Shock the Monkey…

Shock the Monkey…

Most all accounts in this chapter have one thing common: The minorities involved never saw ‘em coming. I was shocked to discover that getting black college students internships at a 98% white company was “reverse discrimination.” I was shocked that black professionals didn’t get paid as much as whites and that black women are forced to struggle the way they do. I was shocked to learn that white professionals were the standard for all professionals.

I was also shocked by the number of white females who despite having college degrees and living in big cities still saw black men as sex toys or athletic savants or criminals-in-waiting. I was shocked that most of my coworkers saw me as “one of the good blacks.” I was shocked by the day-to-day slurs, jabs, and ignorance that passed for humor. I was constantly shocked when older blacks told me stories of what they went thru in the 1980s and 1970s. I was shocked that none of my white colleagues wanted to openly address this. And after a while, I was shocked that I began accepting all this as just part of the business.

But in the end, I finally got shocked over not being shocked anymore. And no matter how many minority professionals I meet who share similar stories with me I’m not shocked to learn that the saga continues. I’m also not shocked by the fact that despite it all, like Vaseline on the faces of black children we still manage to shine.

(Also I realized that no matter how many times people shock you; you have to love and forgive just as Christ loves and forgives us all.)