can contribute to
stress-related illness. Researchers Alexander Thomas and Samuel Sillen
have suggested that finding some socially viable way of openly expressing
anger at oppressors is better than self-derogation as a response to racial
oppression.
This sense of empowerment is linked to position and resources by one
female professional:
I think that we're some empowered people sitting around the table,
and so we can do that. I think that there's a lot of people that don't
feel that they have the power to do that. There's a lot of African
Americans who don't feel that they have the power. I've seen it in the
kids. . . . I've seen it in the workplaces. They don't-and so that rage
just builds up. I see it in black men. They don't feel that they have
the power. . . . and older people. They really don't. And that's, I
think the issue that, that really needs to be spoken to. We can do it
because we've made up in our minds that we're going to educate them. . .
. But what about those people that really have not, you know, are not,
are not feeling this strength and energy? What about those, those kids
that I see every day? And particularly again, if they are black males. .
. . You see, a lot of people, I think a lot of our people end up in jail
or dead because they don't have the tools . . . that we're talking
about, that we use to, to deal with it.
Teaching whites becomes part of the strategy for dealing with anger
over racism. Middle class African Americans, it is suggested, have more
resources and strength to deal with racism in this and other ways than do
other African Americans. The sense of lacking power to fight back or to
bring about change is likely to be central to the continuing reality of
discrimination for many African Americans.
A government supervisor in the Southeast noted his approach to handling
anger from job discrimination:
You're always going to feel anger, I mean, obviously . . . [in the]
simplest things sometimes. Because, just because, if you can look and
tell, if it's a black man and white man thing. . . . So you're gonna
feel anger, but the thing is, when you put that rage in there . . .
number one, it's your job. You're gonna do certain things. But it's my
health. And it's my life. So I'm not gonna put myself in a position
where you're gonna get me to that point. I know when we were talking
about psychological and physical things. I'm just not gonna let you put
that-I can wake up in the morning time, and I know, I don't even have to
open my eyes, I know I'm a black man. I don't have to tell me. You don't
have to tell me. So when I sit there and, and take this-and say, I'm
sitting across a table from a, in a meeting, and there's a superior, and
they happen to be white. In this case, of course, they may do something
that's going to get me upset, but like I say, it's their job. Or if they
pass me over, and, all I can look in is the variables. . . . But I
control how I feel about it. I can control whether or not it affects my
health or not. So, that's why, when you say, as far as rage and anger,
you know how to override it.
This man believes he has developed strategies to control the anger he
feels from racial tensions at work. It is impossible to know to what
degree his strategies are successful, but he perceives his need to monitor
his anger constantly for fear the anger coming from workplace
discrimination will affect his health. The constancy of being reminded of
being black is part of what racism means in U.S. society. One can never
escape this, and during encounters with whites in the workplace, one's
racial identity is in the front of one's mind. Some anger over
mistreatment is inevitable, and the overarching strategy is often to
"choose one's battles" and assess each situation separately for
the appropriate response.
In some cases whites may intentionally provoke black workers to see if
they will react strongly. After the government supervisor spoke, a female
voice added: "This is a set up. . . . You get into rage, they just
say, 'See, that's why we didn't give [a promotion] to her."' The
ability to hold in one's anger and to control feelings is central to
survival in a work world where strong reactions to animosity can affect
one's job opportunities and economic success. Many African Americans must
exert much effort to check emotions so as not to play into white
stereotypes of black people being out of control. An engineer had also
decided not to let rage have a negative affect on health: "So you
see, these things like that, those things like that, those things make you
upset . . . and the stress does make a difference, I think it probably
takes five years off your life, to tell you the truth, if you let it get
to you." An administrative secretary in the Midwest echoed this
sentiment about how to deal with racially generated stress: "You
learn how to deal with it. . . . You sit up there, and you be mad all day
long and that's not good for you and you end up dead. I'm not dying from
them."
A victim of discrimination frequently shares the account with family
and friends in order to lighten the burden. African Americans often rely
on their families and community institutions (e.g., churches) as part of
their coping mechanisms for dealing with recurrent discrimination at work
and elsewhere. In several focus groups the participants repeatedly noted
or underscored these critical sources of social support. One teacher
commented on bringing the stress of racism home with her, "I think I
bring it home with me, I do. But, I have a good partner here, who listens
. . . and, you know, I tell him all the problems, when it's happened. And
I get feedback from him. And I get it all out, and that, I think that's
good."
Similarly, a male respondent in the Southeast said his wife was his
major source of support in dealing with stress from racial animosity:
I'd say oftentimes I've brought it home. Because I don't share that
stuff with my work group, but I can share it with my wife, and she'll
listen and give me appropriate feedback, and help me get through that.
