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The Only Black Guy in the Office
Assimilation Is Inevitable for Black Professionals
I keep it realer than most while on the job, but there are limits to how freely I’ll speak around my co-workers
Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.
Around this time last year, I had a professional breakthrough. Last summer, in the midst of various American institutions being taken to task for upholding systemic racism, I decided to shed my code-switching ways once and for all. Longtime readers may remember me pouring out a lil liquor for my White voice and making a personal promise to more closely align my out-of-office and on-the-clock personas. I’ve been logging on to work as my full Black self ever since.
I have no regrets about this subtle yet meaningful choice. Keepin’ it real hasn’t gone wrong yet. But if I’m being honest, there are still words and phrases in my vocabulary that I reserve for outside of work ecosystems. It’s especially palpable for me after spending weekends around my people — homecomings, weddings, cookouts, family reunions — before rejiggering the lexicon come Monday morning.
As soon as we were both seated, he started…
