Allyship = Action.

"What's Next?" is a series of articles designed to aid white professionals who are actively working to go beyond their corporation's Black Lives Matter PR statements to move their corporation from inertia and ignorance to building and maintaining an anti-racist environment.

Last week we looked at the damage caused by racial microaggressions. At this point you are: a) making a conscious effort to remove biases and offensive terms from your lexicon b) are ready to shut down microaggressions by other white colleagues c) squaring off with your racist grandmother and prepared to kick her out of your home (last portion optional).

You know deep down posting a black square on Twitter and Instagram did nothing. Your company’s PR statement claiming to care about Black lives is incredibly misleading as you notice your Black colleagues are still being passed over for promotions and in most instances are still facing major wage gaps.

It all feels so....defeating, doesn’t it?

It can at times. And if you feel that way - imagine how tired Black folks are (insert Rose McGowan meme here).

But, the very fact that you are noticing inequities in the workplace and taking the time to unlearning and re-learning to dismantle archaic systems built on white supremacy means change will come - one small actionable step at a time. This is allyship – and it’s a verb. Allyship is the chance to use your privilege to advocate for racialized colleagues. The time for action is now.

WHAT TO DO

Advocate for fair wages and promotions.

Statistics continually reveal Black women earn much less than their white male and female counterparts. In Canada, “the annual wages of Black women were approximately $3,500 to $7,000 lower than that of women in the rest of the population.” (Statistics Canada).

Some activists suggest having a discussion with racialized colleagues on salaries. Me personally – I don’t speak about salaries in the workplace. I find it to be highly personal and I don’t particularly want to know my white colleagues are being paid more for doing the same (or less) work.

If you are speaking with a work friend who invites the subject, have a general conversation on salary ranges. If you feel comfortable, share your current salary range and reassure your colleague it will stay confidential – unless your co-worker wants you to bring it up to the boss or HR on the basis of their initial conversation.

Salaries aside, if you know of a Black colleague within your circle going for a promotion, be their champion. Write to the hiring manager and state the successful outcomes of your colleague’s projects, client success stories or business acquisitions. It will take less than ten minutes of your time but serve as a major point in your journey as an ally.

Help a Black colleague with a referral.

Black people are not looking for handouts. We aren’t looking to be unfairly or unjustly promoted. We’ve seen that happen too often with colleagues who were less qualified than us. It hurts and it leads to resentment, exhaustion or exiting the company altogether in search of the title and pay grade we rightfully deserve.

We want to be recognized, not tokenized. Being the only Black person in the group is not a compliment. It does not have to be the reality we face as professionals.

I recently posted about my current state of unemployment. As someone who has worked since the age of 14 I felt ashamed and defeated when I was laid off. I felt apprehensive in admitting I am still looking for work that is within my current field and is aligned with my years of experience and continuing education.

Shortly after posting my resume and requesting help on job leads and contacts, I received several kind messages from former colleagues who did one or all of the following:

a) empathized with me;

b) asked how they could help;

c) asked for my resume to forward to hiring managers;

d) forwarded job postings and kindly wrote referral notes to their internal contacts.

Said actions took about ten minutes out of the ally’s day - but it meant a world of difference. That’s allyship in action.

Write a LinkedIn referral for a Black colleague. Offer to be a reference. If agreed upon, send job postings that are aligned with what the job seeker is looking for (PRO TIP for anyone looking to help a job seeker regardless of their race: please do *not* send junior roles. If both you and your colleague are on the ‘Director’ level - send similar and above.)

Give yourself grace when a mistake is made.

Being an ally means practicing consistent awareness of the privilege you carry. You won’t always get it right. There are times on your new journey where you failed to act when it was needed.

Mistakes happen. This does not mean you need to carry a cloud of guilt over your head. “White guilt” is unnecessary. Feeling bad? Natural. Crying to your Black colleague about how bad you feel and apologizing on behalf of your race? Unhelpful (also, uncomfortable. Who wants to rehash your family’s history of obtaining wealth and advancement thanks to the enslaved? No thanks.)

After a mistake is made, take the time to regroup, refocus and take the steps to pull yourself up and keep going, knowing when to stand firm in your convictions as you learn how to be anti-racist.

Have the tough conversations.

Too often white professionals are afraid of saying something wrong so they refrain from saying anything at all. This is not helpful. It’s playing it safe - and this work needs more bold people who are willing to have tough conversations with other white people.

