Opinion: Working while Black: How anti-Black racism wrecks Black women's workday

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“The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.” — Malcolm X, 1962.

If that’s true, then what’s it like to be a Black woman and journalist in Iowa?

It can be pretty rough some days. KCCI-TV reporter Lauren Johnson, a Black woman, found that out this week when she covered an Ankeny School Board meeting to discover why school officials had removed a job posting for a diversity, equity and inclusion opening.

“Shame on Ankeny for trying to keep a Black reporter out of the room during a meeting that was literally about diversity, equity and inclusion,” she said in one of the tweets.

School officials had let some people go in, when others exited, she said. Eventually, they let Johnson into the meeting, and she was able to report her story, she said. Johnson tweeted she was “disgusted at the lack of professionalism” she experienced and said journalists of color should “never have to feel like they don’t belong in a space while trying to do their job.”

The Iowa Association of Black Journalists has decried Ankeny’s actions in a statement that reads, in part:

“To make matters worse, the decision to prevent a journalist of color from covering a meeting about the district’s decision to remove a posting for a position that tackles diversity, equity and inclusivity within Ankeny Schools speaks volumes. It also provides another example of why that position may be necessary.”

Association leadership has discussed the issue with school officials.

Ankeny School Superintendent Erick Pruitt on Wednesday released a statement and apologized to Johnson:

Ankeny has experienced increased public interest after a contentious school board election last year and controversies ensued about face mask mandates and banning books, like many other school districts here and elsewhere.

The school board meeting is over now, and the district apologized. The angry Black woman trope, which is highly offensive, clouds the exchange.

It’s always been hard to be a Black woman at work in predominantly white spaces. (Black men and people of color experience it, too). Black women have the added burden of having to always think about other people’s perceptions and try to act accordingly to avoid being reduced to a caricature. Black women have to endure microaggressions about our hair, speech and appearance. Sometimes we endure bona fide racism on the job, and the added pressures certainly don't help our mental health.

Many Black women can probably relate to Johnson’s experience and the conundrum she faced, because speaking up often gets you labeled as loud or perceived as an “angry Black woman.” As Johnson said, she was neither.

It's misogynoir.

It’s something many Black women have to deal with every day on the job — from journalists, to office workers, to executives to laborers. Anti-Black racism and microaggressive behavior is rampant.

During my early days as a newspaper reporter, I was assigned to travel alone across Iowa, which sparked many safety concerns from my family. I shared my family’s concerns about the dangers a Black woman could face traveling alone through Iowa's tiny towns and lonely roads, but my employer brushed those concerns aside. That was the job. But those worries are a part of the job that others never have to think about. And, I’ve heard from other Black women who have had their accomplishments diminished by calling it a “diversity hire.” We have to deal with a lot just because of the color of our skin.

Black women can’t modulate and enunciate our way out of being perceived as angry Black women. It's on white people to reject tired racial tropes.

These tips come too late to help Johnson. But read them anyway and share them so you don’t ruin another Black woman’s workday.

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