Recently, someone at work touched my hair 🧵 It's the 4th in the last 12 months that a middle-aged white woman (yes it's relevant) decides to satisfy their curiosity by disrespecting my crown. I'd like to share what went through my head 1/x
All 4 times, they were healthcare professionals, not patients 'Didn't see this one coming, f**k there's a learner in the room and I don't have time to address it right now, I have work to do - ok ignore it, you'll get back to it' 2/x
I hadn't seen her reach, I just felt one of my twists move from behind - she had come in my office to ask me a work-related question. As I felt my hair move, I heard her whisper 'I just couldn't help it' I remained silent. Answered her question. She left. 3/x
I felt betrayed AND I was upset at myself for 2 reasons. 1) I wondered if I was too approachable since it was a recurrent problem 2) I hadn't intervened immediately and that was poor role-modelling for the trainee that witnessed it. 4/x
I hate when racism distracts me like this. I thought about it for a couple days, ranted to my sister. Then addressed it like I said I was going to. An article was printed for the offender. chose this one. parentsfordiversity.com/touching-black… 5/x
It was cute, simple, not too aggressive (you know how we internalize this shit). I work in a small place, I encounter this individual regularly. So I started with 'the other day, you touched my hair...' she knew what was coming, we chatted briefly. I gave her the article. 6/x
Then, I debriefed with the learner. They admitted that they were so busy trying not to F up that day that they hadn't noticed the incident. Being a POC themselves, they were grateful that we talked about casual racism in the workplace. Modelled how to self-advocate and others 7/x
That's it. That's the story. This is day-to-day racism, distracting us from our jobs and our joy. Keep your eyes and your mind open, keep your hands to yourself. 8/End
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