THE GREENSBORO TIMES Legal Beat


Racism in the Workplace and Whitewashing of the #MeToo Movement


BY JULIANNE MALVEAUX


was the first member of the Congressional


galvanized to


leave his job after the “MeToo” hashtag


Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) Black Caucus to women


speak up about sexual misconduct, harassment and more. Too bad that impetus did not float up to the top, where an avowed grabber of women’s genitals occupies the White House.


It’s also unfortunate, that


members of Congress have paid sexual assault accusers out of a taxpayer-funded slush fund have not been unmasked. We know some


of the names. Texas Congressman Blake Farenthold (R-Texas) arranged to have his former communications director paid $84,000 (a fraction of the $27,000 Conyers is said to have paid). Farenthold has not resigned, nor have Congressional Republicans called for his resignation, including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). Farenthold said he will pay the money back. Yeah, right.


I’m not ever, ever, ever going to excuse sexual perfidy (and more) in the workplace, but I do wonder why we can wink, nod, and grin about racial workplace misbehavior while we stand our ground about gender. ...


As a woman, I am cheered by the #MeToo movement, although I am also annoyed by the myopia about women of color and sexual harassment, assault and rape. In 1944, Recy Taylor was viciously raped by seven White men, who never paid a price. Civil rights icon Rosa Parks was an NAACP investigator in this case, as chronicled by Danielle McGuire in her book, “At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance–A New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power.” The first case in which the Supreme Court ruled that sexual harassment was a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act was brought by Michelle Vinson, a Black woman, in the case Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson (1986).


The high-profile, White women who are talking about workplace


sexual harassment and assault really need to acknowledge the many ways that Black women have been systematically abused, and systematically ignored (and sometimes conspired against) by their White “sisters.”


Perhaps I quibble, but this overwhelming stand against sexual Breaking Up > from page 10


brown female founder of the South Asian Bar Association of Colorado, was one of the only people of color in a room of nearly a thousand. She asked about immigration and DACA protections. The congresswoman scoffed. When Pawar pressed on, she was told to remain silent or she’d be asked to leave. During a follow-up, staffers told Pawar that civil rights weren’t the representative’s “issue.” Brown and black people don’t have the luxury of sidelining civil rights. It’s life and death for us.


And it didn’t stop there.


I was organizing a fundraiser for a U.S. senator earlier this month, and had planned to use the opportunity to highlight women of color by having black women introduce him. The congresswoman’s staff caught wind of the event and asked if she could introduce the senator. I explained my position but invited her to come as a guest. No response. When pressed on her stance on racial inclusion, her staff didn’t respond to me directly but tattled on me to the white women co-hosting the event.


I know there are some good ones among you. But for every Kamala


Harris, Maxine Waters and Pramila Jayapal sticking their brown and black necks out for me, there are dozens of white female Democrats who want me to shut my trap, and say please and thank you. I should be grateful for scraps while white women enjoy a proper marriage with you.


I’m done with all that. And if you don’t want to lose more women like me, there are a few basic things you can do.


Pay attention to the reproductive health of women of color and other


marginalized women. Do something, anything, to protect Dreamers. Or, if you’re really feeling bold, move forward on some form of reparations for black people.


Finally, mentor young people of color to run for office. Campaign for


brown and black folks. Raise money for them. Show up for them. I’d come running back to you with open arms if you did even a few of these things.


In the meantime, I’ll be on the sidelines waiting, watching, hoping, praying. You broke my heart.


misconduct and beyond (getting nude in front of your staff, forcible kissing, grabbing women by the you-know-what, etc.) makes me wonder when there will be a similar groundswell against racism and racial harassment in the workplace. Numerous cases of nooses being displayed in workplaces have been reported in the last decade, so many that a law journal published an article titled, “Does One Noose in the Workplace Constitute a Hostile Work Environment? If Not, How Many?” One isolated incident is not enough, the article opines. What about one unwanted kiss or one abusive grope? Why do nooses get to be seen as “jokes,” while unwanted kissing is seen as an occurrence of zero tolerance?


I’m not ever, ever, ever going to excuse sexual perfidy (and more) in the workplace, but I do wonder why we can wink, nod, and grin about racial workplace misbehavior while we stand our ground about gender. I wonder why so many say accept the “just kidding” or “I didn’t know” excuse when people are racially insensitive, but are now willing to hold press conferences and speak out against sexism in the workplace. If you look at the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives, the paucity of people of color as senior staffers is amazing, as documented by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. Surely, there is no shortage of highly qualified Blacks and Latinos who could work on Capitol Hill. Why aren’t members of Congress calling each other on their racial myopia?


Perhaps racism and racial harassment are a little more complicated


than sexism and sexual harassment. Half of the population, after all, is female, and while women make the slow climb up the hierarchy in corporate America, politics, the media, and entertainment, the pace has been steady enough that powerful women are now able to call men out on their misbehavior, with women demanding resignations of (some) misbehaving men. However, too few White women and men have been willing to apply the same “zero tolerance” to employment matters regarding race.


There should never be another noose laid on a Black employee’s desk or displayed in a workplace. There should never be another intimidating Confederate flag flying in a Black person’s face. There should never be another opportunity for an employee (or fellow student, or faculty member) to talk about picking cotton. There should never be another blackface performance, anywhere. And there should never be another person who talks about zero tolerance around workplace sexism to accept any whisper of workplace racism.


Julianne Malveaux is an economist, author, and founder of Economic


Education. Her latest book “Are We Better Off: Race, Obama and Public Policy” is available via amazon.com. For more info, visit www. juliannemalveaux.com. Follow Dr. Malveaux on Twitter @drjlastword.


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