Owner: The Black Factor URL:http://www.theblackfactor.blogspot.com Join Date: Fri, 09 Mar 2007 14:43:40 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: The Black Factor blog is a useful resource for anyone who is Working While Black. The blog provides strategies for dealing with racially-based problems in the workplace, provides perspectives on workplace racism, and allows visitors to share their experie Site statistics:Click here
Lax Performance Evaluation Standards and Guidelines 2007-03-09 20:00:00 One of the easiest ways to fulfill a race-related agenda against an employee of color is to use the performance evaluation process against that person. What makes this such a good mechanism for targeting employees is that the content of evaluations, as I’ve mentioned before, is often not reviewed for accuracy by anyone outside the departmental structure.
Human Resources staff are not reading Read more:Performance
, Evaluation
, Standards
, Guidelines
Your Supervisor Should Keep You ON TRACK with Performance Expectations! 2007-03-08 20:50:00 At most companies, employees sit down with their supervisor/manager and they discuss that employee’s goals and objectives for a specific performance period. This is done so that employees know the company’s expectations for them and so that the employee can be proactive in working towards the agreed upon goals and objectives. Everyone understands that it would be unfair to have someone working Read more:Performance
, Supervisor
Why I Hate Blacks - Formal Apology from AsianWeek 2007-03-07 18:18:00 After uploading the previous post on AsianWeek’s published article, Why I Hate Blacks
, I came across their official apology for the racially offensive article:
AsianWeek sincerely regrets and apologizes for publishing New York-based contributor Kenneth Eng’s column in the issue of February 23, 2007. AsianWeek rejects Eng’s biased views on a critical segment of American society, African Americans Read more:Apology
WHY I HATE BLACKS! (An article in AsianWeek) 2007-03-07 18:02:00 The article, described below, shows how easy it is for Blacks to come across people in the workplace who have a mindset and racially ignorant beliefs that would strongly contribute to race-based problems in the workplace. Each person brings their own dysfunctions and racial perspectives to every job they work at. Far too often, some people feel the need to express those negative points of view
You Didn't Leave the Cap Off the Toothpaste! 2007-03-06 16:42:00 Racism can be overt in some places, but it’s normally covert at most companies in the nation. So, here’s something to think about, when it comes to a coworker or manager making accusations that you are guilty of some performance deficiency. When you are dealing with racists, in today’s society, very rarely will a coworker be dumb enough to come out and call you a nigger and very rarely will a Read more:Leave
, Toothpaste
Obama Kin Owned Slaves -- The Push to Create a Wedge Between Obama and Black Voters! 2007-03-05 20:12:00 Okay, so the whole “let’s get Black
s to distance themselves from Barack Obama
” campaign is kicking up another notch.
The Baltimore Sun and New York Post have both reported that Senator Barack Obama’s GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT grandfather and his GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT grandmother owned two slaves each.
Now, most of us know that Senator Obama is the son of a Kenyan father and White, Read more:Wedge
, Voters
New Links! 2007-03-02 03:23:00 I've added a few more resources, so check out the Links section of the page!
You've Got to Prove Your Case! 2007-03-02 03:12:00 When you are contemplating filing a race-based complaint, internally or externally, think about how you will overcome the lies that your employer probably has already told about you.
An employer can make up any excuse to justify employment actions against an employee. These excuses don’t have to be proven unless the employee complains about the action. So, the employer can go ahead and accuse Read more:Prove
BLOGGER OUT SICK! 2007-02-26 19:02:00 Sorry for the inconvenience, but the blogger is out sick with a severe case of the flu! Please check back on Thursday, March 1st for new posts and information. In the meantime, check out the recent additions to the links section and check out the archives for any posts you may have missed.
Harassment by a Co-worker or other "Non-Employer" 2007-02-22 21:24:00 Some workplace harassment is not perpetrated by someone in a position of authority over an employee. Instead, the harassment may be carried out by an employee’s coworker(s) or some other "non-employer." When this type of harassment takes place, it is often common knowledge among staff. Although we’d like to think that someone with the audacity to harass or bully a coworker would do so out of Read more:Harassment
, Employer
Legal Aid Society - Sample Employment Letters 2007-02-20 20:38:00 The Legal Aid Society
(of California) web site has a host of employment letters that can be adapted for a variety of workplace situations. Please note that because of the jurisdiction these sample letters reference labor codes in California. However, with a little Internet searching, you can modify those codes to reflect the proper regulations for the state you reside in. There are sample letters Read more:Sample
, Letters
Class Action Suit in Stop and Frisk Searches 2007-02-20 20:23:00 About a dozen Blacks have filed a $200 million class action lawsuit, in Brooklyn Federal Court, based on claims that the NYPD discriminates against Blacks in conducting stop and frisk searches.
