When we talk about the obstacles women face in the workplace, we often proceed, quite incorrectly, as if all women, regardless of race, ethnicity, or other distinctive identities that intersect with their gender, have a common, shared experience of bias. They do not. Black women, in particular, face unique obstacles to career advancement that are far more formidable and difficult to overcome than those faced by white women, or, indeed, other women of color or men regardless of their characteristics. Quite simply, Black women experience more workplace discrimination than any other demographic group.

How to help Black women in the workplace

Here are 8 things white women should do to help Black women avoid or overcome workplace biases, and not to foster (even unconsciously) their perpetuation.

1. Recognize that white cultural norms are discriminatory

The cultural norms, values, and expectations that permeate our white-dominated workplaces often force Black women to consciously adjust their style, appearance, and behavior to “fit into” the white organizational culture. When we interviewed a midlevel Black female manager for our book, It’s Not You, It’s the Workplace, she told us,

“Every day I dress for work as if I were going to a meeting with the CEO. I am always kind and sweet to everyone, and I always smile until my cheeks hurt. I want to be sure I am not seen as an angry black woman. Every night I drop into bed exhausted from the effort.”

As this manager’s comments make clear, Black women’s felt need to “code-switch” to be accepted in their workplaces can undermine their sense of authenticity. Because Black women are so often “advised”—by white women in particular—about how to dress, wear their hair, and be more sociable and less “ethnic,” even highly successful Black businesswomen, such as graduates of the Harvard Business School, report they cannot “be themselves at work.” As one Black female academic commented, “I need to speak their language, and I have to structure my [behavior to match theirs] . . . It’s like they don’t hear me if I’m the way I am.”

People who seek to enforce Black women’s conformity to white cultural norms with respect to dress, appearance, and behavior are their enemies, not their friends. As a white woman, you should seek ways to end the enforcement of these norms to assure Black women have the latitude they need to be their authentic selves in the workplace. One easy first step in this regard is for you to openly call attention to the value and importance of Black women’s distinctive perspectives, qualities, and experiences. 

2. Resist white privilege

In her classic 1989 paper, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, Peggy McIntosh writes, “As a white person, I realized I had been taught about racism as something that puts others at a disadvantage, but had been taught not to see one of its corollary aspects, white privilege, which puts me at an advantage.” McIntosh goes on to list some of the benefits she enjoys simply because she is white:

• I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.
• I am never asked to speak for all the people in my racial group.
• I can go home from most meetings of organizations I belong to feeling somewhat tied in, rather than isolated, out-of-place, outnumbered, unheard, held at a distance, or feared.
• If my day, week, or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it has racial overtones.

As a white woman, you can’t eliminate your white privilege—society gives it to you and you can’t give it back. You can, however, make certain that the Black women you work with are not disadvantaged because of your privilege, and you can use that privilege to help these women avoid or overcome the disadvantages they face because they aren’t white. 

3. Challenge microaggressions

Black women in the workplace commonly experience far more microaggressions—subtle, disrespectful, or prejudiced comments and actions—than white women. For example, a comment that a Black woman is “well-spoken and articulate” is a clear microaggression. If such a remark is made in your presence, call it out as biased and inappropriate. If you can’t do that at the time, discuss the incident with the perpetrator later and in private. And if a senior man is present, enlist his help. When men criticize incivility and microaggressions against women, they are less likely than other women to be accused of being “too sensitive” or “not being able to take a joke.” 

4. Be on the lookout for racial gaslighting

Telling a Black woman she is “imagining” that a remark was racially disparaging is gaslighting. And when someone attempts to make a Black woman doubt the legitimacy of her own reaction, judgment, or feelings about the racial slight she has experienced, that is gaslighting.

Nigerian American artist Jacquelyn Ogorchukwu Iyanah offers these examples of racial gaslighting: 

• “What I said/did was not racist”
• “It was just a joke, calm down”
• “Just to play devil’s advocate here”
• “Are you sure that’s what happened?”
• “In my opinion, I don’t think they were being racist, I think …”

Gaslighting of Black women often appears not to involve racism, but rather the simple dismissal of the value of their contributions or refusal to acknowledge the importance of their accomplishments. This is apparent in comments such as:

• “I think that is beside the point.”
• “You’re missing the real problem.”
• “I don’t know why you’re making such a big deal about this.”

