Profile of American Black Women Leaders

Observing whiteness and Black resistance in a Midwestern municipal government: An interracial ethnography

“…Scholars from across the social sciences have documented the ongoing prevalence of racism in a variety of US organizations including houses of worship (Longman & Lafreniere, 2012; Zerai, 2016), construction and transportation companies (Bohonos, 2020; Embrick & Hendricks, 2013, 2015), education (Bass, 2009; Lloyd–Jones, 2009), Fortune 500 companies (Hughes, 2014; Sisco, 2020), and in local politics (Rodgers, 2005).…”

“…HRD literature focused on racism has revealed many ways racism and sexism manifest in organizations, including microaggressions, exclusion from good ole boy networks, and undervaluing of skills (Bass, 2009; Byrd, 2009; Byrd & Stanley, 2009; Hughes, 2014; Jean–Marie et al, 2009; Lewellen & Bohonos, 2020; Lewellen et al, 2020; Lloyd–Jones, 2009). White colleagues have been shown to routinely devalue Black people's interpersonal skills, even when they objectively display competence in this area, and avoid social interactions with Blacks and thus create segregated social spaces at work (Hughes, 2014)—spaces in which whites have been shown to engage in racially problematic backstage discourse (Bohonos, 2020; Hughey, 2012).…”

“…HRD literature focused on racism has revealed many ways racism and sexism manifest in organizations, including microaggressions, exclusion from good ole boy networks, and undervaluing of skills (Bass, 2009; Byrd, 2009; Byrd & Stanley, 2009; Hughes, 2014; Jean–Marie et al, 2009; Lewellen & Bohonos, 2020; Lewellen et al, 2020; Lloyd–Jones, 2009). White colleagues have been shown to routinely devalue Black people's interpersonal skills, even when they objectively display competence in this area, and avoid social interactions with Blacks and thus create segregated social spaces at work (Hughes, 2014)—spaces in which whites have been shown to engage in racially problematic backstage discourse (Bohonos, 2020; Hughey, 2012). Furthermore, when engaged in cross–racial interactions white colleagues have been shown to engage in a variety of marginalizing forms of discourse including the invocation of racial stereotypes (Embrick & Henricks, 2013, 2015), interrupting Black people when they try to speak (Bohonos & Duff, 2020), as well as misrepresentations (Sisco, 2020) and misappropriations (James–Gallaway, 2020) of Black peoples’ personal narratives.…”

“…This encounter demonstrates several actions directed toward the Black man that would give him cause to feel disrespected by the talkative white man. It also provides examples of the creation of informally segregated spaces in organizations and of whites only socially engaging with Blacks when necessary (Hughes, 2014).…”

Contact and control: Engagement and influence among women of color state agency heads

“…Leaders with identities that deviate from the White man standard are subject to increased scrutiny (Eagly & Chin, 2010; Sanchez‐Hucles & Davis, 2010) so the potential for feeling less empowered in their work is high. In recent years, scholars have not only begun to look at the manner in which discriminatory barriers can affect the representation of people of color or women (Carbajal, 2018; Eagly & Chin, 2010; Keiser et al, 2002; Shields, 2008; Williams & Tiedens, 2016), but specifically, at how an intersectionality framework can be utilized to study both the demographic representativeness and distinct experiences of individuals with multiple underrepresented identities in leadership (Brooks, 2012; Curtis, 2017; Gamble, 2010; Hughes, 2011; Hughes, 2015; Jean‐Marie et al, 2009; Parker, 2001; Sanchez‐Hucles & Davis, 2010).…”