You are at the social hour of a business function and during the cocktail hour, and another sales professional takes an opportunity to give you, your manager, and the other individuals in your conversation group his “two cents”:

“I believe that this thing with Black athletes in the NBA is sickening. They are selfish tattooed animals that make money from bouncing a ball and shooting it into a basket.”

You might not even like the NBA, but you immediately feel your temperature increasing because it was an overtly racist statement.  Statements like this do happen, and are not only offensive but also very revealing about the one who speaks them.

How should you react?  What actions should you take?  Are you in jeopardy when you make a complaint?  We will examine these issues in this post as you have probably heard comments that are offensive more than once.

Measured Reactions When it Comes from “the Side”

What do you do when these comments come from a coworker?  That is why I am referring to it as “the side” as opposed to “from the top” which would be management.

This may sound like a pretty simple question, yet it should be discussed.  Above is an example of an overt racist comment.  He specifically noted Black NBA athletes in his comments, and made a blanket statement about a league which is approximately 80% to 82% Black with an average annual income of $2.4M.  Regardless of his reasoning, he said it.  Additionally, whether he was right or wrong, the statement should not have been made.

Statements like this are “baiting” and designed to get you to move to the defense. In some situations they are clear indications that they forgot who was in the audience.  I aver that regardless of the reason, our response should be a simple and demonstrative as what I will describe shortly.

I certainly believe that any comment that disparages race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or religion affiliation should be met with an immediate response.  Whether they are veiled or not, you have the right to remove yourself from that conversation, and by doing so you will send a clear signal to the individual and the rest of the group that you are a professional.

At the first utterance, my suggestion is to not legitimize the comment by engaging in conversation or argument.  Comments like this are offensive and designed to get a reaction.   Having a discussion or even a moment of argument about it gives them what they want.  Even if you are incensed, I urge you not to legitimize it, but to take the following actions after the comment:

Think about the comment briefly and if it is racist, or darn close to it then I suggest you state one of the following, or something you have crafted for this type of occasion:

• “I have no desire to discuss this issue”, then exit the conversation.
• “I will not legitimize your comments with discussion or my presence”, then exit the conversation.
• “I am as surprised that you have views like that and even more surprised that you would be insensitive enough to state them.  You will excuse me?”

Everyone in the group will know why you exited the conversation.  As a matter of fact this will give you a good chance to see how many of those individuals you work, including those you consider friends, have the intestinal fortitude (guts) to do the same thing.  These types of comments have no place in a work setting, and you cannot be selective about which ones to listen to, they need to all be met with the same response.

When someone makes comments like this in your presence, you can imagine what they say when you are not present.  Remember, you probably have the right to “go off” about the issue.  The problem is that you don’t want to give someone the power to be able to “push that button. “   They have shown their ignorance; now your demonstration of the fact that you will not listen to that garbage puts that individual’s action, as well as the actions of others that you work with in the spotlight.  Will they listen to these disparaging comments?  Will they partake of this type of racism (or sexism, or religious intolerance)?

If It Happens Again…

You must remember that everyone that you work with is not your friend.  You should show respect initially, yet that can change if they continually abuse it.  Note that if there is a second instance, then a discussion with Human Resources should be the action taken.

Any discussion with HR should be factual and clearly state the your objection to the comments as well as who was present as witness to the comments.   This is not “tattling” it is working to correct a wrong.  We know that sales people sometimes push the “envelope” in their comments and views.  Regardless, this type of scenario is unacceptable.  It should be clearly discussed that this is not the first time, and the date and time, and witnesses to the initial comment.  If you are truthful about what has happened you should not create any jeopardy for your job in this action.

I have seen jobs endangered, and terminated for comments that disparage racial groups, genders, and other items.  Your comfort should come in that you had the courage to speak up because chances are this is not the first time that a disparaging comment was made.

A Calculated Response when it Comes From the Top

The next post Thursday, August 24 will clearly examine what happens if the comment comes from your manager, another senior manager, or another company executive.

We hope you will be joining us for the Thursday post as well – Dealing With Improper Remarks From Managers.

We appreciate your comments.

Click here for an important note about Black Sales Journal!

