#DiversityandInclusion #WorkplaceCulture #RacismAtWork
Hey everyone, I wanted to open up a discussion about my experience at work as the only Asian employee at a small startup. 🤔 While I can’t definitively say that I’m facing racism, there are some instances that make me question if I’m being treated unfairly based on my race. Here are a few examples:
– Different expectations during standups
– Unequal treatment when bugs arise
I’m curious to hear your thoughts and experiences on this topic. Have you ever felt singled out at work because of your race? How did you navigate the situation? 🌟
As for a possible solution, I believe open communication and education on diversity and inclusion could greatly benefit workplaces. By fostering a culture of understanding and empathy, we can create a more inclusive environment for everyone. What do you think? Let’s discuss! 💬 #InclusionMatters #EqualityAtWork
It could be racism, but not being overt it is really hard to say. They might dislike you personally, or something about your style (e.g. communication style or code style) or personality. Without overt racism you would need to see patterns across many individuals who are and are not treated differently for their race, to know if the behavior is racism.
It might not be racism, but they definitely don’t like you.
Keep studying so you don’t have to put up with that nonsense. I was in your shoes before.
I’m black (not in US) but it’s known if you’re from a different demographic, then you need to be very liked by the other demographic to succeed there. Because being different from them, they can silently use that against you. They can kind of gang up against you.
That’s why you see sometimes minorities have to be overly nice, bootlickers, because it’s the only way they can survive, kind of be accepted by all the others.
But if you come about as someone not very liked, maybe aggressive, or some not-so liked traits, then being from a different demographic magnifies things. Having those traits as a local is seen as being different, but having those traits as someone from a different demographic is seen as a concern.
A common problem with small startups is cliques. You either have a bunch of brodudes starting a company or high-ranking people hiring their friends.
You can’t really win in that case. Either go slowly and try to gain their trust or quit.
Maybe you have a crappy personality. Do you joke around with them? Participant in team events?
Assuming all you say is true, it would be very hard to conclude the cause is racism, but it is easy to conclude that they don’t like you or treat you differently for some reason.
Sounds more like just shitty management. They apparently hired you to be a workhorse, leaving the research to guys who have been there longer. They should make expectations more clear.
Blaming you for other peoples bugs is crazy though, that’s just stupid.
You might just be the workhorse of the team. I code faster than my colleges, and I’m single. I’m in the office a lot more (not leaving for kids appointments, school pickups, etc). I churn out about 2 to 3 times the work of my team members. When anything goes wrong, even when I didn’t do it, like something went out untested or they did something I told them not to do, I’m expected to fox it. I hardly take PTO, but when I do, they get so bent out of shape.
I am Black, and I work in a different office than the rest of my team, but while I know they treat with some bias, they are not overtly racist. They are just taking advantage of my skill set.
If you are the team workhorse, just churning out work, and that is how they see you. That is all they are going to want you doing.
Also startups are fucking toxic hellholes. I’ve avoided them my entire career, but I joined one a few years ago. The worst decision of my life. I fucking hate this place. I can’t wait to join a stodgy old company with a real HR department and rules.
In general, I’d say minorities should avoid startups. You will always be the odd man out.
Are you more senior than the rest of the team? Do you have a character issue ? Do you work well with other teammates? In your honest opinion do you crank out quality code?
I ask this because in our team, there’s an Asian born Asian older guy , Taiwanese to be exact ( supposedly with a lot more experience than the rest of us). He can’t work well with people. His code quality is extremely poor. He doesn’t understand code and concepts well. His code is a textbook example of spaghetti code. He takes offense during code review.
The rest of us work together well and try to improve our code based on input from others etc…. Now I can totally understand if he left out because none of us want to work with him because of his character flaws not his race and not even his incompetence.
Now answer honestly the above questions and see if you have issues. If you don’t, then definitely it’s either racism or they don’t like you because of some mishap.
A sense of humor and bringing in breakfast burritos or donuts sometimes goes a LONG way. I’m female, getting older and more forgetful (which I now love to joke about too), and I’m always very well liked and respected on every team I’m on, at every company, and I can often fix the dynamic on a cold team. If you’re naturally reserved it can be tough whipping out humor but I would say do what you can to make yourself likeable. Have discussions that aren’t always work-related, share a cool hobby, invite the team to go to lunch with you for BBQ. It goes a long way.
Been half Asian all my life; Korean-American here. You’ll make it through life much easier and get to the root of problems much faster if you drop that “Asian & I’m having work problems = white people must be racist” mentality.
East Asian people are often seen as just workhorses for companies. It’s harder for us to get leadership positions, bamboo ceiling and all. There are prevailing stereotypes that we’re not inventive or critical thinkers at a big-picture level, that we’re just good at doing what we’re told, etc. I’m sure that’s contributing to how they’re treating you. I’d probably look for another job with more diverse leadership.
From the perspective of a black guy, i think you are just the new guy and the new guy is always the outsider. On top of that, i dont think you are particularly liked but imo, who cares, you are there to do a job and get paid.
Now if they start taunting you or making jibes at you, then it could be more malicious.
The refactoring other people’s code to make it more readable is a red flag to me. Typically, when people say that, they are just making it more readable to them and not necessarily making it better. Often it also goes against the coding standards of the larger code base. Are you new?
Both to the job and in terms of years of experience?
Edit:
My overall advice is it is better to assume it is something you are doing that to assume huge character flaws of everyone around you.
Also, be direct. Talk to your manager while keeping the “It’s probably me” attitude. Say to your manager that you feel you are rubbing people the wrong way and ask what it is you are doing. They will likely tell you and then you should be willing to gameplan with them on what you can do to make it better.
That is much more likely to solve the situation than anything. And if you do all that and it doesn’t improve, then it is just not a good fit and start looking for something new.
Actual racism in America is extremely rare, unless you’re counting affirmative action.
I’ll echo what others have said and agree it’s probably not *explicit* racism, but I think people are often quick to dismiss how race can even subtly affect our perception. I also work at a startup and we are fairly diverse, which I think helps to diffuse any socio-cultural tension. But even still, I have been in meetings/standups where people say or respond to someone in a way that leaves a bad taste in my mouth because I know I wouldn’t be talked to that way (I am a white guy).
I guess my question for you is what you want the outcome to be? If this is just to vent/validate, totally fair, but I think depending on if this behavior continues there could be productive steps to take for both yourself and other devs at your company who end up in a similar situation. At minimum, it sounds like you have a clique problem with people who are insecure about a new guy coming in and trying to clean all their stuff up.
I would not rule it out, but if you want to make it work I would try to adapt first. When ever I change teams I feel I’m under the microscope, need to prove you care, you do clean code, don’t re-invent the wheel and all that good stuff.
Be humble, if in doubt ask questions, try to win them over. Not defending them but it’s in your best interest if you manage to make your situation better.