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Need To Know With Dr. Nsenga Burton-The Complex Reality of Hypervisibility.
Episode 155 • 18th July 2024 • TonyTidbit: A Black Executive Perspective • TonyTidbit ™
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Episode Audio Link: https://podcast.ablackexec.com/episode/Hypervisibility and the Challenges Facing Women of Color in Leadership

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In this episode of 'Need to Know' with Dr. Nsenga Burton, the discussion centers on the concept of hypervisibility and its impact on women of color, particularly black women, in the workplace. Dr. Burton delves into the unique challenges faced by these women, using Vice President Kamala Harris as a case study to highlight issues of visibility and perceived effectiveness in leadership roles. Through examining Harris's significant contributions in areas such as reproductive rights, immigration, and voting rights, Dr. Burton underscores the double standards and biases that often undermine the achievements of women of color. The episode calls for greater awareness, critical thinking, and unlearning certain biases to foster a more equitable environment for all.

▶︎ In This Episode

  1. 00:00: Introduction to Need to Know
  2. 00:20: Understanding Hypervisibility
  3. 01:28: Kamala Harris in the White House
  4. 03:39: Kamala Harris's Contributions
  5. 09:21: Challenges Faced by Black Women in Power
  6. 11:33: Reflecting on Bias and Standards
  7. 13:20: Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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Transcripts

BEP Narrator:

A Black Executive Perspective now presents Need to Know

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with the award winning hyphenated Dr.

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Nsenga Burton.

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Dr.

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Burton.

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What do we need to know?

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Hello and welcome to Need to Know with Dr.

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Nsenga Burton.

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I am your host and I am happy to be here.

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Today we are going to be talking

about a phenomenon that some

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of you may be familiar with.

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Um, and it's a phenomenon, um, that we

discuss in academia quite a bit, but

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it's called this idea of hypervisibility.

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And hypervisibility is when

you appear to be everywhere, i.

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e.

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like black women, black

girl magic, all the things.

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Um, You know, our celebrities

and what have you, but then

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at the same time, you're made

invisible, um, an important spaces.

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So, um, today, we're gonna be talking

about that and we're gonna be talking

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about it relative to, um, the workplace.

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Right?

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So, when we think about the workplace,

and we think about many of the things that

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we're called to do within the workplace,

black women do a lot of the heavy lifting.

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A lot of times when we are able

to lead or we obtain positions of

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power, it's really at the worst

possible moment for a company.

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Um, that's when we get the shot and we

have to dig in and do all of the things.

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Um, so a real, uh, Example of this

right now is what's going on in the

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White House, which is a workplace.

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I know people think of it as a symbol

of democracy, but it's actually a

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workplace where people work many,

many employees every single day.

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They report to work and our current

Vice President, Kamala Harris is in

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the White House as Vice President,

and she is the 1st woman and 1st

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person of color Vice President in

the history of these United States.

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So, um, in English, in

case you've been living in.

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The Democrats are in a tizzy, uh,

because of the performance of President

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Joe Biden at the first debate with

former President Donald Trump.

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And so there have been lots of calls for

him to step down, lots of calls for them

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to open up, um, the floor at the DNC

to take potential, uh, new candidates.

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Um, and at the beginning of this

discussion, there was literally

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no discussion of Kamala Harris.

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The actual sitting Vice President.

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And so that made me think, or got

me to thinking about the precarious

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position in which women in general and

black women specifically often occupy

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in corporations, board, boardrooms.

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Um, and in this case, the white house.

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Um, even the idea that, you know, she's

not doing anything, which you hear a

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lot of, she's not doing anything as

Vice President, but we do know that

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the role of the Vice President is

to support the President and to not

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outshine the President, um, uh, is.

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Interesting as well.

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Right.

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So there's this idea that she should

be out in front and, uh, leading when

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in fact she is the Vice President.

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And so, you know, when people bring

this up, I often say, okay, so tell

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me, you know, five things, um, that

Mike Pence did as Vice President.

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They can't name them.

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I said, well, tell me three

things, um, that, um, Biden did.

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When he was Vice President

under Obama, they can't name.

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All right.

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And it's not saying that Vice

Presidents don't do anything.

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It's just that their role is

to be 1 of support and they're

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not necessarily out front.

