Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

There are vibes in the air that we can feel, when we feel that we are not being accepted.  In the case of racism stereotypes and prejudice are hard things to fight. It is very wearing on your body and your spirit. You have to be prepared to deal with the fight of being accepted for who you and are and respected for the work that you have put in to get to the place that you are.  At times it can be hard to give your best to people that will not appreciate what you do and what you do for the children in your care.  You have to prove all the time how much you know and how good you are at what you do.  It will cause you to be a little standoffish. This is not an easy battle to fight, you have to get through the current battle and make sure that you don’t take it out on the next person.  For me I make sure that I know the rules and am ready to explain them.  I worked with a lady and in my heart I know that she had several issues with me, one me being black, second me being her boss, and third she was very conservative, I am not.  Her body language would say to the children and their families that she did not like me.  We talked a lot to try and work through our issues and we were able to fake it until we made it. She did not do a formal complaint against me but she went to her friend that was a fellow church member of hers and also in our main office and worked with my boss and said she didn’t like the way that I dressed, she felt there was a difference in the way that I talked to her and others (people of color), that I was always on her about the regulations and how she talked to the children.  I was informally called into the office to talk about these issues. I stated my dress was well within the dress code, I reached out to her to have a good working relationship, but I was not met with friendship nor real respect. The regulations were set to be followed and that was what we were going to do. Doing something the same way for years and “the parents don’t mind” will not get us our license. I also pointed out there is not a handbook in the world that says we need to be friends, and in most cases it is discouraged to become friends with the people that you supervise. We need to do our job to the best of our ability.  The families that were close with her took longer to establish a relationship with; the other’s thought it was amusing to see the battle of regulations and old friends’ rules.  The culture identity was threatened by my being there and some were not happy.  Some of the children were hesitant to talk to me at first and it was a slow process of establishing trust with them. It was the first time for a lot of these children to see a woman of color in charge.  It takes patience and love to work pass people’s

biases; it can be done if you want to.  You have to make up your mind that it is worth the effort.