Reply to A sensitive question about race?

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[quote=Anonymous][/quote] I was the PP.  The other PP said white parents are the only ones who are uncomfortable with other races, and that minorities are never uncomfortable with white people.  I was simply pointing out that that isn't true - it was the other PP who was speaking in absolutes.

I have experienced this AA hostility toward non-blacks in two different professional environments.  One was the federal government (2 different offices, actually), and the other was a school in the DC area.  I would definitely describe those federal government offices as a racially hostile environment.  AA women were in the majority there, and the prejudice against non-black people (not just white) was extreme and overt.

In the school it was less so, because the AA women were just a few women, and not all the AA women in the school were like that.  I really don't know what would motivate people to act like that or adopt that attitude toward people in their workplace.  [b]I find it hard to believe you have never met anyone like that or seen it happen.  [/b]I don't paint all black women with the same brush - I know plenty of black women who aren't like that.  I really don't understand this phenomena, but I attribute mainly to a kind of grown-up mean girl thing, perhaps bolstered by racial issues, but no doubt these women would be cliquey in any skin.[/quote]

I'm the PP you're responding to.  I'll say again, I've never seen AA women deliberately exclude or act in a hostile manner towards white women in any work environment I've ever been in.  I even attended an HBCU for undergrad and there were a few nonblack students--never heard about or saw them excluded.  I've worked on both coasts in academic, healthcare, and nonprofit settings.  In some of these, granted, I was the only AA female--heck, in most, I've been the only black person, period.  However, even in my current work environment in DC, which is maybe 5-10% AA, I don't see it.  My field selects for those work well with others, since it requires collaboration.  Anyone who acts in the manner you've described would quickly be out the door.

I'll give you that I've encountered a few somewhat surly municipal workers in DC, some of whom are AA.  However, I've seen such workers have an attitude with everyone, not just white women.

I'm glad you allow that not all AA women you've encountered behave like this to non-black women.  I just don't want people to think that being in a majority AA environment will be necessarily a bad experience.[/quote]

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