The role of any sales professional is challenging, even sometimes difficult.  It is a role that comes with many contrasts for those who are Black.  The perceptions that I am speaking of are racial perceptions, and they are a reality (because perceptions are reality) until they meet someone who starts to change them.  These contrasts paint a picture that does not always work favorably for a Black professional.

The number of Black sales professionals is not representative of the number of Blacks in the workforce.  Some of this was touched on in Black Sales Journal 1/31/11 – Why are There So Few Blacks in Sales?, yet there are so many reasons.  There is one main reason:

There are perceptions regarding whether white (or other) buyers would widely accept Black professionals in roles that have strong fiduciary and/or consultative roles as many sales professionals face.

It is difficult to recognize how many Black sales professionals leave their position before achieving their goals because they are not given an opportunity to show their worth.

Why am I Calling it Easy?

There is simplicity to changing perceptions. It involves a set of basic activities on the part of a large majority of the Black sales professionals and other Black employees that are in the market place.  It does not require a revolution of any kind, and will gradually work to change the perceptions of so many in a positive way.

Note the following statement:

Each Black sales professional or other Black employee must ‘represent’ correctly…being the consummate professional showing exemplary performance in all aspects of manners, skills, and personal interactions.  Being responsive beyond all others, and respectful of one’s time and efforts.

If that is done, we will be well ahead of the game.  As a matter of fact, if 80% of the Black professionals did this, we begin to slowly change perceptions.  There is no doubt about it.  This would be a game changer that would show the professionalism that a few bad performers could not tarnish.

There are many that will object to my premise.  I understand some of their concerns.  They will say “Why should I change anything when others in the majority do not necessarily change anything!”  My response is simple “If it is what you need to do to be successful and make the living for yourself, and your family, it is worth the consideration, you should consider it.”  If we do that, we also change perceptions.

There are times when you do all that is right and still don’t get the credit for “doing the right thing.”  Here is an example of what happens when you do the right thing, yet are subject to perceptions.

Perceptions – An Example from My Past

This is an incident that I cited once before.  I was a sales representative for a major insurance company in commercial business sales.  I was young, and thought that I was on track to get somewhere, yet nothing was assured.

I was at a sales meeting, and was sitting at a table with the Divisional Sr. Vice President, who was someone that I had only seen a picture of him in company publications.  I don’t know why he sat at our table, yet we were all exhibiting our best manners.

During a lull in the meeting a sales associate of mine, who happened to be Black as well (there were 3 of us out of 62 sales professionals) began to criticize one of the local college basketball coaches.  He was a venerable older coach who was not winning the big one but was respectable.

The SVP listened to us from behind his newspaper, and then slammed his had down on the table and said, “How dare you criticize him.  One day you will be judged on your record, just like him, and you should hope you stand up to the criticism.” He went on to say, “If you two would stop reading the sports pages, and read the financial pages, one day maybe you will amount to something.”

I wanted to be rude in my response, but was calculated.  It is unfortunate that someone is “judged” like that.  He did not know either of us.

To this day, there is nothing that has ever infuriated me like that comment.  He did not know, but I was reading a lot more than the financial pages.  Whether I did, or did not, it was not his business.  We were merely having a conversation within his earshot.  What is larger than that was the perception that we were absorbed in the sports pages, which was something that I seldom read, or read now.

He made that assumption based on his perception, and how categorically wrong it was.  Needless to say, he was long retired before I was moved up in to a senior and executive management role, yet I have often relived how I should have reacted to him.  When I reached and exceeded that level, I made sure that I respected our young professionals regardless of color and gave good constructive counsel without inserting my view of what they “must” be like.

Changing the View

You will not know how someone perceives you based on experiences and situations in their life.  What you can do is to put your best foot forward, giving them the view of a professional who is prepared for the opportunity.  We have discussed this type of professional many times in Black Sales Journal (Black Sales Journal 3/7/11- Be The Consummate Professional).

You change the landscape by being the professional that you ultimately are.  You show that race and color have nothing to do with being a solid professional, and that you might have more pigmentation, yet the result will be the same or better.

Your comments are welcome.