The Burton Wire‘s Editor-in-Chief wrote a post for The Root demonstrating the shared experiences of black women in the workplace as evidenced by the treatment of U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice and meteorologist Rhonda Lee. Read an excerpt from the post below:
EXCERPT
It has been one heck of a week for black women in the workplace. U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice faced criticism about her handling of the events in Benghazi, Libya, from members of the GOP perhaps hell-bent on making Democrats pay for a 2012 U.S. election win. Rice’s reputation was besmirched as she was poked, pulled, prodded and bullied by a mob of angry white politicians led by Sen. John McCain to such an extent that The Root‘s Keli Goff proclaimed Rice to be “this generation’s Lani Guinier.”As Goff explained, Rice was being ushered into a sisterhood that women in general and black women specifically know all too well — potential censure when attempting to rise to a position of power.
While Rice was being lambasted, a story out of Shreveport, La., emerged involving a black meteorologist named Rhonda Lee, who was fired from KTBS-TV ostensibly for explaining the beauty and validity of wearing natural hair. A viewer questioned her on Facebook about wearing a short Afro. The viewer suggested that she might have cancer and that she might consider wearing a wig or growing out her hair because he found the look unattractive. Lee replied in a respectful manner, taking the time to explain why black women wear their hair in natural styles and why Lee is proud of her African-American ancestry.
That incident happened Oct. 1. Another incident took place on Nov. 14, when a viewer suggested that a segment on the channel, called the “Three Minute Smile,” showed too many children of color. Lee also responded, explaining that the children were randomly selected. She even wished him “happy holidays.”
Apparently Lee’s explanation of the importance of natural hair and the selection process for the ABC affiliate’s segment was possibly too much for executives. They fired her for violating a policy Lee contends was never written down. KTBS maintains that Lee and another white male reporter were fired over violations of station policy about posting on Facebook, not because of her hair. They also allege that she had been previously warned. Lee maintains the memo that KTBS management offered in response to the subsequent uproar mentioned only viewer complaints, as opposed to “comments,” which are what Lee addressed. Some viewers have been outraged by the firing, and Change.org has started a petition to get Lee rehired.
What I find interesting about Lee’s case is that instead of being supported for standing up for herself like ABC’s Jennifer Livingston, Lee was punished. You may recall that in October, Livingston, the morning anchor for the LaCrosse, Wis., station was championed by her bosses and viewers for standing up to a bully, who in a letter called Livingston a bad role model because she is overweight. Livingston was given airtime to address the viewer’s personal attack. Her passionate response went viral on the Internet with the YouTube video getting more than 10.5 million views.
When I first learned of Lee’s firing, I immediately thought of Livingston and wondered how the situation differed. The one thing that the women share is that viewers feel that they have the right to insult, hurt and humiliate women in news based on their looks. The one thing that is drastically different is how their news stations, both ABC affiliates, responded.
Read the entire post at The Root.
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