As a young black woman from Cape Town my mother had instilled in me the culture of working hard and reaping what you sow. I followed this through. I studied very hard, did well in school and passed both my degrees with distinction. I got articles at a big five law firm and decided to join their Johannesburg office. I felt that the Cape Town office had little to no black people and that Johannesburg was more diverse and had better opportunities for me. In addition the stories of how Cape Town is racist and so forth from people outside the city made me want to experience the rest of South Africa, supposedly greener pastures.
As a Cape Townian I always believed that black people had it made in Johannesburg. Every successful person who was young, black, rich and educated seemed to make it all happen in the city of Gold. The example of young black people being prosperous are few and far between in Cape Town. As a driven young woman it was only natural for me to gravitate to the city of Gold. So, despite my mother wanting me to stay and work in Cape Town for at least a year before moving to big bad Johannesburg. I left, straight after my second degree.
I arrived here thinking this would be so great, I would be seeing more black faces and more people that I can learn from. Yes this is true. Corporate life in Johannesburg is more diverse but I feel that it is still not diverse enough. A big five law firm cannot have just five black female partners. A statistic like that should not only shock but sadden a lot of aspiring black attorney’s out there. Why is transformation moving at such a slow pace when the majority of ll.b graduates are black?
I was disheartened to experience racism from not just white colleagues but also black men who still subscribe to the notion of white being always right way. As a newly qualified graduate at a job you expect to be mentored and for there to be a skills transfer. In reality you will find that the mentoring is geared more towards your white counterparts. In my mind I have reconciled this to be because of familiarity. We are more likely to be comfortable with those familiar to us and therefore teach those who are like us. I have put this in softer terms but it is blatant racism to not be willing to teach someone based on the colour of their skin no matter how uncomfortable it is for you. The black woman falls under the cracks in this scenario. How do we stop the cycle of creating white executives and start the cycle of upskilling black women and teaching them so that they will be executives of the future?
This is just my personal experience please share yours too. I want this article to start a progressive dialogue. I believe as black women we need to talk, support and teach each other. With all the racial incidents happening around us it is time to look inward and not outward. We can emancipate ourselves.
By Kiba Ignite
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