I had a recent post containing statistics on the searches, which showed that far more NY Blacks are stop and frisked compared to Whites. New statistics show that less than 10% of all stop and frisk Read more:Action
, Frisk
, Class Action
Black Men and Their Big... 2007-02-20 20:19:00 So, I’m looking in the paper and I come across a small item in the gossip column that is talking about how the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which rates movies, refused to certify the poster for a new film called Pride. Pride stars Terrence Howard and Bernie Mac and is about an underdog Philly swim team.
Well, according to the story, the poster wasn’t certified by the MPAA Read more:Black
, Black Men
Tips for Fighting False Allegations About Your Job Performance 2007-02-15 20:22:00 When companies, managers, etc. decide to target an employee, particularly one with a positive reputation and strong work ethic, one of the first things they often do is to begin making sudden and extremely strong criticisms of that person’s job performance. So, a person that is respected and valued by their colleagues, may suddenly find their supervisor claiming they have a bad reputation around Read more:Performance
, Fighting
, Allegations
LEGAL BRIEF: Only the Mental State of the Harasser is Relevant! 2007-02-13 20:35:00 When racially-based issues take place in the workplace, employers like to use a few tactics:
--Deny everything!
--Blame the complainant by turning the victim into the bad guy and by pointing out alleged deficiencies with the victim’s behavior. In other words, they will justify why the victim was targeted for mistreatment.
--When backed into a corner, lay all of the blame on the offender and Read more:State
, Relevant
Black Manager Instructed to Treat Problem White Employee "Like a Puppy" 2007-02-13 20:30:00 I recently was in contact with a Black
manager (she works in a government office), who is having some serious problems with an older White
employee that resents her position within their department. If she asks him to do something, it turns into an argument. You see, he has to have an explanation for why she wants him to do the work and he has to make everything difficult. On top of resenting Read more:Problem
, Employee
, Puppy
Little Black Girls Still Prefer White Dolls! 2007-02-13 20:22:00 Kiri Davis is a 17-year old Black
filmmaker, who recently shot a powerful documentary called A Girl Like Me. A Girl Like Me follows up on a 1940’s study that asked young Black girls if they preferred a white doll or a Black doll. Overwhelmingly, the Black children preferred the White
doll.
Flash forward to today and little Blacks girls (4 to 5 years old and Harlem residents) are still voicing a Read more:Girls
, Prefer
, Dolls
, Little Black
My Sister's Skirmish with an Ignoramus at Work! 2007-02-09 22:02:00 My sister got into it with a White coworker this week. They work in an office with lots of staff and with lots of visitors. My sister has worked at this company for over 20 years. Well, this White coworker was expecting an important item in the mail and didn’t see anything in her mailbox. So…
She begins asking around the office to see if anyone saw my sister, the only Black worker, “go into my
Immediate Response Doesn't Always Negate Liability! 2007-02-08 21:43:00 Scenario: An employee is being harassed and subjected to a very hostile work environment due to the behavior of the employee’s supervisor. The behavior of the supervisor is so egregious that everyone knows what’s going on. The supervisor openly humiliates the employee in front of other staff, has been seen shoving and encroaching on the personal space of the employee, has falsely and Read more:Response
, Liability
Black on Black Discrimination 2007-02-08 21:40:00 There was a recent post on this site that spoke about same race discrimination and talked about how Federal law treats discrimination and other violations the same—regardless of the race of the victim and the perpetrator.
So, it was funny, when I spoke to an ex-coworker last night, who was complaining about the President/CEO of the company he is resigning from—today! The President/CEO is a Black Read more:Discrimination
"A Preference for Whiteness" 2007-02-07 03:08:00 A recent study has confirmed what other studies—and a healthy dose of reality—have already shown—that skin color impacts a person’s earning potential.
