#32 “He then goes on to tell me ‘I have a friend who is black as night but I don't care if you're purple or polka dot; I don't see color.’”

“I had been on a horrific team and was looking to transfer out. My skip level would invite me to team events where I could connect with potential managers that would consider me to join their team. One manager who was considering me always brought up race everytime I was present. He would say ‘You know I'm a good guy right? My ancestors owned slaves but I'm pretty sure they were good to their slaves.’ Seeing as how he's a manager and I'm an individual contributor, I wondered if he saw me as a slave. I asked him ‘What is it about me that makes you feel comfortable saying these things to me?’ His reply, ‘because you look safe and smart.’ As a lighter skinned black woman, I felt he shared this because his default perception of black people is that we are ‘dangerous and not smart.’ He then goes on to tell me ‘I have a friend who is black as night but I don't care if you're purple or polka dot; I don't see color.’ I confronted him about his offensive comments and he apologized. He had to go to mandated D&I training. The company didn't acknowledge the totality of his comments and cherry picked the one they would address him about. The company also did not acknowledge the racial trauma enacted by being continuously subjected to racism and prejudice as the only black person at the team events and consequently, the dumping ground for racist managers.”