The Peterborough Examiner

Attacks on diversity add to ‘constant fight of belonging’

Black women must navigate a tricky profession­al path

- TERRY TANG AND MICHAEL CASEY

Regina Lawless hit a profession­al high at 40, becoming the first director of diversity and inclusion for Instagram. But after her husband died suddenly in 2021, she pondered whether she had neglected her personal life and what it means for Black woman to succeed in the corporate world.

While she felt supported in the role, “there wasn’t the willingnes­s for the leaders to take it all the way,” Lawless said. “Really, it’s the leaders and every employee that creates the culture of inclusion.”

This inspired her venture, Bossy and Blissful, a collective for Black female executives to commiserat­e and coach each other on how to deal with misogynoir — misogyny experience­d by Black women — or being the only person of colour in the C-suite.

“I’m now determined to help other women, particular­ly women of colour and Black women, to see that we don’t have to sacrifice ourselves for success. We can find spaces or create our own spaces where we can be successful and thrive,” said Lawless, who is based in Oakland, California.

Many women in Lawless’ group have no workplace peers, making them the “Onlys” — the only Black person or woman of colour — which can lead to feelings of loneliness or isolation.

“Getting together helps us when we go back and we’re the ‘only-lonelies’ in a lot of our organizati­ons,” Lawless said.

With attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion initiative­s raging, Black women looking to climb the corporate ladder face a more hostile landscape than ever. Aside from having to constantly prove themselves and talk in a manner that can’t be labelled as angry or emotional, obtaining top managerial positions doesn’t stop the double dilemma of racial and gender pay gaps. All this adds up to disproport­ionate representa­tion of Black female senior leadership.

Claudine Gay’s resignatio­n in January as Harvard’s first Black president following accusation­s of antisemiti­sm and plagiarism was just the latest in a revolving door of Black women who have been aggressive­ly questioned or abandoned after achieving a career pinnacle.

Black female profession­als also were hit hard when an administra­tor at a historical­ly Black college in Missouri accused the school’s white president of bullying and racism then took her own life. This led some to build networking groups and mentorship­s. For others it triggered an exodus to entreprene­urship and reinventio­n.

In Boston, Charity Wallace, 37, a biotech profession­al, and Chassity Coston, 35, a middle school principal, reflected on their own career struggles in light of Gay’s ordeal. Wallace said she was being more cognizant of her mental health, and that’s where their young Black profession­als group, sorority sisters and family come in.

“It’s a constant fight of belonging and really having your girlfriend­s or your homegirls or my mom and my sister. I complain to them every day about something that’s going on at work,” Wallace said. “So having that circle of Black women that you can really vent to is important because, again, you cannot let the things like this sit. We’ve been silenced for too long.”

Coston said she mourned Gay’s resignatio­n and, fearing something similar could happen to her, she reconsider­ed her future in education. But she didn’t want to give up.

“Yes, we’re going to continue to be scorned as Black people, as Black women. It’s going to continue to happen. But we can’t allow that,” Coston said. “I’m speaking from my strength right now because that wasn’t always how I felt in my stages of grief. We have to continue to fight just like Rosa (Parks), just like Harriet (Tubman).”

Gay struggled despite her resume full of accomplish­ments, Wallace said.

“I can’t imagine how she felt trying to do that and getting all these accolades, her degrees that she has, the credential­s, and it just seemed like even that was not enough for her to stay,” Wallace said.

The backlash to DEI efforts is only amplified with clashes over identity politics. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones’ tenure bid at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill stalled in 2021 because of her work with the 1619 Project, a collection of essays on race. The 2022 confirmati­on hearings for Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman confirmed to the Supreme Court, drew criticism for their harsh and race-based questionin­g.

President Joe Biden emphatical­ly stating he only would consider a Black woman for the high court deepened resentment toward DEI, said Johnny Taylor, CEO of The Society for Human Resource Management.

“Contrast and compare a CEO standing in front of his workplace or her workplace saying, ‘I’m only gonna consider, the next candidates will only be this,’” Taylor said. “That created some real tension.”

Black women are questionin­g whether it’s even worth trying for top positions, said Portia AllenKyle, chief adviser at social justice organizati­on Color of Change. Extreme scrutiny and online vitriol are high prices to pay.

“What I’ve heard from quite a few Black women — family, friends and otherwise — is a little bit of feeling of frustratio­n at the idea that excellence is not enough,” Allen-Kyle said. “The ‘Work twice as hard, be twice as good ... maybe you’ll be able to be accepted on your merit.’ That lesson that maybe that’s not the case is hard and frustratin­g and disappoint­ing all around.”

The number of Black women in the workforce is in danger of shrinking because of a lack of support and opportunit­ies, according to advocates.

Lawless, who left Instagram/Meta in August, thinks more Black women will decide to be their own boss rather than enter a traditiona­l workplace.

“There’s going to be a chilling effect and you’re going to see more Black women pivot and go into entreprene­urship, which we’re already doing at higher rates,” Lawless said.

“Corporatio­ns have a real problem. They’ve lost more women at the director and above level since the pandemic.”

‘‘ I’m now determined to help other women, particular­ly women of colour and Black women, to see that we don’t have to sacrifice ourselves for success.

REGINA LAWLESS FOUNDER OF BOSSY AND BLISSFUL

 ?? MICHAEL DWYER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ?? Charity Wallace, left, and Chassity Coston were sad to see Claudine Gay’s resignatio­n in January as Harvard’s first Black president.
MICHAEL DWYER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Charity Wallace, left, and Chassity Coston were sad to see Claudine Gay’s resignatio­n in January as Harvard’s first Black president.

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