By Earl G. Graves. In the audience, knowing smiles turn into roars of recognition as even the guy wearing a business suit and desperately waving a gold card is passed by. In New York, all African-Americans know this dance. For black corporate employees throughout the country, it is not just taxi doors that tend to stay closed. And years of feeling isolated in this environment take a toll.
Race is still a great divide at work.
Two new books take up these tough questions. At the same time, white managers are educated about racism, including their own, and all managers are expected to promote equality in their departments. The author tries to make his case through the fictional tale of Percy McGee, a white manager at the National Flashlight Company who eventually sees the error of his smug, racist ways. But the story never comes to life. The best of the book, believe it or not, is in the accompanying charts and other passages written in Mr. Graham's nonfiction voice.