Thank you very much for this comment!
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In reading this entire thread , there are alot of hurt feelings. I will say this. I am a black woman that had worked in this industry for 15 yrs. I have mostly worked in high end, contemporary, and blue chip brands. DISCRIMINATION IS RAMPANT. Its not the in your face kind, its the daily micro aggressions. That is what you deal with being a POC in fashion. If you are a white person and a POC’s experience is being shared with you , it’s not for you to question, provide statistics to dispute their claims, etc. All you have to do is listen , and decide which side of history you want to be on. If none of what I am saying makes any sense to you , then you are definitely apart of the problem.
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Thank you! As I’m sure you’ve read, my youth was used as a “point” to invalidate my experiences and the things I’ve witnessed while in this industry, I appreciate your response. And hope the many people who tried to dispute, and minimize POC’s experiences will learn the error of their ways.
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May I respectfully ask for examples of “micro aggressions” in a racist context? I’ve seen this term used a few times in this thread. I understand what the “in your face kind” of racism would be. I wonder what racist micro aggressions would be. I ask this question in order to learn. A couple of examples would be good, if you don’t mind.
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Hiya! Sure saying things like; You’re so articulate or You don’t sound black, when a POC tells you about their experience that was racist asking for every detail with the intention to challenge it, POC calls a white person out on something that they felt was offensive and their response is “Can’t you take a joke?” “I’m not racist!” “Dont be so sensitive!” Then precedes to go into a fragility space thus positioning themselve as a victim. One of my favorites (obvs I say that sarcasm) “I’m Irish my people were slaves too, we’ve moved on , black people should too.” Basically the intent of all of these type thing is to silence POC, and to futher the “othering” of us. It’s like this if a BIPOC is telling you about their experience with bias you should listen to learn and grow, not to challenge , question, be skeptical etc. I have been black my whole life and trust me I know bias when I see it. Thanks for reading!
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Hi…thank you for your educational reply. I understand much better now what you mean by micro aggressions. Yes, I see your points. I’ll try to keep my ears open for this sort of thing going forward and I’ll try to be of help when possible. (Of course, there is a lot more to say on the subject but in the interest of sticking to the greater topic of this being a professional networking website, I will leave it here).
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Also! Totally feel free to ask me anything… we can only move forward with open and honest conversations 
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Agreed! Some of my best friends became my best friends after honest/hard conversations. I hope that we will get to a point where we can do that in this country.
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Coolgurl, using a forum like this to propagate a narrative is just plain wrong. You post an article that is biased to further that narrative. “socially known as a white female profession?” Really? So, let’s say, using fact, not opinion, that 7% of US population is Black females (because not all POC are African-American), of that 7%, how many might be aiming at positions in HR, and then how many might be aiming at positions in HR in Fashion? As I mentioned in my previous post, our staff has more POC than non, and if you walk a trade show, you’ll find that proportionally, POC are represented quite well, definitely within % of overall population. It may seem popular today to stand on a soapbox and complain, and you may think that using the term “Karen,” allows you to backhandedly claim racism, but in truth, referring to non-POC women that way is racist. Strip away the labels, and perhaps you’ll have an easier time gaining employment and furthering your career.
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I understand your point however, it comes across as though you are speaking from a space of privilege which can only lead me to assume you may not be a POC, the term Karen is not a racist term rather its a stereotype used to identify someone often times then not a white woman who is using her privilege, a privilege bestowed upon her due to race, to make demands at the expense of others, often times resulting in the scrutiny, among other things of POC’s
To say “strip away the labels and perhaps you’ll have an easier time gaining employment” is to completely disregard that a person of color cannot strip away any label, we are born into the world with labels, labels created by white people not us. And then we go out to the world trying to work against these very labels that have been woven into the tapestry of this country. So unfortunately that’s not an option for us, if it were believe me the world at large would be a different place. And if you can’t see that, then that is part of the problem.
Translated as, you’re not a POC, so keep your opinion to yourself, and therein lies the problem. You can use a racist term to describe HR women, which is patently false, yet when someone far more experienced in the industry gives you advice, it’s because of “privilege.” Guess what, I am quite sure that attitude comes across in interviews, and I would give you more advice, but since you believe that I speak from privilege, not experience, and nothing I have to say might be of benefit, why bother?
