Stop Playing in Our Faces: The Disrespect of Black Professional Women in Higher Education

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

Malcolm X said it best, “The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.”

In recent weeks we all witnessed the very public witch hunt that took place against Dr. Claudine Gay, the first Black woman president of Harvard University. From antisemitism, to plagiarism, and then DEI, the tiki torch holders were relentless in their efforts to have her removed from her position. But as a Black women who has worked in higher education, as I watched this horrific lynching unfold, deep in my heart I knew this had nothing to do with her academic integrity or the false hatred of Jews that the media had manufactured.

A Black person, let alone a Black woman, was never supposed to be the President of the most prestigious university in America. There, I said the quiet part out loud. If you think there weren’t some angry white people in the wings waiting for a reason to attack her credibility, you my friend are living under a rock and haven’t read the room in a long time.

Black women, like myself, held our breath when we learned of her promotion. “Would this country allow this women to lead this university in peace, or would they soon find a way to get rid of her?” Six months later and we got our answer.

Blacks in white academic spaces

If you are a Black person who has ever worked in higher education outside of a historically Black college (HBCU) you know that the world of academics is a lonely place. We (Black women) are often the only Black face in our departments. Why? Because primarily white institution (PWI) are not considering diversity hires. Let me say the quiet part out loud - they don’t care about diversity. If a Black person is being considered for a position we have to be twice as good, have attended top tier universities, and have multiple advance degrees, in addition to a thousand published research articles, before the status quo will allow us anywhere near a classroom on their campus, let alone the president’s office! We are not unqualified DEI hires.

Why plagiarism is difficult…

So let’s tackle these plagiarism allegations.

I had a friend who was on the fire Claudine bandwagon (yes, a Black woman), and I had to sit her down and explain how higher education works. People on the outside think they know, but they have no idea. First - she thought professors were paid a lot of money (I laughed really hard). Gay got a salary bump after her appointment to president, but the majority of college professors are hovering right above the poverty level. Then I had to explain how tenure works. When starting out as an Assistant Professor your position isn’t automatically protected - that comes after 5-6 years of hard work, submitting an application, and having your entire life placed under a microscope by a committee of your ‘peers’ who says yeah, or nay.

Then I had to explain how a dissertation works and how our research is reviewed by a committee of at least four people who have to sign off on it, in addition to a private editor (that you pay out of your own pocket), and then the university’s editor (this is how it worked at LSU and I was beyond exhausted making all of those changes.) Every article that we submit to a journal is also examined by a reviewer and their responses are usually brutal. Before an academic publication will allow your work to be published their suggested changes have to be made - especially anything that could bring into question the mere thought of plagiarism. The checks and balances are insane!

And if you thought Dr. Gay sat before Congress and shared her personal thoughts about student behaviors and antisemitism on the campus of Harvard, you are again sadly mistaken. Like any corporation, you have to meet with the PR and legal team before you can open your mouth to the public. They tell you what you can legally say that will not jeopardize the integrity of the institution nor get them sued. You also do not make any decisions without them being presented to the board of directors FIRST. They have little power, if any at all.

Photo by kevin turcios on Unsplash

So to the person standing on the outside looking in, believe me when I tell you higher education is more than Saturday tailgating and football games. Behind the scenes in those ivory towers, especially at primarily white institutions, are powerful old men who are holding on to their control like a relic Red Box DVD rental station in front of Walgreens. Misygony is alive and well in these spaces and the discrimination and mistreatment of Black women continues to run rampant.

No Black person can just walk into Harvard and say we want to be the president. Dr. Gay didn't get to be the 30th President of Harvard because she was a DEI hire. She got there because her qualifications were immaculate! She was selected to be the president because of the blood, sweat, and tears she contributed to the advancement of her career over the years. But in the end, Harvard did not waiver in their American-like behavior when they treated her as just another disposable commodity.

When the mistreatment becomes too much…

Now…if you thought teasing and bullying ended on the elementary school playgrounds or in the court of public opinion like what happened to Dr. Gay, you’re wrong…which brings me to the suicide of Lincoln University Vice President of Student Affairs, Dr. Antoinette Candia-Bailey on January 8, 2024.

In a statement from her family, it was reported that Dr. Candia-Bailey, a Black woman, was being bullied and had experienced severe mistreatment in her position as VP from her boss, President John Moseley, who happens to be a white man (I still need somebody to explain to me how a mediocre white man who used to be a college basketball coach, became the president of a historically Black college!).

According to HBCU Buzz, Dr. Candia-Bailey felt unsupported and disregarded as she experienced continuous abuse after her countless attempts to speak out on the bullying and harassment she had experienced from her boss. In a letter that she penned before her death, Dr. Candia-Bailey shared about the negative behavior she endured from the Lincoln University President and other leadership officials, after she disclosed her mental illness to the university.

Having worked in higher education and being the victim of sexual harassment, I know what it is like to have your co-workers - fellow professors and administrators to not believe you, to not support you, and yep…to tease and bully you, because you tried to advocate for your damn self. As one Black woman professor informed me, “You need to put your big girl panties on and just shut up! He harasses everyone and you’re no different.” Like it was a badge of honor to go through this shit and survive. When I tell you there were days I thought about ending my life because I was deeply depressed, I tell you no lies.

And yes, I did look for another job, but changing jobs in higher education is a long process that happens during certain times of the year. You can’t just jump up and say, “I’m going to find another job,” and then quit. The academic job search is brutal! Yet in the end, I resigned from my position as an Assistant Professor of Social Work without having another job lined up because mentally, I just couldn’t take it any more.

Final thoughts…

My advice for a Black woman who is currently catching hell in higher education is this - that job is not worth your sanity.

My advice for higher education leadership - create safe spaces for Black women on your campuses to fellowship and have a sense of belonging, support your Black women professors with nurturing mentors, provide access to counseling and encourage mental health days off. Take a look at your current policies and begin to decipher what is outdated, harmful, and never should have been a policy to begin with. Examine your university’s protocols for reporting workplace abuse and how the abusers are currently begin held accountable.

In the end, let’s stop pretending Black women aren’t catching hell in higher education, that work trauma doesn’t exist, and that we should be strong and just deal with the abuse. America has a serious issue when it comes to toxic work cultures and the mistreatment of Black women - especially in academia. And if you don’t believe me, just look at what happened to Dr. Claudine Gay and Dr. Candia-Bailey.

Dr. Carey Yazeed is a behavioral scientist and creator of the workbook - Unbreak My Soul: How Black Women Can Begin To Heal From Workplace Trauma. Dr. Yazeed specializes in creating safe spaces for professional Black women to exhale. Interested in having her speak at your upcoming event or facilitate a workshop, click here.