In a government study, conducted by Joni Hersch, a law and economics professor at Vanderbilt University, 2,084 legal immigrants to the United States were surveyed and it was found that those with the lightest skin earned an average of 8 percent to
The NYPD Stops and Frisks More Blacks than Whites! 2007-02-07 03:02:00 This is not work-related, but it's important because similar stories could be told in many communities outside of NY. Out of the more than 500,000 stop and frisks conducted by the NYPD in 2006, it was revealed that Blacks
were searched 5 times more often than Whites
. This is according to data released by the City Council’s Public Safety Committee. According to an article in the NY Daily News, the Read more:Stops
LEGAL BRIEFS: CONSTRUCTIVE TERMINATION 2007-02-06 01:56:00 Sometimes we say that we know someone that’s been “run out of their job.”
But, the legal terminology we should use is that the person was a possible victim of “constructive termination.” So, I want to take a quick look at the two types of termination, actual and constructive.
Actual Termination
When you are actually fired by your employer, you are notified in writing or verbally that they don’ Read more:TERMINATION
, LEGAL BRIEFS
A Black Man Can Walk and Talk at the Same Time! 2007-02-06 01:54:00 The Date: January 16, 2007
The Program: Conservative Sean Hannity’s Radio Show
The Culprit: Crack fiend-looking Ann Coulter (allegedly a writer, political pundit, etc.)
The Statement: When discussing the qualifications and popularity of Democratic Senator Barack Obama, the crack-friend had this to say:
“I do think it does show -- it further confirms my point that Democrats are racist, and Read more:Black
Figure Out Who You Are and Stick With It! 2007-02-02 01:58:00 “Figure out who you are and stick with it!” That’s what my good friend’s dad used to say. And, he was right. And, in no place is this opinion more appropriate than in the workplace because there are far too many folks on the job that seem to suffer from personality disorders. Nearly everyone in the workplace has at least a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde disorder. But, others may have a dozen or more Read more:Stick
Your Employer May Be Engaging in Discrimination If... 2007-03-12 13:06:00 -- Your employer doesn’t post internal job openings or disseminate a list of job openings electronically.
Most employees are not seeking strictly lateral job opportunities. Employees look to improve their standing in the workplace. Denying an employee first crack at internal jobs is a major way to stunt their professional and financial growth opportunities.
If your employer is not making Read more:Employer
, Engaging
, Discrimination
What is a Hostile Work Environment? 2007-03-13 05:11:00 A hostile work environment (included under discrimination/harassment of Title XII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964) occurs when unwelcome comments or conduct based on sex, race or other legally protected characteristics unreasonably interferes with an employee’s work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment. Anyone in the workplace might commit this type of Read more:Hostile
, Environment
Your Employer May Be Engaging in Discrimination If... 2007-03-14 19:46:00 --your employer denies Black workers the same training opportunities that are provided to White staff.
At some companies, unequal training opportunities may be offered to Black workers or no training opportunities may exist at all! A lack of training in relevant areas can be used as a “legitimate” reason to overlook certain employees, when it comes to providing more challenging work, supervisory Read more:Employer
, Engaging
, Discrimination
Sean Bell Grand Jury "Shocker" 2007-03-15 20:48:00 A last-minute witness has come forward to testify in the grand jury investigation into the murder of Sean Bell
, the unarmed Black man killed on his wedding day by undercover NYPD officers.Police say this witness initially lied to them and said he didn’t see anything. BUT, now he says he saw a 4TH MAN fire one or two shots at undercover cops and then flee, possibly running into a nearby building. The Spanish-speaking witness only came forward because his “Christian conscience” suddenly nagged him to tell what he allegedly saw.Well, isn’t this convenient?He shows up on the LAST DAY of the grand jury investigation and tries to turn the whole case on its head! Makes you wonder if this so-called witness was intentionally held off until this very moment. What a dramatic way to send the grand jury into deliberations—by bringing in a last-minute witness that supports the police. It’s like something off of Law & Order or a Perry Mason show.But, there are a STILL a few problems with Read more:Grand
, Grand Jury
My Experience With Internal Job Openings 2007-03-16 17:22:00 To follow-up on a recent post about some companies not posting internal job openings, so that staff can’t get first cracks at available jobs, I’d like to share one of my experiences.I was working with a White, mid-level manager for about a year. A job opened up, which would have been a promotion for me. This job wasn't posted because my company did not list internal job openings. They would move White staff into jobs or they would hire from outside the company--usually bringing in White staff. Well, this White manager wanted me in the position because I was already doing some of the work and we got along well.Well, HR and others got together to discuss the available jobs at the company. Afterwards, I was told that I wasn’t a fit to work in the position because the position required a medical background. For the record, it didn’t. The position was about marketing information to medical professionals, organizations, etc. and did not entail any original writing, etc. of a medical Read more:Internal
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