The Coffee Has Turned To Ice

WARNING: The truth will be told in this blog.

American Black men have been systematically squeezed out of the workforce for many years. We are faced with new competition approximately every 10 years. First, there was calling the white female a minority. Not only did she become our competition, she got the promotion we worked for and then she became our boss in a lot of professional positions. Then came the Asian boom, primarily in technical positions. A lot of black men had technical degrees and expertise at the time. We were engineers, field service techs, data center managers, etc., pushed out because we didn't wear thick glasses or wear a smile for 10 straight hours a day. Big time politics. Dig what I'm saying?

Currently latino's are driving the bus. Joblessness for qualified black men has reached it's pinnacle. The once hot coffee in the office has turned to ice [coffee]. Those who had been fortunate to work for many years are scratching to survive, dipping into retirement funds, annuities, and other once treasured resources to keep their heads above water. Not to mention the pressure that our women are faced with. For better, for worse; for richer or poorer is being tested now more than ever.

As the workplace continues to make its changes, we are now seeing other minorities in positions that control hiring that we once had. Back in the 80's and early 90's token positions were created for black men, and later black women, i.e., VP of Diversity, Manager of Conflict Resolution, and Assistant HR Manager, which were high paying jobs in most cases, but the difference was that these black men had 'better not' hire or promote other black men to policy changing positions or open the flood gates for black in general. However, the new minority non-black recruiters and hiring managers are hiring his own to get the jobs we once had or still desire. Bilingual is now a new prerequisite. Spanish, Korean, and Farsi are currently the 'must know' languages as part of job requirements. A lot of these jobs have absolutely nothing to do with serving the general public.

American black men, we have shot ourselves in the foot being more concerned about the cars we drive, the clothes we wear, the clubs we frequent than working your way into the board room, or setting your eyes on a policy changing position. Don't get me wrong, we work hard for the things we want, and we deserve it, but don't take your eye off the prize.

Let's talk a little man talk now.

Example:

Remember several seasons ago the Clippers made it to the playoffs, going toe-to-toe with the best of the west. Elton Brand was a monster. The team was clicking in over-drive. They were less than a minute from making it to the conference finals when then Clipper and perennial seasoned championship caliber pro named Sam Cassell cost them advancement to the next round. With a big ole kool-aid grin, thinking they had the game in the bag, Sam took his time advancing the ball past the half court line in the required eight seconds. The violation was a turnover, giving the opponent momentum to score and ultimately winning the game. The all-pro took his eye off the prize.

You don't take your eye off the prize until you have it in your hand. Even then you have to protect it to keep it. American black man, we will always have an opponent. Take the prize back. And remember, the coffee will always be black underneath all that cream.