Are Color Blind Managers A Problem For Black Women?

A Harvard Business Review revealed that some organizations are shifting to a color blind approach to their diversity strategies. It stated, “Downplaying demographic differences reduces the engagement of underrepresented employees and increases their perceptions of bias from their white colleagues.”

I recently wrote an article entitled, “Are Black Women in Leadership Considered Invisible.” Someone commented that they were a color blind manager and hired people based on performance. Sounds good in theory, but if it were true for the collective whole, there wouldn’t be a Supreme Court ruling where hiring managers can legally discriminate against black women and men because of their natural hair.

I responded that the fact that they considered themselves color blind was an issue because that means they choose not to acknowledge cultural differences. I am a black woman and have different preferences in what I eat and wear, how I talk, and the variety of ways I can style my hair. If they were color blind, then they put everyone into a big melting pot of sameness and let’s face it, we’re not all the same.

It’s okay to see a person of color and acknowledge they are different from you. They have their own culture, preferences, and experiences. We can learn from each other and expand our awareness of humanity if we’re willing to see people for who they are instead of trying to see them from a lens of sameness.

Does Assimilation Contribute to Manager’s Color Blindness?

In 2010, I saw Dr. Michael Eric Dyson live for the first time at my former organization’s inaugural diversity summit. He talked about assimilation and it stirred up something within me. I asked him to elaborate and share a broader meaning so I could understand it clearly.

Assimilate - to conform or adjust to the customs, attitudes of a group, nation or the like.

Black women want to be seen for our contributions and to be successful, taken seriously and considered a counterpart, some of us (not all) consciously and unconsciously assimilate into the culture of the majority. For many industries and organizations in the U.S., the majority are white men. 

That awareness hit me like a ton of bricks because although I was highly successful, I didn’t feel successful. Although I’d been promoted and had the title I desired, it didn’t feel like I’d made it. Although I earned a 6-figure income and had enough awards to decorate a 5-bedroom house, there was something missing.

What was missing?

ME. What a revelation!

 Assimilation may be a reason why some white male executives claim they don’t see race or gender when they see black women. They say they just see "colleagues." Is this true?

If we’re assimilating and have the chameleon effect to fit in, they may not see us for who we are. They see us for who we pretend to be to get along and effectively do our jobs. Are we unconsciously contributing to the very same problem we complain about?

Assimilation Has Detrimental Effects on Self-Image

White women share the commonality of being white with the majority (white men). Men of color share the commonality of being men with white men. Black women are double minorities, don’t share a commonality and feel the need (perceived or actual) to work harder to close the gap.

 Representing a .1% demographic in my organization, Dr. Dyson made me realize that I assimilated to fit in and be successful. I consciously and unconsciously downplayed my culture, femininity, compassion, and preferences to fit into the majority culture. This had a tremendous impact on my self-image and being authentic with who I was at my core. So, I never felt successful internally regardless of how much external success I had.

Since resigning seven years ago, I’ve unpacked the effects of how assimilating affected nearly every part of my life. There was a tremendous tradeoff that I was completely oblivious of and I’m finding that many black women share similar challenges and have lost themselves in the pursuit of “success.” 

Assimilation Affects Authenticity and Family Values

Working in a white male-dominated work environment was exhausting and confusing to try to strike a balance between being too feminine or too masculine. Too black or not black enough. Tailoring my behavior every two years to suit the supervisor responsible for my performance review only added more pressure because I had to further surrender my preferences and morph into who they desired so I could be adequately seen and judged for my performance to remain promotable.

Since the organization was not diverse, my social network was mostly white men and women (I love my friends), so the food that I ate reflected lunches at Irish Pubs and potlucks as we socialized on the weekend. When I went home and tried to serve hummus and cream cheese pinwheels at my southern family functions, they were not well received. AT ALL…..EVER!

Surrendering my preferences made me unrecognizable to my family and our relationships were strained. They loved me but didn’t like me because I imposed my high standards on them that were foreign and not of our culture. It was TOUGH!

The disappointing thing about losing a sense of self and family by assimilating to fit into the workplace and have high levels of success is, regardless of the sacrifice, leaders still tend to hire and promote people who look like them, and who have similar backgrounds and careers. This becomes more and more apparent in higher levels of leadership where organizations are not diverse.

I wrote this article transparently and authentically because I want black women to self-reflect and see if they are following a similar pattern. When we awaken to this, we can reclaim our time and our identities and shift into organizations that honor and respect diversity and differences.

We shouldn’t have to lose ourselves to gain the approval of others. We shouldn’t have to lose our internal identity to be successful externally. We were created perfectly and should be able to own that without repercussions.

Christy Rutherford is a Harvard Business School Alumna, certified Executive Leadership Coach from Georgetown, keynote speaker, and best-selling author of 7 books.