Blacks Need Not Apply: Whitewashing of the Modern Résumé
Among African Americans, the practice of whitewashing the résumé is a long-held strategy, and a practice that is increasing in the current job market. Apparently, Black applicants strive to “dial down the Blackness” in the hopes that it will improve their odds at securing a job interview.
The New York Times reports that measures such as altering ethnic sounding names (Bonquisha J. Smith reemerging as B.J. Smith) and omission of ones affiliation to an HBCU or other connections to the Black community are standard practice for many on the job hunt.
Yvonne Orr, who excluded her alma mater, Hampton University, was advised to do so by her mother, a one-time Black Panther. She discouraged her daughter from presenting a résumé that declared aloud: ‘I’m Black.’ ”
Proof of Affirmative Action’s limited reach, this bleach-like tactic is viewed as a method to prove to potential employers that this one can be relied upon to keep his or her proverbial head down. NYU law professor Kenji Yoshino adds, “My notion of covering is really about the idea that people can have stigmatized identities that either they can’t or won’t hide but nevertheless experience a huge amount of pressure to downplay those identities,” he said. Mr. Yoshino says that progress in hiring has meant that “the line originally was between whites and nonwhites, favoring whites; now it’s whites and nonwhites who are willing to act white.”
Human Beings have already established that most of us will do just about anything for money. Today, the value we place on money is far outweighs what Wall Street dictates. In this fragile economy, we’re not keeping up with the Joneses anymore; we’re getting by alongside of them. We ask you this Clutchettes & Gents: At what cost?
Dig the Times’ succinct summation:
John L. Jackson Jr., a professor of anthropology and communications at the University of Pennsylvania and author of “Racial Paranoia,” said he wondered about the “existential cost” of this kind of behavior, even if the adjustments were temporary and seem harmless.
“In some ways, they are denying who and what they are. They almost have to pretend themselves away.”
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The author of the Times article and a few experts were on NPR yesterday discussing the subject more in-depth — a great listen. This topic is both interesting and disheartening.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121163120#commentBlock
@ NEP- Good look on the link .
My question is, although one can daggone near erase their race on paper, what happens when they have to interview, face to face? Is that when one just hopes for the best?
Was this article for Black people? Because if it was it was info we’ve always known.
The real story would have been bringing racist White HR employees to task for excluding anyone who appears Black on their resume.
Unfortunately these things are done in such a way that most of the time we don’t really know whether we are being disqualified because we are black, or because someone else was a better candidate.
Anyway it is against the law to not hire someone because of their race.
Take VAL’s comment below. “The real story would have been bringing racist White HR employees to task for excluding anyone who appears Black on their resume.”
Speaking from experience as an HR senior administrator, I can tell you point blank that it is statements like this that create hyper-sensitivity to black applicants.
HR folks (black ones and white ones) are not stupid. We KNOW how to pull from a resume to understand the qual’s (and race) of a prospective candidate.
In the end, like it or not, we take who we want … period. And anyone who tells you different is either lying through their teeth or they work for a government agency where qualifications and performance mean nothing.
I couldn’t erase my race if I tried. My name alone is African to the fullest and that’s something I would never want to alter. I’m actually transferring from a predominantly white school to an HBCU and do not plan to alter my resume in anyway regarding the HBCU. I would like my work and the content of my resume to speak for itself, or at least speak louder than indicators of my ethnic background. If a company choose not to hire me because of my race, then that’s their decision because I know that I’ll shine even if the lights are off.
@ AnuliA I am with you on this, I also can careless to rather a company hires me or not, due to my blackness, I believe I will shine brighter than the darkness as well.
I am disheartened by the fact that blacks would erase their involvement in black communities.
BUT, I always had issues with the disgusting mashed-up names Blacks have given to their children. I understand Jamal, Tyrone, Malik, and Aaliyah. Those names aren’t mash-ups. But I will never understand, Bonquisha, Latifah and Shenaynay.
I think Latifah is actually “ethnic” in origin.
You do have a point though with some of these names.
“Human Beings have already established that most of us will do just about anything for money.” No, it is established that humans will do just about anything to survive. Last I checked, this recession is a depression for black folk. And if you want to survive it, then you need to get a job.
If Bonquisha Jones believes or knows that she has to go by B.J. just to get an interview, who I am or anyone else to judge? Get that interview cause I want B.J. to work just as much as she wants to work.
Racism still exist and people in the HR departments of private businesses check your resume for grammatical errors along with how you spell you name. If you want to eat, you have to work. And if you want to work, you have to have an interview. So, do you.
It amazes me how people who have jobs can stick their noses in the air and tell people how they should be leading their lives, when they are not going through the struggles of being unemployed (e.g. Professors Jackson & Yoshino). Until these professors start handing out jobs to people like the proverbial Bonquisha Jones of the world, I will need them to STFU.
As Jeff Johnson would say, “That’s my peace.”
