Back when I was doing home health service a friend, and I went to apply for a sitting job in a private home. When talking to the interviewer on the phone, I was told that two people were needed for the job, but after the interview only one person was hired. The young lady that was handling the interview was talking and only looking toward me. It was like my friend was not sitting there. The interviewer was disrespectful and prejudice because of the color of our skin. My friend is highly dark complexion black female, and I am fairly light complexion. I felt real bad because of the way my friend was treated; the interviewer did not acknowledge her at all. I was hire to take care of the interviewer parents along with another person which was a white female.
The white female decided that the job was not for her after working a few weeks, so she decided to quite. I was the only one working for a while, but it was hard taking care of three people. I went to her and complained, the interviewer stated she could not find anybody, at that time I took the opportunity to express my feeling on how she treated my friend and if she did not hire somebody right away I was also leaving. She apologized and asked did I think my friend would come and help her out. She saw that her love ones needed help, and it was no time for prejudice, so she diminish equity and took a chance on calling my friend back for an interview.
I had no idea that my friend would be mistreated on an interview. Most times if a person is not going to hire you; they would say I will try and get back with you, but this interviewer did not talk to her at all. This incident was a tough one because I knew that I needed the job. My friend and I discussed the situation together, and suggested that I go on to work and she would try and find something else to do.
After the interviewer could not find another person to work right away, she went on and called my friend. She apologized to her and made excuses like so much was on her mind. My friend said she would think about it and call her back. Again we discussed the matter, and it was decided that my friend needed a job. She accepted the job because she had to take care of her family. So they both turned an incident in to an opportunity and showed greater equity.
Ida, that was terrible for the interviewer to make such a difference between you and your friend because of the color of your skin. We have all grown up with the statements that light skin is in and because of this, a lot of in-cultural division happened. I'm glad that your friend had an opportunity to not only confront the lady, but also receive an apology for the horrendous way she treated her. There is not excuse for ignorance until you learn to admit your mistake and learn from it. The fact that she tried to find an excuse for her behavior shows that she was unwilling to take full responsibility for her actions. I wish you the best.
ReplyDeleteThat is a horrible experience for your friend to encounter. I’m sure it made you feel uncomfortable to just witness such experience. As a friend, it was nice of you to stand up for her and confront the interviewer about what she had done and how she made your friend feel. I wish there were more people in the world like you that would stand up for themselves or somebody else they knew. I think prejudices and biases is something that could be prevented if we took the time to learn how they affect other people. If we take the time to realize what we were saying or how we were acting affected a stranger or even one of our friends then maybe those feelings and comments would not happen as often. Great job.
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteInteresting Story! How long ago was this? Yes, I feel that this still exist today. One person must not place judegement on an individual due to the color of their skin. In fact, many individuals are capable of more if one looks past their outer apperance and reflect on the inner "iceburg." I feel that individuals must look skin deep because posessing great skills can be in any indiviual or any diverse individual.
~Adrea Reavis
Hi Ida,
ReplyDeleteThat is the norm with our culture, you are either to dark or to light skinned. Every time, I think it is not as bad as it was, it raises its ugly head again. I have been in that position where the dominant culture will hire you because you are black, but not dark enough to be a problem. With this course so many of us are understanding, what we can do to make a change and how to educate individuals, that pretend they don’t understand ,what the complaints are all about. Tell your friend to always be proud of her identity.
Kathleen