Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Why African Americans are Promoted Less



Why African Americans are Promoted Less

Life Quote of the Day:
“It’s not always the tears that measure the pain. Sometimes it’s the smile we fake.”

“Share your weaknesses. Share your hard moments. Share your real side. It'll either scare away every fake person in your life or it will inspire them to finally let go of that mirage called "perfection," which will open the doors to the most important relationships you'll ever be a part of.”
Dan Pearce, Single Dad Laughing

“Fake people will insult you infront of the whole world but those who are true to you will insult you more but in private.”
Shizra

The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made. Groucho Marx


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By, Cassandra George Sturges

I hate teaching African American Psychology. When I teach or have taken a class in regular / mainstream “psychology,” I have never cried myself to sleep or broke down in my office. I never felt an emotional connection to Jean Piaget’s child developmental stages that he discovered by observing his own three children.

However, the content of the African American Psychology class is heart wrenching because it analyzes how a culture of slavery has affected the psychological health and physical well-being of Blacks born in America.

If you asked the average African American, “Why do you think Blacks are promoted less than Whites?” I think most of us would say, to some degree indirect or direct institutional racism. However, the African American Psychology textbook proposes that one of the main reasons that African Americans are not promoted in the work place is because we lack emotional control. Ouch!  Guilty as charged.



The researchers say that if a White American does not like their colleagues only their family members and friends outside of work would know this. The white employee would attend their colleagues’ child graduation, Christmas party, and other social events inside and outside of the job—even if they hated that person’s guts.

On the other hand, researchers say that if a Black person at your place of employment doesn’t like you—everyone will know it. When Black people do not like their co-workers or bosses, they are very expressive of their emotions with words or behavior. African Americans are not ashamed of letting people in the work place know exactly how they feel about their colleagues whether it is positive or negative.

In mainstream American work culture there is a saying, “It is not personal its business.” I think as an African American, I know my feelings are, “If I don’t care about you as a person-- because of how you treat me personally—I don’t care about your business.”  

A plethora of books and articles discuss the pride that African Americans have in not “being fake,” and “keeping it real.” My father who was born in 1911 (Harriet Tubman died 2 years later) always told me, “Your word is your bond.” My father use to say, “A man is his words. And if I can’t trust what’s coming out of his mouth—he is worthless.” A common theme in rap lyrics is the same line—“Your word is your bond.”

The African American culture of keeping it real, and telling it like it is –is coming at an economical and social price of being promoted less than Whites in the work place.  It is not African American’s (our) lack of intelligence, work ethic, or technical skills that are preventing them (us) from elevating to management positions—but it is (our) their inability to control their emotions under adverse circumstances.  

In the book, Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome, Joy DeGruy,  discusses how the slave master promoted a culture of mistrust among the enslaved people. The slave master would threaten to sell a woman’s children if she did not report an enslaved person planning an escape.

Three hundred years of slavery remained intact because the African enslaved people were rewarded for telling the truth to their slave owners. The cost of freedom is very expensive. I would tell anything not to have my children taken from me.

African Americans didn’t know who to trust for their safety and well-being. Therefore, a culture of telling the truth and being forthright is the only way African Americans could determine if they could (can) establish an honest relationship with another person. This attitude has collectively hurt African Americans because the power structure in this world was built on deceit and saying one thing and doing another.

If you think about the animals in the jungle, you will see that their body camouflages them from their predators. The antelope’s fur does not scream, “here I am come and eat me”—it blends with the grassland.




The African American culture of keeping it real, and telling it like it is –is coming at an economical and social price of being promoted less than Whites in the work place.  It is not African American’s (our) lack of intelligence, work ethic, or technical skills that are preventing them (us) from elevating to management positions—but it is (our) their inability to control their emotions under adverse circumstances.  



Life Quotes Practical Application

1.      I think what I am learning at this juncture in my life ismy mother use to say—“The left hand does not need to know what the right hand is doing.” Everyone does not need to know how you truly feel about religion, politics, or the Oscars. You are not going to change their mind and they are not going to change your mind. I don’t think it’s fake to not reveal your innermost thoughts and feelings to everyone. I only need to be emotionally naked around the people who love me unconditionally.


2.    Secondly, there is such a thing as civility and decorum. It’s not fake to have a pleasant disposition about the people you work with. Lately, when a negative thought pops in my head about a colleague, celebrity, family member—I pretend that it is coming from “Juicy Josephine” who delights in entertaining me with mean girl gossip, dirty details, and funny dark criticisms about everybody and everything.  I thank her for sharing and then I politely tell her that what she is telling me-no doubt is entertaining—but it is none of my business.

 When “JJ” nudges me to raise my hand, I thank her for her suggestion but decline the invitation to stir the political pot with my opinion. I force myself to think about something I really want to think about like making hot glue dolls, consistently writing on my blog, and the Jungle Beauty Goddesses—things that really matter to me.


3.   Thirdly, I am learning that silence is not only golden—Silence is   powerful. I have more spiritual and psychological energy to write, sew, and make things. My emails are up to date, I am not behind on my work, and I am a lot more organized. It is not that I don’t care about what’s going on outside me—it’s just that I care more about what is going on inside of me—in side of my heart.

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Quotes Translator, Weekly Column by, Cassandra George Sturges discusses Inspirational quotes, motivational quotes, famous quotes, quote of the day, positive quotes, life quotes, Quotes about life, life lessons, and relationship quotes and their applications to your life.
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