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But the reason I'm bringing this

up is when you are a woman, and you

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are a person of color, black and

Asian, in Kamala Harris's case, then

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the expectation is greater, right?

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You should do more.

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You should be more available.

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You should have, um.

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A presence that is greater

than what is expected of

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others who don't look like you.

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Right?

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So when we think about Kamala Harris

and people talking about she hasn't

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done anything, I just would like to

highlight some of the things that

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she has done in her current role.

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Um, and I guess you could also look

at this on the GOP side in terms of

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who the potential Vice Presidential

candidates are, um, and the fact

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that there were no women candidates.

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Um, well, we could also look at this

from the GOP side and the fact that, um.

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Donald Trump is vetting the Vice

Presidential candidates and there are

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no women currently, um, uh, in the

group of people that he's vetting.

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And I think he's now down to two

people, but the fact that there are no.

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Women, members of Congress, or governors,

or what have you, who could be vice

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Vice President is also fascinating.

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But to stick with Kamala Harris, some

of the things that she has been doing,

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and she's been going about it quietly

because that's what we're doing.

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Vice Presidents do with the possible

exception of reproductive rights,

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which she's been very loud about.

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And she has had to be very loud

about based on the fact that Roe

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versus Wade has been struck down.

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And then a lot of states, including, you

know, I would say, just look at Alabama

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in particular, have made such strident

laws that you can't even do legally.

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Uh, in some cases, um, so she's

been very, uh, much involved in

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the reproductive rights case.

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Um, she has, um, you know, been

on tour, I would say, um, and

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actually, her tour has a name.

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But, uh, she has been on tour to discuss

these issues about reproductive rights.

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She has met with.

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No less than 18 states to discuss

their laws and what can be happening.

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What needs to happen and strategies

to protect reproductive rights.

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People like to talk about reproductive

rights as it's only abortion.

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It's not it's a whole litany of rights

that women should have over their bodies.

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Abortion is just one of them.

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And so, because Roe Vs.

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Wade has , it has been struck down

that opens the door for lots of other

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things being struck down as as well.

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And so we have to think about.

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That, um, as she has been

fighting for reproductive rights

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and reproductive freedoms, uh,

immigration is something else.

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People were saying that she was slow

to get on board with the immigration,

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um, uh, with the immigration reform.

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Um, that's probably true.

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Uh, but once she got on board,

she hit the ground running.

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Uh, she has proposed the Central American.

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A Central America forward forward

initiative, uh, in which she

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has helped, uh, yield yield 4.

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2Billion dollars in private sector

commitments to support the creation

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of jobs, local jobs, and other

measures to slow mass migration from

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Central America to the United States.

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So, whether, whether,

wherever you fall on.

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Immigration, right?

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Because there is a plan in place.

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We just really aren't doing it.

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We also know about the bipartisan plan

that was put forth by Joe Biden that was

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killed by the Republicans, because if

Trump gets in, apparently they want to

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be able to bring it back then and have it

be part of his win wins for the country.

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But she has, in fact, been leading.

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Um, that issue, um, in Central America,

and actually came up with, uh, uh, not

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only a strategy, but also a solution,

um, to the problem because a lot

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of people who are immigrating here.

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They're not only fleeing tyranny,

although we're on the brink of it.

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Now, they're not fleeing tyranny.

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They're also fleeing the

inability to find work, right?

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And to feed their families and

things of that nature and to improve

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their lives and improve the quality

of their lives, which is why they

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want to come to the United States.

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And then, of course,

there's voting rights.

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I mean, she's been working on that since

she was a senator even before that.

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Um, but certainly, as a senator,

and, um, you know, she was the

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one who introduced the freedom

to vote act, the freedom to vote.

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John Lewis act, and, of course,

that was voted against and that

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actually came down to 2 Democratic

senators who did not go with.

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Um, the majority at the time, um,

that would be Manchin and Sienma,

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which we don't hear a lot more

about, but it wasn't as if she wasn't

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trying to do anything around voting.

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Right?

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She's been very much involved in that.

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Um, those, if that had passed,

that would have extended the

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voting rights protections of the

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Black people are subject to having

our rights reapproved ever so often,

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unlike other groups in this country.

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Um, and of course that

was voted down as well.

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Um, but she has helped to craft political

coalitions and to apply pressure

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from outside of the white house.