Don’t be mistaken, however, as racial bias underlies these remarks as well.

Whenever possible, interrupt the gaslighting of Black women. For example, if you hear a Black woman being told she can’t take a joke, you can say something like, “I love a good joke BUT that was not a joke.” You can’t prevent all such gaslighting, but you can certainly do a lot to make sure it doesn’t happen to the Black women you work with. 

5. Open your workplace networks to Black women

Your organization’s employee resource groups, informal networks, and social gatherings are not truly inclusive unless the Black women in your organization feel welcome and comfortable in them. Unfortunately, Black women often don’t feel this way. Not surprisingly, therefore, 40% of Black professional women believe that they lack access to their organization’s informal networks, and as a result their career advancement is impaired.

As a white woman—with the privilege that entails—you can do much to be sure that when there are after-work social drinks, informal gatherings of loose but powerful workplace networks, and meetings of your organization’s formal ERG, Black women are included and made to feel welcome and comfortable—which may mean you have to personally invite and advocate for them.

6. Mentor Black women

If you are a manager, reach out to mentor and support Black women. Find ways to help them develop their professional skills and increase their career opportunities. Your ability to do this well—to be an effective mentor to a person of a different race—will depend on your asking more and telling less, for you won’t know the sort of help your mentee needs until you have done a good deal of listening. 

Jessica, a Black account executive we talked with for our book, told us: 

“It was not until a white woman supervisor started asking me about my career objectives and including me on her projects that I started to gain visibility. Other white women became more friendly with me and my abilities were taken seriously. Once this white woman signaled I was a valuable employee, things completely changed for me at work.”

7. Be open to difficult conversations

When you say or do an insensitive or stupid thing to a Black woman—and in all likelihood you will—acknowledge you messed up and make clear you want to do better in the future. Don’t expect the Black woman to excuse you or tell you how you should behave going forward; that is not her responsibility. Your responsibility is to show you are anxious to do better. 

Conversations about race can be very difficult, but they are the starting point for finally getting things right—so keep having them however many times that you get them wrong. As Edith Cooper, a Goldman Sachs Senior Director, advises, “Misunderstanding and miscommunication [concerning racial matters] can be tempered by the simplest acts most of us learned as children: listen well, choose your words with care, and respect others.” 

8. Work to make things better

The current fraught situation is not a new phenomenon. As Cooper wrote in 2016: 

“The unthinkable tragedies taking place across our country are painful. Each new event brings with it shock and sadness, and as we try to make sense of the senseless, we can be left feeling confused and powerless. While the path to resolution seems unclear, one thing is certain—if we want to make real progress, we must engage in an open conversation about race. … Conversations about race can be difficult and fraught with the risk of saying ‘the wrong thing.’ As a result, too often people say nothing at all. But silence has meaning and can be interpreted as indifference—or worse.”

Your goal in supporting Black women in the workplace is not to earn praise, feel virtuous, or assuage your guilt—it is to make things better for them. Sincere concerns and calls for patience are not enough to fix our country’s racial problems. Your goodwill is essential but more is needed to protect your Black sisters (and Black people) from the consequences of the racist patterns of thought and action that permeate our society. To end the disadvantages, dangers, and humiliations Black women experience daily, each of us must demand more of the leaders in our workplaces, civic and social associations, and governmental units. Being a friend, cheerleader, or ally is important but not enough. All of us need to find ways to reduce or end the systemic and interpersonal racism that makes Black women’s career advancement so difficult—and that requires action, not just talk.  

Authors’ note: As two white people, we would never presume to explain how Black people feel about any particular situation, much less how they should react and behave in the face of the social injustice, police outrages, and workplace discrimination that is so rampant in our society. But also because we are two white people we are acutely aware of the pervasive systemic and interpersonal racism in our social structures and workplace practices. Therefore, this article is directed to women, in an effort to increase their sensitivity and active resistance to the biases, incivilities, and discriminatory practices we see our Black sisters (and Black people) have to fight against every day.