Washington University’s Brown School in a Black History Month seminar posed the question, “Is professionalism a racist construct?” as first reported by Campus Reform.
An accompanying YouTube video’s description complained that “‘professionalism’ has at times been used to silence and marginalize people of color” by forcing them to adhere to standards of “appearance, language, or interactions” unrelated to the job.
“In this context, so-called professionalism is coded language, a construct that upholds institutional racist policies and excluding practices,” the video’s description states.
The panelists “explore dismantling white supremacy and privilege in varied contexts.”
“We acknowledge the 1,252 black American men and women who, since Jan. 1, 2015 unjustifiably died due to police brutality and anti-black violence,” Assistant Dean Cynthia Williams asserted.
Then she described the urgent situations in which “white supremacy” enters the workplace.
“A black woman is 80% more likely to change her natural hair to meet social norms or expectations at work,” Stafford claimed. “Black women are 1.5 times more likely to be sent home or know of a black woman sent home from the workplace because of her hair.”
