"After an Uneasy Start, Finding Common Ground to Discuss Race Relations at Work"

"Some readers argued that it was inappropriate — and potentially inflammatory — to talk about race on the job. “It’s irrelevant to performing our jobs, which is what we’re hired to do,” one woman wrote.

One man, the lone black employee in a financial services office, said that he and his white co-workers avoid the topic altogether. One white woman described broaching racial issues with black colleagues, who promptly changed the subject. Two other women — one white and one black — described white colleagues who made thoughtless or insensitive racial comments.

No one said it would be easy. Not even in New York City. Not even in 2015.

Even so, Mr. Jones keeps trying.

He is a self-described nerd who lives on Staten Island and favors geeky glasses and button-down shirts. He spends long days at Magnetic, the technology company where he works. And he wants his colleagues — his work family — to understand his day-to-day reality."
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/03/23/nyregion/after-an-uneasy-start-finding-common-ground-to-discuss-race-relations-at-work.html?smid=tw-nytmetro&_r=0&referrer=

This reminds me of the time when I was in a large meeting at work, the only black person in the room, and the sounds of a Black Lives Matter protest from the street became clearly audible during a pause in conversation. And there was so much uncomfortableness for everyone; the predominant feeling in the room was clearly irritation.

The dominant cultural desire in many, many spaces is for ignorance - and the presence of a black person can shatter that ignorance, making the black person implicitly unwelcome unless they are willing to be good and maintain the invisibility of their experiences.

Related to: White Fragility.