A Black student was filled with energy and determination to be the best he could be in everything he did.  Just two months after getting his MBA, he secured his first job at Cox Interactive Media in Georgia, a company that soon went underground.  He was hired by a guy called Paul, who was also going to be his supervisor.  He was very happy and was determined to climb the stairways to heaven in the business world. 

On his first week of work, he finally met Rhonda Hills, who was the head of the Business Analyst Department and the only other person with an MBA in the entire department.  She was out of town during the interview process and she did welcome him to the team.  As the weeks went on, the new employee realized that he had no work.  He sat there the whole day checking emails, asking for something to do, and wondering why he woke up every morning.  He bothered them so much that they began to give him Excel spreadsheets to design and put in numbers.  This was far below his expectation but he got a paycheck.   

Soon he got discouraged because he was a guy that was driven by accomplishments.  He wanted a job where he goes home at the end of the day and see what he had accomplished or will accomplish soon.  The job was not fulfilling at all and it really felt terrible getting a paycheck for nothing.   So he went to Rhonda to speak about getting more work and occupying his time.  Rhonda simply sent him away saying Paul will take care of it.  To his surprise, Paul brought all kind of spreadsheets to play around with, but it had nothing to do with nothing.  A time came Rhonda started e-mailing work to Paul and him to do, and what was not clear to him, he would go ask Rhonda.  When he called her and left messages, she will not pick up the phone even if she was in the office doing nothing.  When he emails her, she would never reply.  When he walks into the office, she will always excuse herself and promise to get back to him.  Each time he sent an e-mail, called, or walked into her office with questions, Paul miraculously came to his desk within minutes with answers.    It was obvious to all that could reason that Rhonda did not want to have any contact with the new employee, but for what reason?   

This went on for about three months and you could see the burden around Paul’s neck.  Must he suffer for hiring a Black worker?  The once friendly Paul was becoming irritated with the black worker.  After all, life was more pleasant for him and dedicated time to his work before this Black guy came.  This was a cultural shock to the worker because he had never seen racism at this level.  Where a boss isolated you and punishes the supervisor for hiring you.  In his presence, all other members of the department who were Whites would walk into Rhonda’s office and be laughing and joking, but when he went in, he was always excused and Rhonda Hills was always busy.  Soon, Paul began to find all kinds of problems with the worker’s work.  He began to write him up for all kinds of silly issues that other members did as well.  The pressure was now on Paul to get rid of the Black guy he brought in or live in hell.   

When January came, the Black worker got a poor review, which he did not accept.  He complained to the Vice President about his treatment, so Rhonda and Paul were forced to have a meeting with him and convince him about his bad review.  It was not long that they gave him a portion of the annual Redbook report to create.  This was his first chance at it but no one in the entire department would corporate with him, not even Paul.  So he did the best he could, but they were unhappy with the performance.  So he reported his situation again to the Vice President who ordered the entire department to work on it together.  To his surprise, no one in the entire department could do his imaginary portion of the Redbook project that was supposed to be done annually.  The department had to bring a Black lady from another department to sit them down like rabbits and basically train them all, including Rhonda Hills, on how to do the job they gave their newest employee.  Is God truly watching over us or what?  It was a huge humiliation to the decency of how humans should be treated in a civilized society.   

He soon resigned from the job in search of another after the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission advised him to move on because Georgia was a “fire at will” state and it was better for him to get a job where they really wanted him.  In fact, the Black lady who came to train the department later told him that she was surprised that he was even hired because she has never seen a Black worker work under Rhonda Hills in her four years.  She also made it clear that whenever she called all managers for a training session, Rhonda did not only refuse to show up, she even refused to acknowledge the invitation, except if her White colleague called the training.  Rhonda Hills need to know that slavery and segregation of Blacks is long gone.  If she chooses to keep up that evil system, she can try getting a job at a satanic temple or something.  I hope this article will help hinder or deter Rhonda Hills from mistreating other Black workers like this.