I'm not talking special "Minority-only" or "Women-only" forums - but tearing down and rebuilding a foundation that truly addresses the inherent and deeply-entrenched barriers that keep women back and to a lesser extent - but no less important - keeps minorities back as well.
I'm the first to admit I'm not the poster child for the issues faced by ethnic businessmen and women, but I think this line was misconstrued as if I thought minorities were held back to a "lesser extent" than women.
In the spirit of being clear about my thoughts, I just wanted to point out that the "inherent and deeply-entrenched barriers that keep women back" are not necessarily the same ones that keep minorities back. I was speaking specifically about two barriers that I outlined in my response but also referencing a more insidious one that I did not discuss overtly in my post. I'm listing them here for clarification:
1. Sexism - For decades, this has been a barrier that has held women back, regardless of ethnicity. (I won't even go into the history of women's roles in society before I was born). Not to say there isn't "reverse sexism," meaning males getting a brunt of discrimination due to gender, however, our societal norm tends to be that women don't belong in places of power. The light version of this is "we can't find any qualified women," therefore we cannot put one on the stage at our events to speak or cannot bring them on as a board member or cannot elevate them to CEO. A harsher version is the vilification of women in power.
2. Ageism - While I think ageism affects anyone who is, well, old or older than the "average" in any given industry or business stage, I wasn't speaking about the implications of age on ethnically diverse entrepreneurs. I could be wrong here, but I'd venture to guess that your average ethnic entrepreneur will not say "ageism" is at the top of their list of barriers that are holding them back.
3. Off Ramping - This is the unspoken barrier that is so entrenched in American industry that, while it also affects women of different ethnicities, it is something women - and not male entrepreneurs - predominantly face. Off ramping is the conscious and often difficult choice of career women on fast tracks to step off those fast-moving roads to business successes to have children. God forbid they choose to stay home with their children because that usually spells a kiss of death in terms of upward mobility in their careers.
In my case, I spent several years trying to have a child and then experienced post partum depression which directly impacted my ability to work. I was urged by doctors not to resume the lightening speed pace of my work that I had been keeping in order to maintain my business status. Eventually, I was told that if I did not stop working altogether, I'd be hospitalized.
Over four years later, I came back to the "new media" industry not recognizing any of the "players" and unable to get a foothold in the industry that I had helped to pioneer. Anyone in tech circles knows that this is a very "what have you done lately" business, and four years is like four decades in Internet years.
So what did I do? Whine and complain? Hardly. I just busted my butt to rebuild my profile in the industry, to remind people that I was still alive and kicking, to do good work for my clients, and to write about my observations and learnings as social media began to emerge to hopefully help others.
To those who pointed out my comment about the barriers holding women back - and to a "lesser extent" - minorities, I will say this:
I could be wrong, but I don't believe sexism, ageism and off-ramping are the main barriers of ethnically diverse entrepreneurs or are only a small part of their landscape. I think one of the major barriers holding anyone who is not "white" back is racial prejudice, and in some (many?) cases, racial bigotry.
I say this just to be clear.
I can't even begin to imagine the issues anyone who is not white faces in a nation founded by whites and still (although rapidly changing) dominated by whites. I personally have passed for white even though I check the Hispanic box on forms, and it isn't lost on me how this has impacted my opportunities. My ethnicity has not been a major aspect of my upbringing, much to my lament, but if it had been, I'm not sure I'd have had the same professional experiences I've had to date. I hate saying that, but it is a reality that cannot, should not be ignored or left unspoken.
So to my readers of color, my friends and colleagues of color, I cannot speak for you, and by no means do I mean to diminish your experiences by talking about my own. The dialogue has to start somewhere. Positive change has to happen somehow. I'm working on my new project Chain of Daisies to do something.
To everyone reading this: What are YOU doing?
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