Porsche, Audi, Volkswagen

By Kimberly Harris, M.Ed.

www.DistinctiveVoiceConsulting.com

 

It was the fall of 2021 when I visited my car dealership to pick up a part that I’d ordered. I rushed in after work to catch the parts department before they closed. I was in a good mood because fall is my favorite season and there was sunshine in the Pacific Northwest. When I entered the service department, there were three customer service desks, one for each car brand. As I turned the corner of the service department, I found myself face to face with a young white woman who stood to attention when she saw me. She asked me if I was there for Volkswagen service. I replied “no,” that I was there to pick up a part from the parts department. Suddenly I felt it: that sting of a thinly veiled instance of racism, a put down, being made to feel less than. I brushed away the feeling, as many people from historically marginalized groups in the United States do daily, and proceeded to pick up my part. As I waited for the young man to retrieve my item I couldn’t shake the feeling of why the woman assumed I was there for service for the least expensive car that the dealership sold. Was she a history major that understood systemic racism and how marginalized people in the United States have been systemically discriminated against that created financial oppression? Did most people of color she saw on a day to day basis go there for Volkswagen service? Or did I look like a Volkswagen owner? If so, what does a Volkswagen owner look like? I had a sinking feeling of being stereotyped and it hurt. I then realized that I was a victim of a micro-aggression. A micro-aggression, according to Kevin Nadal, a professor of psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, is “defined as the everyday, subtle, intentional — and oftentimes unintentional — interactions or behaviors that communicate some sort of bias toward historically marginalized groups.” And let’s be clear here. There is nothing wrong with owning a Volkswagen. My very first car was a Volkswagen and I loved it. The problem here is the assumption that I could not have been at the dealership for service for one of the more expensive cars. Why couldn’t I have been there for Porsche or Audi service? I didn’t have an, “I love Volkswagens” shirt on, or a Volkswagen button or a baseball cap, so there was no external concrete reason why this employee could have made her assumption. And this doesn’t just happen to me. Oprah had this experience in Zurich when a store clerk would not show her a handbag because the clerk thought it was too expensive for her https://www.cnn.com/2013/08/09/world/oprah-winfrey-racism-switzerland/index.html

As a person of color I had a choice to make: one, do I want to let this slide and forget about it, or two, do I want to use this opportunity to share with this person how her subtle act made me feel. In the end I decided as an equity, diversity and inclusivity educator, I would chose to educate. And let’s be clear, no person from a marginalized group bears any burden to educate anyone from the dominant group unless they chose to. It is not the minority person’s burden to educate the dominant culture, though I do so professionally because I believe it is my calling. Similarly, it is not the responsibility of a person with a disability to educate an able-bodied person about their disability. Nor does an immigrant to the U.S. have to explain to a U.S. born citizen how they were able to immigrate to America. In my circumstance, I chose to educate because I wanted this young woman to be aware of her behavior. I chose to educate because I wanted to make her aware of her assumption. I chose to educate because I wanted her to be aware so that she doesn’t sterotype others like she did me.

I completed my transaction and headed towards the desk where I saw the young woman earlier and to my disappointment she wasn’t there. Her desk was clear and it appeared that she had gone home for the day. “A missed opportunity,” I thought. I made one last effort to give her the benefit of the doubt and inquired of another employee if the woman who asked me if I was there for Volkswagen service worked at the Volkswagen service desk. If she did, this would explain her enthusiasm to help me with Volkswagen and I could put this whole incident to rest. But alas, my effort to unburden her of being a micro-aggressor was squashed as her co-worker told me she did not work for Volkswagen. With my micro-aggression confirmed, I shook my head, swallowed my pain, and stuffed it in the “oppressive experiences” box in my head to write about it in a cathartic way today. I wasn’t able to educate a soul that day so I will save it for another day, maybe.

If you would like to learn more about equity, diversity and inclusivity terms like micro-aggression, or belong to a group or organization that needs equity, diversity and inclusivity training, visit my website www.DistinctiveVoiceConsulting.com

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