Wealthy POC: What has your career been like?

[Anonymous]

What do you do? What do you attribute to your success? Have you faced racism? How did you overcome it?

Asking because i am a fellow POC trying to make it professionally in the U.S.

[Anonymous]

Define wealthy

[Anonymous]

I am a non-White Asian American. I don't call myself a POC because I am not sure if that is who most people think of a POC.

My experience of "racism" has been in the field of higher educational opportunities and bamboo ceiling. I don't think it is racism at all. I don't think I am ever stopped by any member of the majority or under-represented minorities communities because they think I am less than them. So it is not racism. The reason they are obstructionists is because I am better than them and they cannot compete with me.

On the other hand, a lot of opportunities have been given to me by members of majority and URM community because they are not intimidated by my skills and abilities. So, sometimes what we think is racism is just run of the mill a-holes acting like a-holes. Only losers are racists.

For example - every single person who attacked the Capitol on Jan 6th, were losers and opportunists. Not one of them had any redeeming quality. So, do not look for racism in every place. Watch out for people who are losers and evil. These people will be jealous of your success.

My mantra has been to be very qualified and skilled, hide how well I am doing from my peers, let my boss and their boss know how well I am doing, make myself indispensable, meet my professional and personal goals without much fanfare and try and fly under the radar. As an immigrant, remember that the American way is individualistic. You have to watch out for your own self interest, show discernment in choosing friends, and self promote aggressively for promotions in responsibility and remuneration. There is no such thing as loyalty, so jump ship on your own if your company is not promoting you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a non-White Asian American. I don't call myself a POC because I am not sure if that is who most people think of a POC.

My experience of "racism" has been in the field of higher educational opportunities and bamboo ceiling. I don't think it is racism at all. I don't think I am ever stopped by any member of the majority or under-represented minorities communities because they think I am less than them. So it is not racism. The reason they are obstructionists is because I am better than them and they cannot compete with me.

On the other hand, a lot of opportunities have been given to me by members of majority and URM community because they are not intimidated by my skills and abilities. So, sometimes what we think is racism is just run of the mill a-holes acting like a-holes. Only losers are racists.

For example - every single person who attacked the Capitol on Jan 6th, were losers and opportunists. Not one of them had any redeeming quality. So, do not look for racism in every place. Watch out for people who are losers and evil. These people will be jealous of your success.

My mantra has been to be very qualified and skilled, hide how well I am doing from my peers, let my boss and their boss know how well I am doing, make myself indispensable, meet my professional and personal goals without much fanfare and try and fly under the radar. As an immigrant, remember that the American way is individualistic. You have to watch out for your own self interest, show discernment in choosing friends, and self promote aggressively for promotions in responsibility and remuneration. There is no such thing as loyalty, so jump ship on your own if your company is not promoting you.

Very appealing attitude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you do? What do you attribute to your success? Have you faced racism? How did you overcome it?

Asking because i am a fellow POC trying to make it professionally in the U.S.

Probably not the answer you're looking for, but I basically pass for white. I have not faced racism that I know. I modeled right after the US got over wanting blondes, and then used part of that money for college and double majored in two wildly different things to give me options. I was able to buy a condo and rent it out, then sell for profit, then keep buying more and bigger, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you do? What do you attribute to your success? Have you faced racism? How did you overcome it?

Asking because i am a fellow POC trying to make it professionally in the U.S.

I'm not wealthy but I guess I do well as a single black female. Honestly, I would say hard work, but at the same time it's probably a combination of that and where I was born, opportunities I had in school, people my parents knew/network and having my parents pay the bulk of my undergrad. And probably going into a lucrative field. There have been stints of racism at work, but nothing detrimental.

[Anonymous]

Latina. I make $200K in a senior role at a nonprofit. So I’m not rich but I’m doing fine.

I faced a lot of racism as a child and in college. It’s harder to tell in the work world - people sometimes say crazy racist or misogynistic sh!t, but I don’t have a concrete sense of how that plays out. I doubt it helps, but not sure how much it hurts.

At each placed I have studied or worked I have found a community of support and often a mentor. Always white mentors, fwiw - no POCs in leadership roles in my field - or at least very, very few. Not many women, either, but there is a cohort my age in my field and we are all coming up together.