And you know I get the bike out, and I'll ride, or take the kids and go
somewhere, or take me a good, hot, steamy shower. And get a back rub, or
something. [Others chuckle.] And that kinda thing. Settle for that!
Numerous focus group participants indicated that they told their
families and friends about discriminatory events in employment and other
settings, which accounts spread both knowledge and pain through social
networks and communities.
Several respondents mentioned how their families of origin raised them
to recognize and deal with racial hostility and discrimination. A
secretary stated that:
I think my family is very supportive. . . . [m]y father is more like,
"Maybe you should ignore it and turn the other cheek," where
my mom is like, "Report it." You know, so I . . . get it from
both sides. . . . I think these are things that I should tell them, and
these are also things that they should relate to me about their
experience so that I can distinguish what is racism, what is prejudice,
and how to deal with it. . . . I think we have a lot of individuals
today who don't even know [how to recognize racism]. . . . [s]omebody in
that family should have brought that out to these individuals. . . . [t]his
is important for families to sit around, and let them know. This is
another way of communication to bring it out so they don't have to bring
it into the workplace and be angry.
Another woman, a purchasing agent, agreed with this respondent, and
added that her family "told us different stories that have happened
to them, so we can distinguish between what is and what is not [racism] .
. . . [t]hey give you an example of subtle prejudice and racism . . .
." Several parents in the focus groups noted the importance of
preparing their children for racism and its torments and frustrations.
One should note the cumulative impact of racial animosity and
discrimination reported throughout our interviews. This accumulating
impact likely accounts for much of the anger and rage expressed by the
focus group participants. The problem is not just a particular racial
incident but the steady pattern of incidents over long periods of time and
across many life spaces. Recurring discrimination may eventually erode the
coping skills of many African Americans and cause them increased illness
or problems in families. In one study, a retired schoolteacher in a
southwestern city recounted her experience with a racist epithet yelled by
a clerk in a mall shop, then characterized the many recurring incidents of
racism as the "little murders every day" that have made her long
life so difficult. Particular instances of discrimination in workplaces or
elsewhere may seem minor to some outside (especially white) observers,
particularly if they are only considered in isolation. However, when
blatant racist actions and overt mistreatment combine with discrimination
in more subtle and covert forms, and when these discriminatory practices
accumulate over weeks, months, and years, the effect on African Americans
is more than what a simple summing of the impact of particular incidents
might suggest. There is often a significant multiplier effect from
recurring racial hostility on a person's work, health, and social
relationships.
Although their specific strategies for dealing with racism differ,
there was a general consensus among the respondents that the anger
generated by racism in the workplace must generally be dealt with by
African Americans themselves, who can expect little, if any, support from
white coworkers and supervisors. A nurse described the lack of concern for
racism shown by white supervisors:
I think that most supervisors, managers, [the] higher echelon knows
about racism in the workplace. And I think some of them leave it up to
lower managers to do something about it even when they discuss it, and
some of them justleave it, period. And then some have diversity groups .
. . or seminars or things . . . but racism is so prevalent I just think
that it's going to be hard to get rid of.
The costs of racial discrimination encompass the time and effort put
into dealing with that discrimination. The responses of African Americans
to racial stress vary, with some using aggressive countering tactics and
others withdrawing from the situation. Sometimes the stress forces the
costly response of withdrawal. One woman, working in corporate
administrative services, noted her response to harassment:
The way I deal with it is I try to stay out of the office as much as
I can . . . even outsiders who come in the office, they can sense the
air is tight. . . . [a]nd it's all because of our boss. And it's not
just racial harassment, it's sexual harassment.
Several female respondents described how racial marginalization at work
was amplified by the sexist behavior of white male coworkers and
supervisors.
Another woman, who now works at a college, described racially related
stress and why she quit her previous job in a store:
When the black customers would come into the store to possibly return
merchandise, and maybe not have a receipt to accompany that purchase,
they were asked . . . "Do you think you could go home and find it
[the receipt]? Well, when was it purchased?" They were denied
adequate assistance. But when the white people would come into the
store, it was like, "Oh, well, can I credit it to your [store
credit account] or Visa?" . . . [I]t was always, with the black
person, it's like, "Well, where did you buy it? Well, take it back
to the store that you bought it from," although you can take any of
that merchandise to any store, because that's policy. . . . I was just
amazed by the kind of things that would occur. And that's a reason why I
no longer work there, because I could no longer work for a company that
discriminated against my race. . . . [T]hey did it blatantly and they
really didn't care.
Whatever the source of stress at work, its consequences are serious.
What is noteworthy about racial stress is that it generally comes on top
of the other frustrations in the workplace. Note too that this woman's
frustration and anger were generated by what was happening, not to
herself, but to other African Americans. |
