I’ve worked for several companies and they have all been diverse from the top down. This isn’t the case here. For the most part, the people here were nice and helpful, but there were a few toxic people as well. I just knew that when I took this job there were going to be something that was going be racial or discriminatory, and was I proven right.
I observed quite a few situations that I would refer to as "soft" racial incidents. They weren't blatant, but being a minority I know the signs. There was one particular incident that I did bring to the CEO (a very nice, personable, and gracious person). He was very empathetic about what transpired and took my concerns very seriously. In hindsight, I wish I would have told him the whole scope of what I observed or experienced there. He speaks of wanting to create a diverse environment and I truly believe that is the vision that he would like for his company, but his vision isn’t trickling down to the rest of the organization. You can tell by the same candidate that continues to get hired there- young, white, and has a theater background.
I talked to my manager as well about the incident and after the last meeting I knew that it was time for me to go. I felt that the other parties involved were not reprimanded properly, I was expected to just turn the page and go on as nothing happened and continue to work around those people. I also felt like I was being policed. If you are a minority reading this you will know exactly what I’m talking about.
If I had to do it over again I would not have taken the job.