I got all tense reading your hostile comment. People do lots of things to survive, but we’re not talking about survival – we’re talking about supporting practices that may have serious negative impacts on society. Don’t be BJ Smith or whatevs. Be Bonquisha SMith, the badassed employee who gets sh*t done. We can be who we are and get jobs. The more people hide that then the harder for the rest of us who forge on.
Me and people like me don’t have our noses in the air. But if we did it’s better than being a coward. I am not gonna run around and call myself LC just b’cause some racist exec may or may not interview me. We can make it without such measures, and this is not a new practice.
It is shameful what those kind of people do, period.
Yea its definately not about having your nose in the air. I was following you until that one. Actually the author of this article is probably speaking from experience that was soul rendering, at the end of the day her character definately should not be the one in question, if anything shes looking out.Her job as a journalist is for a magazine that promotes entrepreneurship every article, So you know what bambi mom’s said.Fall back a little damsel.
I would rather not provide my talent and hard work to a company that operates in a manner that allows this sort of practice to go on when choosing an applicant.
Amen!!
@ Vixenlibra
Triple Amen!
Latifah is Muslim in origin as is Jamal and Aaliyah.
they are arabic names.
At the end of the day, it is what you value and for some getting your foot in the door to eventually build a successful career is all that matters. I know of a lady who “altered” her name on her resume (i.e used her less black sounding middle name) and on her first few days on the job asked people to call her by her first (black sounding) name.
If you are just starting out in your career or have been on the job hunt for an extended period of time, you will do all you can to get that interview to prove that you are the best person for the job. A lot of what goes into HR is based on intuition which (un)fortunately may include perceptions and stereotypes. Think about it this way, as an HR person, what is most important to me is that I hired the right person to do the job and keep the shareholders happy.
My first name is Irish my middle name is French and my last name is Irish so its MerryChrisHannAnza (Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah , Happy Kwanzaa) When I get to the interview that will teach them to judge a book by its cover or name on a resume for that matter!
some people are extremely naive.
How exactly do you “down lplay” your blackness on a resume other than changing your potentially “black-sounding” name? I’m curious…
I am a sophomore Art History major at an HBCU, when applying as a high school senior, I was the only person in a class of 400 kids to go to an HBCU. While applying people were telling me (my own family members as well) not to go to an HBCU because of this VERY REASON but like it was stated above if you can’t get pass my choice of higher education then my talents and time don’t need to be wasted at a company that discriminates based on my choice of college/university.
I read a qoute that said “A true genius is one that masters being real or true to himself” Does that make fools out of the people suggesting we pretend we are something that we aren’t? Yeah it does.
………………………………………………But thats just the way I look at the article.
I believe that we honor our ancestors by wearing our names with dignity and pride, even if those names aren’t exactly African, Arabic, or Muslim in origin. It’s easy to say that we have pride in our heritage…until our beliefs are tested by struggle. If we truly want to be seen as a proud race, we must stand up and be seen as who we are instead of shielding our true selves for the sake of money. I would much rather work for McDonald’s, knowing that I held firm in expressing who I really was, than work for a fortune 500 company via disguises and misleading info, shearing away some of my identity in the process. Yet, being able to form sentences correctly has nothing to do with the color of our skin, but our willingness to learn how to pick up a book, apply ourselves, and get educated! By the way, my father is a Black man, and I carry on his last name, which is White!!!!!!
I am who I am. I’m very proud of who I am. I will never try to omit anything about myself just to get a job or gain anything for the matter. When I send off my resume I’m sure my name clearly states that I am Black. It also gives clues that I’m a feminist and I’m a part of the LGBT community. When I send off my resume I have a “take it or leave it’ attitude. If someone doesn’t want to hire me because of any reason that has nothing to do with my skills and experience then I don’t want to work for them anyway. It’s as simple as that.
If we continue to follow this trend (hiding our blackness), the issue will never be resolved. If more people embraced their ethnicity, then the more other people will be forced to migrate to embrace other cultures. If you continue to band-aid the problem, the problem will never get fixed.
If you have bills piling up and children to care for “you gotta do what you gotta do.” I think it is okay to change whatever you need to change (remaining honest of course) to get your foot in the door and get the interview or job. If your parent(s) named you “Tamileesha BooBoo Jenkins”, I feel it is probably a good thing to shorten it to “Tami” just for the job. Once you have the job you have an opportunity to educate employers and to challenge their prejudices. Your stellar performance at the company will hopefully speak for itself and if it doesn’t there are always HR folks to solve issues.
I
I’ve never consciously “whitened” my resume, but I understand why people do it. I happen to have a “white sounding” name and voice, and I don’t think I have any credentials that reveal my race. Employers are surprised to see that I am black when they meet me for an interview. Of course, they don’t say it, but I can see the look on their faces. I often get questions like… Do you have reliable child care? How will you be getting to work? I don’t like those questions because I think the answers are obvious. Why would I apply for a job if I won’t be able to get there? I have a feeling that they ask me these questions because of stereotypes they may have about black people.