Superwoman is a Black Woman
By Jessrey Carpenter
As we get older, different light switches turn on. It is often about where we are in life, our upbringing, and sometimes our cultural background. There is no set time when it happens; you will just wake up to a slap to the face.
I was an island girl that grew in Hawaii with other people of color that weren’t black. You would think it would be similar, but culturally it is still very different. My experiences are different because I am a black woman.
At 19 years old working in retail, I knew I wanted to be more than just an entry-level employee. I was often the employee who worked the most hours and covered other employee shifts. I felt I was ready to train for management. I have always been ambitious, outgoing, and outspoken. Eventually, I figured they would see how loyal and hard-working I was and give me a promotion. Nope, they promoted my peers around me. I didn’t see it then, but ten years later, I see it. I felt that light switch turning on.
I finally worked myself up to management at the age of 21. I later realized that I’ve always been giving the short end of the stick, and it was no coincidence. I have worked in positions in which they didn’t want to promote me. In the places where I was the store manager, I was given the worse store and the worse employees. I never complained; I always made the worse employees the best employees and did better than stores with more foot traffic. I realized I was a superwoman; superwoman is a black woman.
I later moved to California and learned that I was not the only one. I met other black women that worked in management and cooperate in America. Their experiences were more passive-aggressive but similar. That’s when that switch turned on again; I realized I had dealt with passive-aggressive racism my entire working adult life.
Black women are frequently given the worst conditions to work with. We are forced to fix what others before us have broke. It’s like we are given a test that no one else has to take. We have to prove that we are fit to be there no matter how educated we are, how loyal we are, and how much work experience we have.
In the workplace, we are tested continuously further than our counterparts. I stayed at these positions and took my work skills to better-paying jobs that appreciated my work ethic. You will do the same, and you will make it because superwoman is a black woman.
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