Corporate America is a jungle. Actually, I would say that it’s best described as a less overtly violent battlefield. ‘Survival of the fittest’ is an essentially capitalist statement. Corporations engage in warfare with one another. Within the corporations, the employees engage in overt and covert warfare for promotions, perks, money, status, etc. The benign, glossy veneer that many corporations present outwardly, hides a vicious, Darwinian type of mentality among those people who excel in these environments; among those who created these environments.
As a product of corporate America, I’ve gotten a full frontal view of the machine and how it often struggles to find a place for those black people(men in particular) who find their way into the corporate system. The American ethno-hierarchical socio-economic system makes the black man fundamentally incompatible with the machine of corporate American global hegemony. Many black men who see the corporate world as a viable way to earn a living soon become frustrated, disillusioned and jaded after years slogging through the corporate mud pit. Worn down, defeated and exhausted they eventually must make the choice of resigning themselves to a perpetually subservient role or strike out on their own into the wilderness of economic trailblazing.
Why is the black man fundamentally incompatible with corporate America and why do so many black people struggle in that environment? I will lay it out for you reader, hopefully, in a concise and easily understood manner.
Corporate America was not, is not and never will be a place that welcomes black men because it was not black men who laid its foundation nor erected its great megaliths. A black man must exist within a strange environment, always feeling a gaze on his back. Every slight he endures, every odd look he gets, every whisper he barely hears, is over-analyzed for potential signs of treachery or sabotage. Like a prey animal, the corporate black man must wander through an environment full of traps, snares and dangers. On his lunch break in the cafeteria, he must pretend not to see the TVs tuned always to Fox News, looping images of black criminality, day in and day out. Bored office workers seem to love watching crime riddled news programs during their lunch break. It’s odd, I know.
The black man in corporate America is the ultimate performer. He is the ultimate actor. He never is really himself and can never truly express his masculinity. He puts on 5 shows a week for 8 hours a day, for 52 weeks a year. What comedian or actor or athlete can boast the same? At least those guys get an off-season. The corporate black man must be a jester, but only enough to disarm, but not enough to destroy his reputation completely. It’s a delicate balancing act you see. He must not move too fast. He must not raise his voice. When he shakes hands, he must not squeeze too hard. Worst of all, he can’t be seen around too many other black workers, because obviously, ‘what are they plotting?’
He must put on a fake front every day to convince someone that ‘he’s not like those others.’ The black man’s co-workers? Some are savvier than others. Some just ignore his act and his existence altogether. Some dismiss him as an ‘affirmative action’ or ‘DEI’ hire. Some are openly condescending. Some are aggressively rude. The most devious ones know he’s acting and purposely attempt to poke holes in the facade.
All these things the black man must calculate in his head everyday to survive. To maintain his sanity and more importantly his livelihood, the corporate black man must perform this intricate calculus; this intricate play; this dance. Every day without end. This is why the black man is incompatible with corporate America, dear reader. It is because corporate America is not his. He did not lay its foundations. He did not outline its rules of operation. He does not control the wheel of the behemoth. He does not have a say. The black man contorts and deforms himself to fit the mold required for corporate existence. All day, every day, he battles himself to stay within that mold. His true masculinity and humanity bubbling and seething beneath the surface of the mold.
His existence in corporate America is dependent upon learning countless arbitrary rules that are mostly meant for the comfort of others. His comfort is no consideration. The rules he learns are to allow others to feel safe around what is always portrayed as a threat; a potential criminal. All these things wear on the psyche of the black corporate worker.
The problem of black men in corporate America is the problem of existence in a hostile environment and needing to navigate its many intricacies, just to earn a living.
Thanks for reading.