The weird hierarchy game of HR and race
IDSC December Exclusive: The chicken costume that made me give up on contacting HR
Human Resources has always been a peculiar space in Corporate America — for me. Sometimes it is a safe ground where employees can air their grievances, and the HR rep will play the mediator between subordinate and supervisor. Then there’s the time my workplace report was greeted by an HR rep, who pulled out his smartphone to show me his friend wearing a chicken costume and told me I needed to learn to “play the game.”
I fully understand why so many black remote workers refuse to go back to their old jobs after the spring of 2020.
I quit that job shortly after, filed for unemployment and even the judge who took my case (after the company refused unemployment) was dumbfounded by the chicken costume antics. I represented myself in court, won the case and received unemployment. I suppose that should’ve felt victorious. I could’ve gone without the experience altogether.
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As an Amazon affiliate, I earn a percentage from purchases with my referral links. I know some consumers are choosing to boycott Amazon for its DEI removal. However, after thinking about this thoroughly, I want to continue promoting cool products from small businesses, women-owned businesses and (specifically) Black-owned businesses who still feature their items on Amazon. As of the first date of Black History Month 2025, each new post will ALWAYS include a MINIMUM of one product sold by a Black-owned business. (I have visited the seller’s official site to verify that Amazon Black-owned logo.) I am (slowly) doing this with older, popular posts too. If you still choose to boycott, I 100% respect that decision.
I used to believe Human Resources actually was intended to work on behalf of all employees. It took multiple incidents with HR, specifically the chicken costume story, to realize it’s not always the way it seems. Interestingly, the first time I should have gone to HR was after a boss was irate about me dating one of the employees at my after-school job. She’d been hitting on him left and right, whispering in his ear and saying all kinds of lewd things.