TIME: Almanac 1990/1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso/time/031389/03138900.071

Text File | 1990-09-22 | 5KB | 96 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."