Why Hate on an African-American Woman in Power?!

I take the train to and from my internship daily to avoid the inevitable traffic of Atlanta. We all know that there are some interesting characters on public transportation. I'm use to having some very overly dramatic individual sing tunes or blast their music from their phone instead of using this neat little invention called HEADPHONES. But that's not the issue, as I'm sitting I’m over hearing a woman speak negatively of her African-American female boss. Now the issue that I have with this conversation was that she said she couldn't stand working for her new boss because she's too boogie and uppity and she thought she was better than most. When she said that I immediately thought, “okay and?” On top of that she said she hated seeing African-American women in power especially as her boss. (I'm not making any of this up). I literally had to turn around to see who was speaking. I was in awe that someone from our very own black community and a woman at that would speak so negatively of another African-American woman. Don’t we get that enough in the real world?! I really wanted to tell her to “shut the hell up” and “get her life in order” or that maybe she should congratulate her boss for being African-American and in such a high position. But then I realized I was out numbered and I was by myself, so I figured I’d keep my comments to myself. Do other African-American women feel this way? I personally don't. I love seeing African American women in high positions of power. I myself want to get to that point one day, but women like the one on the train make it even harder for black women to have success stories.

I chalked her dismay for her new boss up to the fact that maybe her new boss didn't let her do as she pleases, but then "sister girl" spoke again. Apparently this isn't her first African-American female boss, the last person that held the position was also an African-American female. So what does this mean? Do African-American women feel inferior when another African-American woman is in the position of power? Who knows her real logic behind her statements, I just personally found it baffling. Why not uplift our African American women instead of constantly tearing them down. I was happy nonetheless when “sister girl” got off the train, but it made me seriously think about the direction that our African-American community is going in. I feel that it’s important for us to not only be in positions of power, but to uplift on another on our journey there.  Congratulations to all the African-American women in power! #BlackExcellence

Britt Daise
Urban Echelon Magazine & Blogspot

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