I’m highly educated, went to elite institutions, and have a good work ethic. I have a good marriage to a successful spouse (that matters a lot - he supports my career and makes plenty of money, too, so we can outsource stuff to focus on jobs and kids).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a non-White Asian American. I don't call myself a POC because I am not sure if that is who most people think of a POC.

My experience of "racism" has been in the field of higher educational opportunities and bamboo ceiling. I don't think it is racism at all. I don't think I am ever stopped by any member of the majority or under-represented minorities communities because they think I am less than them. So it is not racism. The reason they are obstructionists is because I am better than them and they cannot compete with me.

On the other hand, a lot of opportunities have been given to me by members of majority and URM community because they are not intimidated by my skills and abilities. So, sometimes what we think is racism is just run of the mill a-holes acting like a-holes. Only losers are racists.

For example - every single person who attacked the Capitol on Jan 6th, were losers and opportunists. Not one of them had any redeeming quality. So, do not look for racism in every place. Watch out for people who are losers and evil. These people will be jealous of your success.

My mantra has been to be very qualified and skilled, hide how well I am doing from my peers, let my boss and their boss know how well I am doing, make myself indispensable, meet my professional and personal goals without much fanfare and try and fly under the radar. As an immigrant, remember that the American way is individualistic. You have to watch out for your own self interest, show discernment in choosing friends, and self promote aggressively for promotions in responsibility and remuneration. There is no such thing as loyalty, so jump ship on your own if your company is not promoting you.

Very appealing attitude.

Indeed.

To quote myself "...sometimes what we think is racism is just run of the mill a-holes acting like a-holes. Only losers are racists."

[Anonymous]

Went to white schools, learned how to make white people comfortable most of the time (and 75% of this is inherited privilege in that I am Black but fair skinned with "good hair" so that many white people constantly question if I am actually Black), went to the highest ranked college I got into with enough scholarship money to graduate debt free, married a man with a similar trajectory. It is a pretty standard path and many UMC Black Americans are just like me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Went to white schools, learned how to make white people comfortable most of the time (and 75% of this is inherited privilege in that I am Black but fair skinned with "good hair" so that many white people constantly question if I am actually Black), went to the highest ranked college I got into with enough scholarship money to graduate debt free, married a man with a similar trajectory. It is a pretty standard path and many UMC Black Americans are just like me.

How do you make white people comfortable?

[Anonymous]

What do you mean by wealthy?

[Anonymous]

Indian immigrant ...came 30 years to the US to go to school and great journey so far. Worked my butt off in the tech field on the biz side met my wife (2nd marriage for me) who was also Indian and got an MBA from a top school. Together we make over $800k..(almost equal each), NW ~$7M give or take and work hard/play hard. Career has been upwards with a lot of holding pattern. Work for an old tech company reporting to the EVP where all of them are white and I am the only minority. Most meetings I am the only brown person but I have always believed in letting my skills do the talking.On top of that I don't have a 'anglecized' name.


Could I have gone higher in my career if I was white...maybe or who knows. What a great country this is...both my wife and I came here with nothing but a few suitcases!

[Anonymous]

Another Indian immigrant, been here 30 years. DH in tech and makes 750k, I work in HR and make 150k. We started making big money later in life, NW 4.2 mil. DH and I have never faced any discrimination, sure, we have had our share of difficult personalities but that’s true for every working person. This country has been a tremendous blessing and I have grown so much as a person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Indian immigrant ...came 30 years to the US to go to school and great journey so far. Worked my butt off in the tech field on the biz side met my wife (2nd marriage for me) who was also Indian and got an MBA from a top school. Together we make over $800k..(almost equal each), NW ~$7M give or take and work hard/play hard. Career has been upwards with a lot of holding pattern. Work for an old tech company reporting to the EVP where all of them are white and I am the only minority. Most meetings I am the only brown person but I have always believed in letting my skills do the talking.On top of that I don't have a 'anglecized' name.


Could I have gone higher in my career if I was white...maybe or who knows. What a great country this is...both my wife and I came here with nothing but a few suitcases!

And a free education in your home country!

[Anonymous]

Lots of “POC” co-opting the struggles AAs face.