Black women are sick and hurt from getting overlooked, reduced at work

‘Like walking a tightrope’: Black women are sick and hurt from getting overlooked, reduced at work

As a Black female professional, everything from your intelligence, demeanor and appearance can be perceived as “intimidating.”

One Black woman’s tale of being overlooked at work struck a nerve among theGrio family and reawakened the age-old discussion of discrimination in the workplace. Cue the collective deep, exhausted Negro spiritual sigh.

Clocking into work as a Black woman, whether in-person or virtually, can feel like going into battle. Black employees, but especially Black female employees, are forced to face the natural challenges that come with any job while simultaneously dodging waves of microaggressions and stereotypes, hitting the proverbial glass ceiling, and more.

As author Regina Lawless describes it, being a Black woman in the workplace “is like walking a tightrope.” Lawless is also the founder of Bossy & Blissful, an organization working to help high-achieving Black women have intentional and sustainable success at work and at home,

She said she uses the tightrope description “because you have a very narrow path that you can walk and any false move in a direction can leave you exposed. In those environments, the white male leaders are the archetype for what leadership is. And so, as a Black woman, you’re not only having to fight against the stereotype of [being] a woman, so you’re not thought of as leadership potential in most cases,” she explained. “[But also] you’re battling the stereotypes of you have to be dominant and forceful. But of course, if you’re too dominant and forceful, particularly as a Black woman, that works against you because of the negative stereotypes of us being angry or aggressive.”

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