Tribal Wars in the Workplace: How Black Culture Plays Out In Corporate America

Mavrelis, a white woman, shares her experience with career ending cultural clashes at work after studying how different women of color relate to White women on a cultural level. “The first way that Mainstream U.S. White people – especially White women – get to know others on meeting them for the first time is by asking personal questions. It’s a way of expressing interest in the other person and showing oneself to be open and friendly,” she said.

“There is also the expectation that the other person will respond by being inquisitive in return. African-American women view those openers by White women as nosy and often come up with some kind of stock answer to get the person to back off.What they don’t do, however, is ask questions back to the person which, in their culture, would be considered rude. Because of that, Black women often become labeled by White women as unapproachable and mean. Also, by seeing white women simply as being nosy, they miss that it’s also the way White women network. Both White and Black women miss opportunities to connect, in part because of these differences.”

Although the two have dedicated their careers to heightening understanding between mainstream cultures and those of other backgrounds, the two seem to understand that change is slow when it comes to an overhaul of societal behavior about race.

“One African-American man in one of our trainings asked if we will ever get to see people just as individuals,” said Kochman. “I said probably never, but we can help people know what it means to be a member of a group by understanding their social history, cultural background and communication style.”