Stereotypes

1
Stereotypes

• African Americans are more violent than others
• African Americans are less intelligent than
  others
• African Americans are lazy irresponsible
• They blame everyone else for their problems
• Many African Americans are resentful troublemakers

2
Past Connections

• Slavery
• Kept illiterate and ignorant, stripped of culture
  customs, brutalized
• Post-slavery Free but Segregated
• Segregation de facto in North, legal in South
• Euro-American Rationalizations
• Denying the humanness of African Americans,
  supporting the separate but equal doctrine,
  ignoring the issue
• Movement toward True Equality
• Non-violent movement led to Civil Rights Act of
  1964

3
Current Profile

• 12 of US population
• 55 live in South
• 20 live in Midwest
• 20 live in Northeast
• 10 live in West
• African Americans gt 25 of population
• Louisiana, South Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia,
  Maryland, and Alabama

4
Three Tiers of Progress

• Middle-Class
• Home ownership, education, spiritual
• Under-Class
• 23 below poverty line
• Large African American prison population
• Racial profiling
• De-industrialization of America
• Struggling Between

5
Glass Ceiling Obstacles

• Hitting the Glass Ceiling, lack of opportunity,
  upward mobility
• Feeling pressured to undermine or drop their
  African American Identity
• Having to prove themselves, over over
• Dealing with stigma of being an affirmative
  action hire
• Coping with ethnic stereotypes

6
Education for Careers

• High school completion rate rose from 51 in 1980
  to 79 in 2000
• College enrollment increased 1.5x
• Intellectual Achievement Depends on Income
• Socioeconomic status - not ethnicity or gender -
  is the best predictor of both grades and test
  scores

7
African American Core Values

• Sharing
• Expressing personal style
• Being real and genuine
• Being assertive

• Expressing feelings
• Bouncing back
• Distrust mainstream establishment

8
African American Community Typical Customs

• Customs in Community Life
• Church plays a major role in social change
• Customs in Family Life
• Extended families - parents key people
• Strict no-nonsense discipline

9
Barrier 1 Breaking Out of Lowered Expectations -
Failure Cycle

• Others assumption that Im intellectually
  inferiorgt
• My internalized belief that Im intellectually
  inferiorgt
• Low self-confidence regarding intellectual tasksgt
• Poor performance on intellectual tasksgt
• Avoidance of such tasks

10
Success Cycle

• Assumption by leader that I can master
  intellectual tasksgt
• Internalized belief that I can master
  intellectual tasksgt
• Self-confidence in my ability to master
  intellectual tasksgt
• Willingness to put for the effort on intellectual
  tasksgt
• Development of intellectual skills

11
Barrier 2 Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling

• Historys Impact
• Exclusions, viewed negatively, lack of
  opportunities
• Low self-esteem self confidence
• Career Issues
• Hitting glass ceiling, lack of opportunity
• Pressure to act white, repress ethnicity
• Coaching Needs Strategies
• Need to network build relationships
• Monitor develop career strategies

12
Barrier 3 Breaking Through Blocks at Each Career
Phase

• Entry level Adjustment phase
• Encounter organizational personal prejudice
• Deal with own anger frustration, need to
  recapture positive attitude
• Career Development Phase
• Find mentors, develop conflict management
  management of prejudice skills
• Mastery Phase
• Failure is not an option
• Use protective hesitation

13
Building on African American Strengths

• Planning, Creating, Problem Solving
• Asset to teams, creativity, assertive in
  expressing feelings, direct communication
• Building Relationships
• People focus, expression of feelings, sharing
• Connecting with African American Marketplace