TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/031389/03138900.071

Text File | 1992-09-23 | 5.2 KB | 102 lines

                                                                                LIVING, Page 60

When the Boss Is Black


    As a manager at the Xerox branch office in Syracuse, N.Y.,
Chester Howell supervises a staff of about 20, mainly repair
technicians and clerical workers. All but two are white. Howell
is black. A former copier-machine repairman who rose through an
affirmative-action promotion plan, he ran into some resistance
when he first assumed his higher job. There were fierce
arguments with one of his white assistant managers. "He
questioned every decision I made," says Howell. "He wanted to
double-check everything."

    But was that prejudice? "Heck, no," insists his old
antagonist, Vincent Venditti. "If Chet wasn't a minority
person, the relationship would have been the same. He wasn't the
first black manager I worked for." Venditti says his run-ins
with Howell were not the reason he transferred to a Xerox
branch office in Manhattan. But he does believe "some black
managers are too sensitive."

    The battle cry of the civil rights movement was equality.
But in the  workplace, the bottom line is authority. As more
blacks move up into higher-level jobs and more whites find
themselves working for black superiors, the two opposing
principles can often collide.

    Considering that it represents a reversal of centuries of
black subordination, the rise of the black manager has been
accomplished with remarkably little upheaval. But not without
some strain. African Americans who have risen through
affirmative-action plans can face resentment from white
underlings. Some white subordinates fret over whether black
bosses will favor other blacks. And the stories are common
among black managers of white employees who ceaselessly buck
their authority or who go over their heads to complain to
higher-placed whites.

    As a vice president at Rockwell International in Anaheim,
Calif., Earl S. Washington oversees a mostly white work force of
1,500. "I find myself under the magnifying glass every day,
proving that I understand how to run this business," he says.
"All bosses are second-guessed," explains Xerox vice president
Gilbert H. Scott, who heads a staff of 800 in the Southwest and
California, 75% of whom are white. "If you're a black boss,
you're probably second-guessed more."

    Collier W. St. Clair, a vice president for the Equitable
Financial Services Co., was a district sales manager in North
Carolina in the early 1970s. One of his responsibilities was
hiring, but many white applicants balked when they saw that
their boss would be black. "A lot of them didn't come back for a
second interview," he says. "I finally started asking people if
they would have any problem working with me."

    Since promotion is usually based on performance, the refusal
of some whites to do business with black executives can be a
source of frustration. David Grigsby is a broker at Merrill
Lynch in Manhattan. When he prospects for clients over the
phone, he does not always mention that he's black. That led to a
surprise for at least one investor, who showed up to meet his
adviser in person. He was "visibly shaken," Grigsby recalls.
Not long afterward, the client asked for another broker. "It
didn't take an Einstein to figure out what that meant," says
Grigsby.  Then he shrugs. "You have to develop a thick skin. You
can't bleed to death every time something like that happens."

    The American Institute for Managing Diversity, a research
organization affiliated with Morehouse College in Atlanta,
offers training for companies trying to manage increasing
cultural mixing in the workplace. Institute director R.
Roosevelt Thomas Jr. says racism is not always the explanation
when a black supervisor creates discontent among white workers:
"Sometimes people are not skilled at managing people who are
different from themselves." As an agency manager in Atlanta a
few years after his North Carolina post, Equitable's St. Clair
presided over a 90-member office with just a handful of white
workers. He found himself helping them cope with their minority
status. Having been the only black in meetings of 300 or more
people, he knew what they were going through. "Sometimes you
just get lonely for somebody to relate to," he says.

    Many black managers  say their biggest problem is learning
not to bristle at every  challenge to their authority. The
armed forces pioneered the elevation of blacks to supervisory
ranks after President Harry Truman ordered desegregation in
1948. In 1987 Brigadier General Fred Augustus Gorden became the
first black officer to serve as commandant of cadets at West
Point.  While he was walking across the campus one day, a white
cadet failed to give the requisite salute. Gorden paused. Still
no salute. He could have severely disciplined the cadet, but he
chose simply to talk with him instead. "I've learned to pick
and choose my battles," he explains.

    But sometimes patience wears thin. If faced with a white
employee who could not accept working under a black superior,
says Rockwell International's Washington, he would help the
recalcitrant employee find new work -- at another company. "I'm
not going to tolerate it," he says, "because I'm the boss."