My Skin Does Not Tell My Story. I Do.
TOTAL READ TIME: About 5 Minutes
I connected with a business owner the other day who said their company was doing blind interviews through a digital system created specifically to combat our inherit prejudices.
On the one hand I’m so excited because I truly believe I could achieve so much more success if people didn’t immediately associate me with being a Black Woman. Then I get sad because I realize that’s not actually a good thing. The fact that we live in a world where bias is so expected that we must use technology to curb our prejudice is absurd.
I honestly don’t know what it’s like to not be (immediately) received as and (mostly subconsciously) judged for the color of my skin and assumed genitalia. Most every time I meet someone new I get to watch as people instantly analyze, fantasize and categorize me..
They analyze the data provided by my physical appearance at first. How dark or light is the shade of my sin compared to the other “dark people” they know in their life? Can a Black person have a nose like that? Where did the freckles come from?
Upon absorbing me visually people then usually muster up the vocabulary to ask me what I am because they can’t figure it out on their own. This is where the fantasizing comes in. I tell them I grew up in Hawaii and they make all kinds of assumptions. I bet none of them include diaspora.
Now I have two options.
A.) Take the next few hours of my precious life to lay down some life shattering facts about colonization, gentrification and capitalism to this poor unfortunate soul who was probably just stunned by my beauty and doesn’t understand why I don’t want them to go on vacation and destroy indigenous peoples lives in an overthrown nation.
B.) Let them attempt to incorrectly label and categorize me based on their life experience knowing full well they could never possibly get it right due to the fact that I’m something that has never before existed in their life construct.
There’s really no good way to go about this. Both situations are exhausting and I’ve decided I’m not doing it anymore. Not for every person I come across. This is the great thing about having a blog. I’ll just refer them here!
There’s a lot of talk about D&I of late but personally I have 3 decades of exclusion to process. This exclusion I experienced was due mostly to my intersectionality and others inability to label and box me. In a world where people are trained to be treated as products and commodities I would often be get left behind because I didn’t fit in any section.
So how I feel about this new wave of diversity and inclusion? I think it’s great for the future generations, it’s unfortunate I wasn’t always considered and a travesty my ancestors were never given the chance.
But what can I do today?!
I’m going to continue to do my part by telling my story and using my platform to share others experiences as well. I truly believe a colorful world will produce a plethora of innovative creations which is what our world so desperately needs.
Now I’m off to go work on some proposals, present my entire truth and connect with people who hire me for the right reasons.
JFS