Every morning I sit at a table comprised mostly of white people. This table has become a representation of America. On the surface, it prides itself on truth, equity, justice, diversity and trust. But beneath the soft contours of its thinly veiled veneer lies a different story, one rooted in the desire to maintain white dominance at all costs.
Truth is, White people in America are losing power. Recent Census reports have shown they are losing their position as the majority. In family systems therapy, homeostasis is a term used to describe the balance that is often sought after in order to maintain the cohesion and unity of a family structure. It is often deemed necessary in order to feel safe and solidify strong bonds within a family unit. In this toxic family system we know as “America”, White people have felt safe thinking they were superior to Black people. As long as Black people were portrayed as second class citizens, slaves, minstrels and bucks, White people felt safe. It was a twisted rendition of homeostasis where Black people were erased, denigrated, denied and diminished while White people were elevated, honored and revered all the while enjoying the pornography of Black pain. Now that Black people have started to break away from the misaligned perceptions attached to them and have cornered the market on nearly all professions, occupations and agencies, White people are starting to get afraid. The racial homeostasis is shifting causing White people to panic and scurry in fear. America has noticed the many ways bigoted White Americans have tried to maintain dominance. Personally I have witnessed the juvenile displays of white rage, often times expressed when they do not get their way. Their sense of entitlement is being challenged. They no longer enjoy superior status as their privilege is being dismantled one statue at a time. They are losing their place in this dysfunctional family we call America and they are afraid because they feel that if given a chance, black people would do to them what they have done to black people for years. What they fear is not so much Black power but rather their own Karma.
For years racist White people have relied on Black subjugation for their own elevation but the tables are slowly turning. Black people are learning how to fight and win. This is often times seen in the work place setting. As more black people begin to pop up at work due to the performative Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts of some administrators, white people are beginning to unveil their suppressed bigotry.
In my own experience, I’ve noticed that a couple of things happen when more black faces show up at work. Initially white people present as ingratiating, kind and eager to help. This is because they still feel superior and enjoy the feeling of knowing more than you. As black people become more proficient in their roles, the kindness stops, the microaggressions begin. Black people become subjected to the passive aggressive actions of their white coworkers. They begin to notice the backhand comments, the unintentional (yet deliberate) slights and the willful absent-mindedness of their white colleagues. White coworkers will claim such behavior was accidental, a mere oversight on their part and yet such unintentional oversights continue. This is yet an example of the ways in which white innocence seeks exoneration from accountability.
Another thing that happens when more black people show up at work is white flight. White people become more tardy, less punctual. The absenteeism increases, the morale sinks to devastating lows. They want to show that having more black people affects productivity and they will deliberately try and undermine productivity through sabotaging behaviors.
Additionally white people will try to assert their dominance. They will try to accentuate their proficiency and highlight their superiority in very passive aggressive ways. For example, they will be quick to remind black staff of the fact that they have family in law enforcement or bolster their familiarity with shooting a gun. They will highlight how proficient they are in self-defense and will make it their aim to let you know how deft they are at using a weapon. Subconsciously they want to keep us in our place and will engage in psychological warfare as a means to assert their dominance. White men will often times provide men of color with a death grip handshake as a means to overcompensate for their insecurities. White women will try and take certain liberties with Black women, over stepping boundaries in order to activate black rage. I.e.: touch a black woman’s hair.
Also white employees will intentionally try to insert themselves in places they do not belong as it’s clear: colonization runs in their blood. They will overstep boundaries and become disruptive and uncooperative in the face of black leadership. If on the off chance they are able to pantomime cooperation, the cooperation will always be performative, never genuine and when it is provided, it will always have an ulterior motive attached to it. Additionally, bigoted white employees will intentionally try to overcomplicate matters in an effort to frustrate processes. Something as simple as deciding on a lunch option will metastasize into a big production and a battle of wills all in an attempt to be intentionally difficult. At times it will feel as though they want black talent to quit but they will never communicate this openly. Instead they will engage in very passive aggressive behaviors that will silently communicate their disdain for black leadership.
Truth is the table that I sit at every morning is a microcosm of America at its saddest! Like America, this table has been set by a dysfunctional family that seeks to maintain a level of homeostasis that is unhealthy at best and fatal at worst. For the longest America has benefited from my silence, my cooperative nature, my magnanimity. I have been regretfully respectful for the sake of maintaining peace, order and unity. Unwittingly I have maintained the status quo as well, one that encourages, praises and celebrates black docility while at the same time punishing black thought, black creativity and black leadership. Those days are over! I am now America’s worst nightmare — an educated black man with nothing to lose. Watch out America, I’m coming for you!
