Using a racial or sexist slur in a job board is not appropriate or conducive to achieving more diversity in hiring practices. And contrary to your statement, people of color are not immune to being racist just because they are marginalized. All groups are capable of and do hold racial prejudices. And no one enjoys being targeted or attacked due to their age, gender or skin color.
Also, FYI—white women are NOT in power—in the grander scheme of things—white men are. Yet older and middle aged white women are being scapegoated and are disproportionately bearing the brunt of recent anger over inequality. Therefore, it is not only racially biased (if that term is more acceptable to you), but also misogynistic and ageist to target and stereotype them based on their gender & age.
What the people using the “White Karen” term don’t seem to understand is that it is divisive because it automatically puts one group on the defensive. I understand that it may feel justified, cathartic and freeing to finally be able openly and publicly bash white people—or older white women in particular (because that’s safer & they’re less likely to fight back) but at the end of the day it’s counterproductive.
This question about discriminatory hiring practices could have easily been framed without using the “ White Karen” term.
I am not and never have been a hiring manager but I have worked in personnel in a supporting role in the past. There is no doubt coded, unspoken discrimination. One major reason is because white hiring managers are terrified of racial discrimination lawsuits. Even if a person of color is fired for just cause, there is a risk of litigation due to race. Therefore, it’s easier just to circumvent that risk altogether.
Also consider that now, hiring managers research job candidates online; and if they find that applicant using the term “White Karen” all over the place, it will automatically raise a red flag. No hiring manager, of any color wants to risk hiring someone who will potentially make trouble and who from the beginning, is openly biased and presumptive of racial persecution.
Also entertain for a moment that if, for instance the shoe was on the other foot—and a black woman was the hiring manager, and she saw that white applicants were using the term “Black Shaniqua” as a generalized term for having no luck with black female hiring managers, it would be a clear indication that these individuals already have an open, racially biased contempt for them and their authority. Why should they consider hiring them or feel compelled to help them?
Also. if this questioner is concerned about discrimination, they could focus their search on black companies or businesses who have publicly pledged to hire more people of color; or perhaps create their own job or hiring coalition specifically for POC.
The fashion industry has been shrinking and disappearing for decades and was already in deep trouble prior to the pandemic and there are precious few jobs. Everyone needs to make a living, and as an older female worker I also feel disposable, marginalized and irrelevant—so the last thing I need is to be on a job board where there is condoned, open hostility based on demographics.
I think after 400 years of slavery maybe the world does owe “us” a little bit after all.