Working While Black: The Black Person's Guide to Success in the White Workplace (Black Person's Guides)
Johnson, an employment attorney, draws on her personal and professional experiences, as well as those of friends and clients, to offer this guide for black people in workplaces dominated by whites. Acknowledging that in an ideal world such a guide wouldn't be necessary, Johnson highlights the particular issues faced by black Americans, from feelings of loneliness and isolation to concerns about fair treatment. She posits what she calls a "15 percent difference" between blacks and whites that occasionally accounts for friction and explores the contradictory opinions held by most whites and blacks about the need for affirmative action and efforts to develop a color-blind society and workforce. The book aims to increase the reader's awareness of the need to develop strategies for selecting favorable work environments and for getting and keeping a job. Johnson offers advice on the importance of grooming and using appropriate language, making alliances (fitting in without selling out), considering legal options when problems arise, and being healthy and happy on the job and away from the job.Vanessa BushCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved