Having a workplace with a lot of whites can be gross. I know from experience. So when I saw this piece from Forbes I just had to give it a look.
Oh that nastiness we call white-centering, white-gaze (not to be confused with gay white people), or simply whiteness — doesn't it just make your skin crawl?
White-centering has been given many names including the white gaze and whiteness as the default.
Yeah, that's a real sentence, and you're a bigot if you didn't understand it. Shame!
Whiteness in the workplace can include anything, really, but specifically it can be found in hiring practices, promotions, and people who warm up fish in the office microwave.
Let's look at how Forbes says we can rid the workplace of this yucky whiteness. First we can educate people on anti-whiteness, which is hopefully going to be able to happen in public schools here soon.
Despite the best laid plans of corporate America, DEI efforts haven't been as successful as anticipated. According to a recent Catalyst report that explored workplace racism, whiteness as the default plays a pivotal role in allowing racist behaviors to continue. The acceptance of white dominant culture as the norm leads to the othering of employees that don't meet these standards. This problem is amplified because of the lack of understanding and awareness of how whiteness, as system, is prioritized in our workplaces. Inviting experts and educators to facilitate learning is paramount — DEI efforts will not be successful if there is a lack of education around how whiteness is centered in the workplace.
So we need more education on why whiteness is bad. Please ask your school board to add Ibram Kendi to the reading list.
Next up, objectivity.
When evaluating the most suitable candidates for a role or when assessing employee performance, use a rubric or scorecard to gauge the set of core competencies that an individual possesses. Do you have a calibration process in place so that there can be discussions among managers about employee evaluations? Think about integrating objective methods into workplace systems to actively decentering whiteness in the workplace.
Forbes is obviously unaware that objectivity itself is a racist white supremacist dog whistle, so I'll be moving on now.
Accountability.
Every employee should be responsible for the environment they are creating in the workplace. Regardless of an employee's perceived productivity or performance, if they are causing racial harm, they must be held accountable for their actions — accountability systems are a vital part of an organization's sustainability. In the workplace, a primary way that whiteness is centered is through the acceptance of racist workplace behaviors. Many employees who have experienced racial harm have reported a lack of accountability for their perpetrators.
Yeah, be accountable. If Gary in accounting brings fried chicken for lunch, Gary should be fired. Gary's not black, and he's not allowed to eat fried chicken, especially in the presence of black people.
And that's it, people. If you do these three things in the workplace whiteness will be a thing of the past. Another plus, it won't smell like microwaved tilapia in the break room.
Now I'll get to work on my next piece, "How To Decenter Blackness In Your Workplace."
Wish me luck!
PS - Why do you think they changed the headline??
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