It is uncomfortable because it means wading into uncharted waters. You’ll come across colleagues who don’t want to “hear about that race talk” or will bellow “are you calling me racist?!” when you call out their microaggressions.

Don’t be deterred. Lead your conversation with a book you’ve read (“White Fragility” by Robin DiAngelo and “Me and White Supremacy” by Layla Saad are good starting points) or an interesting article by a Black professional. Discuss potential donations/partnerships with Black and other racialized persons-led organizations with senior management (The BlackNorth Initiative and The Black Opportunity Fund are two Canadian examples).

The conversations must be had. Don’t shy away from initiating them.

WHAT *NOT* TO DO

Adopt a ‘white saviour complex’.

The ‘white saviour complex’ is defined as “a white person who acts to help non-white people, but in a context which can be perceived as self-serving.”

Black people need allies, not self-serving saviours who think they know it all and know what their Black colleagues are feeling at any given moment. Black professionals don’t need to be rescued. We need white allies to stand beside us as we fight for equity in the workplace.

As mentioned in last week’s post on microaggressions – if an offensive phrase, joke or term is uttered in your presence, tell the offender how it made YOU feel. Don’t speak on behalf of your racialized colleagues.

White saviour complex can also include keeping a “scorecard” of when you helped Jamila obtain a pay raise by speaking to HR or when you advocated for Shawn’s promotion. Not only is it highly unprofessional, it shows a complete lack of awareness of what your advocacy did: highlighted your Black colleague’s many accomplishments. You didn’t “give” them anything that they did not already deserve.

Don’t be that person. Do the work, feel good about the successful outcome for a moment and quietly move on to help the next person.

Fake allyship.

Source: @itsagreatdaytolearnabout/Instagram

The above graphic is an example of racial gaslighting. You’ll see such admonishments right here on LinkedIn by fake allies who are not interested in doing the work to create anti-racist work environments. Leave the “derailers” alone. They are seeking out posts belonging to Black professionals only to antagonize. Their goal is to confuse and sew the seeds of conflict. I too have to remind myself that engaging with them is a waste of time.

Being an ally means doing the uncomfortable work. It means being an active listener and understanding your Black colleague’s sadness, cynicism and exhaustion is not aggression. It is years of being ignored, passed over, unheard, teased, gaslit, called racial slurs, spit on, racially profiled and silenced rising to the surface. Listen. Empathize. Learn.

Black people are not required to make you feel comfortable and “safe”. A lot of us have been dancing around the issue for decades as not to upset the sensibilities of white folks. Picture this: my father and mother had to walk on eggshells and sometimes swallow their dignity and pride when their white colleagues traded racist jokes, laughed at the co-worker with the “smelly lunch” and tried to touch their hair.

As my parents advanced in their careers they would still have to pick and choose their battles (my father especially would shut down racism and xenophobia right away).

Through it all, they envisioned a better future for me and my brothers. Yet, several decades later, my brothers and I are facing the same stereotypes, the same microaggressions and the same racial undercurrents. And let me be clear: there is NO difference between Canada and the U.S. when it comes to racism. There are no degrees or levels to discrimination. Racism is just as overt in Canada as it is in the U.S. and that’s just the uncomfortable reality allies in the Canadian corporate landscape must face.

Your dating/relationship history

We don’t care if you dated a Black person. The act of a relationship with a Black person doesn’t make you an ally. Also – TMI.

Conclusion

This is “lifetime work”, friends. Dismantling over 400 years of systemic oppression won’t happen overnight. It means breaking down the system that you as a white person have and will continue to benefit from.

It won’t ever be easy. You’ll have small victories one day and crushing defeats the next. But as long as you are not only continually learning but *doing*, you are well on your way to uprooting systemic inequities that have plagued our society for far too long.

RESOURCES:

HuffPost: 8 Actions That Help Black Colleagues Get Ahead At Work

Forbes: Allyship: The Key to Unlocking the Power of Diversity

Ally Resource Guide – an in-depth workbook filled with exercises and activities available for purchase

Racial Healing Handbook

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Kim Johnson is a diversity, equity and inclusion strategist with experience in building corporate and public diversity & inclusion initiatives, employee resource group program creation, governance and support; corporate and crisis communications, community volunteerism and outreach. She spent 10+ years in Canadian broadcast news journalism as a senior news producer. Her commitment: to dismantle archaic corporate business practices and build anti-racist and inclusive workplaces for racialized and marginalized persons through proactive and effective diversity and inclusion strategies.