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you missed the point completely, and therein lies your problem. I said your statement comes across as you’re speaking from a place of privilege. This last comment, confirms that. Nothing in my statements had the sentiment of “keep your opinion to yourself” but rather “here’s a perspective you haven’t considered because its never been your experience as a non POC person” . And guess what you’re so far outside of the truth its troubling, not for me but for you. You seem so inundated with the trop that POC’s are so “whoa is me”/race to cry wolf, that you can’t see or begin to comprehend people’s perspective that vary from yours.
Again, here’s another person referencing their “far more experience” as a basis to make a point that has nothing to do with the statement made in response to there’s. You can speak from privilege and experience, the two are not mutually exclusive, you’ve assumed that I believe them to be that where I’ve made no mention of that…
I’m not here for your advice, rather to offer you a perspective that challenges yours to see beyond your experience and the experience of someone else. But as you said, why bother? You’ve made it clear you don’t want to learn.
And again Karen is not a racist term. It’s a stereotype. I also never used the term. If you’d read the thread you’d see that. I’m merely here to challenge opinions and offer perspective.
No, I read it correctly. At this point it’s very easy to pick up on a narrative, and yes, 20+ years in an industry qualifies me to give advice, no matter my race, or sex. Interesting how you wrote off one stereotype, yet propagate another one. Good luck in your quest . . .btw, I don’t need to understand your experience in life, I just need to understand your experience as it pertains to your job, and your performance therein. The vast majority of people I deal with hire the best candidates, and how those candidates becomes a part of the team.
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You’ve missed the point again and I don’t care to explain it. Reading it and understanding it are not the same. Clearly it’s a tough pill to swallow, as you must be an hr professional. And as people in this industry and the world at large begin to be more vocal about their experiences, disregarding them will only lead to more trouble then good. As someone said earlier the point is to learn to evoke change. There is no learning in dismissing and disregarding. You say I propagate a stereotype? And what do you think you’re doing?
Good luck to you too, I wish learning beyond your experiences and listening and trying to remotely put yourself in others shoes upon you! Be well!
I wish I could like a reply - but Bekind’s reply is on point. If you feel attacked by the term Karen, you should be questioning why - is it because you recognize elements of that stereotype within your own behavior? To me, it seems like your white fragility is showing. Maybe read “Me and White Supremacy,” and learn to recognize your own white supremacy in gaslighting the poster of this thread. BIPOC have to deal with these issues everyday for their entire lives. Just because you’ve felt uncomfortable over the past three months, you don’t have the right to guilt and gaslight them for the terminology they choose to use to describe their oppressors. Do the work.
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And again to Madhatter - terms describing white people can never be “racist” - fundamentaly, racism is rooted in power and privilege. If you have the power, people cannot be “racist” towards you. You have a lot of learning to do to be successful in this new world. Read some books, suggested Me and White Supremacy before.
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Try this . . . “The inability or refusal to recognize the rights, needs, dignity, or value of people of particular races or geographical origins. More widely, the devaluation of various traits of character or intelligence as ‘typical’ of particular peoples.” Applies to no specific color. But carry that chip around long enough, and you won’t get far in the “new world.”
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It’s all fallen on deaf ears unfortunately, but welcome to the Schmatte!
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Complaining about “White Karens” not giving someone a job is not an appropriate term to use in a career forum. Period.
And if the people who insist on using or defending it can’t see why it’s inappropriate, counterproductive, classless, immature, alienating and racist; then I can’t help them. They will continue to not get jobs and feel even more marginalized, and it will be no one’s fault but their own.
Furthermore, racial tensions will only be exacerbated by those who believe they have all the answers and insist on telling strangers, whom they’ve never met, that they’re fragile or entitled and need to examine their “white fragility” or more absurdly; to “do work” simply based on assumptions about the color of someone’s skin.
Maybe these people need to look at their own hypocrisy and stop scapegoating others based on gender, age and race and examine their own fragility and sense of entitlement and victim-hood.
The world is enough of a sh*t show right now and I for one, have much more pressing matters to deal with.