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Um, through those political coalitions and

civil rights leaders, um, those strategic

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partnerships is what we would call them,

um, to build outside pressure on Congress,

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um, and engaging privately with lawmakers.

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Uh, so I say all of that to say, um,

this is not a pro Kamala commercial.

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What it is, is just three categories

in which she has done significant

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work since even before, but definitely

since she has been in the White House.

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And despite her having been basically

a Vice President that has had any

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drama, which we need that in our

political lives in the United States.

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But also, she has been working in

some what I would call areas that

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are heavy list immigration, women's

reproductive rights and voting.

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Those have been her 3 most.

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I would say her 3 topics that

she had prioritized the most.

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So she's done the heavy lifting

and been doing the heavy

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lifting and without any fanfare.

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Right, which leads me back

to our original discussion.

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The point is, um, is that now that people

are talking about whether or not Biden

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steps down, uh, if he should be replaced,

all of these discussions are happening

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and people are literally leapfrogging

over the sitting Vice President and that

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is indicative of the experiences of women

in general and black women, specifically

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when we are in positions of power,

allegedly, and there's an opportunity.

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For us to continue to serve or

to be elevated or to elevate.

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We are often under undermine

people's memories become very foggy.

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They become very short or

selective if you will, and they

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can't remember what you did.

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Or the, the very things that

they've been praising you for.

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I mean, the reproductive rights thing.

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She's been praised heavily in the

press, um, over the last few months.

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And now people aren't

even talking about it.

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It's like, what is she done?

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She hasn't done anything.

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We need somebody that people like people

don't like her, but no 1 really wants

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to talk about why people don't like her.

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Right?

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It's not unusual for black women, women

in general, black women specifically

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to be graded on a different curve.

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I mean, it happens everywhere in

academia, um, black women faculty

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have the worst teaching evaluations.

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Um, and not because we're the

worst teachers is because of how

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people, uh, undervalue black women.

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Right the expectations of how we should

treat them, um, uh, often people thinking

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that we are in service to them, because

most of the black women that they've

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encountered, particularly when we talk

about these elite universities, uh,

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black women, they have encountered

have been in service to them.

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And so when you're in front of the

classroom, right, or you're the chair

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of the department, or you're the dean,

or as we saw at Harvard, the President,

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then people are like, all those wonderful

things they loved about you, right?

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Hyper visibility, and they talk about

constantly and all the things which helped

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you get to where you were, in addition

to your hard work, they forget about it.

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Right?

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Oh, no, you have to go.

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Oh, no, we can't promote you.

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Oh, no, you're Vice President.

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You're sitting, you're the

sitting Vice President.

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We can't consider you.

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We can't even consider you

because you haven't done anything.

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Right?

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Right, so I'm just bringing that to

your attention and, you know, I think

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it is a need to know that this happens.

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It is common for particularly

dynamic black women to experience

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this type of treatment and it

is not unusual and so to be.

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Aware, you know, one of the things that,

um, I love about, uh, learning is that

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you have to unlearn certain behaviors.

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You have to unlearn certain practices.

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And so if you're someone who

maybe just kind of falls into

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that unconsciously, right.

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This unconscious bias, um, really

think about what you're saying.

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Like, you know, when you say to yourself,

ah, Kamala Harris hasn't done anything

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because you heard that on the news or you

heard somebody that you respect say it.

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Um, really think about, you know,

did you think that way about

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the previous Vice President?

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And if so, why, and if not, why not?

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And are you holding her

to a different standard?

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And why?

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So, you know, as the sitting U.S.

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Vice President.

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She should be considered, she should

actually be the nominee if Biden

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steps down, if Biden runs and wins

and goes away for whatever reasons,

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she's the next in line, right?

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So you can't just dispose of her

because she doesn't fit with the

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dominant narrative that Americans

love, where it has to either be an

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older white man, Trump, Biden, Bernie,

or, um, it has to be a white person,

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uh, you know, Gavin, And a bunch of

other folks, uh, Buttigieg who I like.

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I like both of them a lot.

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I'm just saying, I think

they would be great.

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But in this particular instance, how

people are going about it, how the

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party is going about it, how the public

is going about it is really wrong.

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So this is Dr.

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Nsenga Burton with your need to know

moment on the black executive podcast.

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I wish you a wonderful day.

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And I wish you discernment, kindness,

and empathy, and critical thinking

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as we move through the world.

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