A few weeks ago, a viral tweet shared on the UK gossip blog The Shade Borough described a young man’s experience with his white housemates conspiring with the landlord to evict him because he was too quiet, which they claimed created tension in the house. This sparked a wave of comments from Black people sharing similar experiences of being unfairly labelled as aggressive for not wanting to be sociable in predominantly white spaces, especially in the workplace. I wasn’t surprised by these experiences at all.
As a Black woman, I know that for many of us, both men and women, our silence and introversion in predominantly white spaces is often weaponised. What I'm getting at is that, unlike our white colleagues in the workplace, our silence is frequently interpreted as aggression or unapproachability, even though sometimes it's just a reflection of our introverted nature.
Throughout my career, I've encountered numerous situations where my silence and shyness have been interpreted as fitting the racial stereotypes that some unconsciously hold of Black women being aggressive, combative, or fiery. After I graduated, someone at a networking event told me they could tell I was “not to be messed with” and during an interview, I was referred to as “fiery”. These are two widely inaccurate assumptions and slightly comical when you consider that, in my younger career days, I appeared visibly shy, was quite a pushover, and avoided confrontation at all costs.