Work on becoming the very best version of yourself. Not just for one day. Not just for every other day, but during each and every second of this beautiful life that you’re living.
People like to help people they like. Most hiring managers tend to be white men or women. Being a person of color in an ever changing economy is rough. Trump’s first 100 days reports that the numbers on employment look good for now. The growth is on trend with the past 8 years, each year the US has seen the unemployment rate decline. As of May 2017 the rate is 4.2%, a promising 16 year low. The last republican administration or “The Bush years” are referred to as the worst job creation years on record by the Wall Street Journal.
Upon arriving to the White House in 2009, the Obama administration was faced with a 7.8% unemployment rate. Democrats were able to decrease that number to 4.7% by 2016. This is almost pre Bush pre Recession unemployment rate percentages. This month’s job report concludes unemployment is historically low and so is hiring. When left up to Republicans and sleepy Liberals how can we prepare for a political regression that seems eminent?
Republican interests have rapidly taken hold of most cities and towns. Gentrification, Pay Gap, Living Wage are all real issues. Most of the issues turn to big problems under the Republican rule. Most people would like to think of themselves as more openminded but the habitual pattern of the United States documents an infection of implicit biases that determine who gets what and how. Implicit bias is defined as “... attitudes towards people or associate stereotypes with them without our conscious knowledge.”
What if there was a focus not only on job creation and retention, but on identifying and eliminating these biases? I’ve had white colleagues feel entitled to promotions without putting forth the effort to achieve those goals. Hiring managers that require people of color to submit recommendations, pre interview phone calls and face to face interviews to successfully be hired in contrast with white colleagues who have been offered jobs on the spot without interview or the same hiring requirements expected from colleagues of color. I’ve had white colleagues disparage other coworker’s accomplishments because they felt they were inherently more worthy of recognition despite not performing well in their own positions. I’ve also seen white people rewarded based on the strength of their interpersonal relationships while working as little as possible by delegating their tasks to other coworkers too timid to say no. In those specific instances the employees who had not performed their tasks satisfactorily were put on probation. Despite receiving disciplinary action both were able to keep their jobs and secure subsequent employment, albeit one with another company, based on their ability to make personal connections and biases held by sympathetic managers. Not the actual ability to demonstrate that they could do the job.
The thing is we won’t get rid biases without individuals being aware of their biases. How do you remind someone of your humanity if they are unwilling to face the fact that they are biased and if that bias does not interfere with their own life, what is it that they lose by not facing such a fact? Where does that leave the conscious constituency who seemed so woke only a few years ago?
i will be the judge of that... *patiently waits for blessings*
those money reblog posts are always like “this works holy shit???” and then it’s like a photo of their paycheck they received as scheduled from their job
Tough times call for tough individuals.
And guess what? That includes you.
You are an unstoppable, indestructible, and unshakeable being, with so much potential that it blows all roadblocks that may stand in the way.