HR professionals are the architects of the employee experience. They’re the ones responsible for ensuring their workplaces are free from unlawful discrimination and racism. They’re charged with nurturing a culture that promotes diversity, inclusion and equity. In challenging times, when people are confused and hurting and taking to the streets to protest for issues of basic human rights, employees rely on their HR team to communicate and reassure.
Numerous HR professionals are excellent at doing these things.
Others are doomed to fail miserably.
Why? Because, unfortunately, there are far too many HR practitioners who themselves exhibit a profound lack of either understanding or care and who, to put it bluntly, are racists themselves.
Over the last several years alone I have heard the following
- “I treat everyone the same; I don’t see color.” – OK; we can work with this one to some degree via education and conversation. Unfortunately, it was followed up (by the white, privileged HR Director) with “there is no such thing as white privilege.”
- A local HR Director was interested in serving on a board of directors. When discussing roles and committees, including D&I, she explicitly stated, “I don’t believe in diversity; that’s all made up.”
- “This is a fun place. And none of ‘those people’ come here.” – spoken by an HR leader/SHRM leader to an out-of-town (white) guest who had traveled to speak at a state SHRM event.
- “I’m not prejudiced; we had a Black housekeeper who practically raised me. She was like part of the family” – in the category of things that are Southern and problematic; see “The Help”
- When discussing the hiring process at her company an HR practitioner said “Well, you know she’s Black so guess the only people she will ever hire?”
- “I don’t go to that store in that part of town; it’s too “dark” there if you know what I mean.” HR Director, 2020
Oh these HR folks aren’t using the n-word in public but they’re awfully good at using code words and euphemisms like “them” and “those people.” They realize they’re crossing a line though; you can tell that when they ‘whisper’ the offending word.
And, of course, lots of racist white people figure they can read-the-room. They’re out having a few cocktails with HR peers or sitting at a table with other white people at a SHRM meeting and they assume everyone thinks the same as they do. There’s no holding back. They open the door on their ugly souls.
So what to do?
- We must, if we work in HR, call out our HR colleagues when they say things that are hurtful, inappropriate and racist.
- We must, if we are white, educate ourselves and, by extension, our leaders and team members. Here are some Anti-Racism Resources for White People that I am working my way through.
- We must continue to elevate the voices and contributions of our BIPOC colleagues EVERY DAY; not just on ‘certain days’ of the year.
We can do better.
We have to do better.
Thank you so much for posting this! Being in HR required so much empathy and self-reflection, so that our human biases (racism, classism, etc) don’t cloud our judgment in helping all employees equally. I really appreciate this post.
Thanks!
Thank you for this article. I attend the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) conference every year and I am always shocked by the high number of microagressions I experience throughout those 3 days. From what I have overheard and observed during bathroom breaks, lunch breaks and small interactions with other attendees, there are several HR professionals with strong racial biases who are undoubtedly harming their organizations because of their mindsets. How ironic and sad for the HR profession! I joined the HR profession knowing that, as a black woman, I could make a change from the inside by creating a fair work environment, but when I leave that SHRM conference year after year, I feel defeated. Behind the fake smiles and applause for the diverse SHRM speakers, lots of hearts and minds remain unchanged as these HR folks return to their states to block opportunities for black people.
Thelma – it saddens me that you’ve experienced this – AND – well, it doesn’t surprise me. My thoughts on SHRM have been voiced before; they are a relic of the past and becoming more and more irrelevant to HR-of-the-future. SHRM’s continued support of the current Administration – and its policies that harm/hurt marginalized people – does not reflect the type of HR profession that *I* want to be associated with.
I find a lot of gender and racial discrimination when it comes to hiring in Toronto, Canada. We know that the HR field is mostly dominated by women, and like to be in power of control. I’ve applied to many jobs in the IT field and have experience to prove through academic and professional experience, but did not get these jobs in the last few years. When I browse through profiles on LinkedIn, I see many candidates without enough experience getting the same jobs that I’ve applied to. It’s clearly gender and racial discrimination. But how can we address these issues?