No kidding. I used to work in a grocery store. At one point, they hired a black Muslim guy to work in the deli. He refused to handle any pork products, which essentially meant that someone else had to be on constant standby to do his job for him in the event that a customer asked for ham. He also refused to follow any orders or instructions from the female deli supervisor, because women were "beneath him". They kept him on there for months before finally shuffling him off to various other departments at the store.
Turnover was incredibly high and we were always losing new workers, but this guy kept his job for years because management was terrified of getting hit with a discrimination lawsuit for firing him (probably the same reason they hired him in the first place). If any white employee--especially while still on their probationary period--had stated that they were incapable of performing a key part of their job, and refused to do as they were told by their supervisor, they would've been gone instantly.
I moved to a new state in 2000 and got a job in a grocery store, in the produce department. One of the other clerks was a black guy who was often scheduled alongside me in the evening shift. I noticed within a few days that he would punch in at about 4 pm, put out a couple cases of bananas, and then disappear completely till about 9:30 pm. I had no idea where he was - I think he left the store completely, might even have been going home. I brought it up with the store manager, more than once; I was told they'd look into it, and you can probably guess what happened - nothing. It was never said publicly, but I could tell they were afraid to call him out on it for fear of being called racists.
Luckily for me he was too lazy to even do that much work, and after a few months he quit on his own.
In the 90's, the area of a company I worked in had a generously proportioned black lady who would go into a back room behind racks of equipment and sleep at a table there. No way she was going to get fired. It's some sort of privilege, though it doesn't feel particularly white.
Not getting fired for being constantly late is black privilege.
No kidding. I used to work in a grocery store. At one point, they hired a black Muslim guy to work in the deli. He refused to handle any pork products, which essentially meant that someone else had to be on constant standby to do his job for him in the event that a customer asked for ham. He also refused to follow any orders or instructions from the female deli supervisor, because women were "beneath him". They kept him on there for months before finally shuffling him off to various other departments at the store.
Turnover was incredibly high and we were always losing new workers, but this guy kept his job for years because management was terrified of getting hit with a discrimination lawsuit for firing him (probably the same reason they hired him in the first place). If any white employee--especially while still on their probationary period--had stated that they were incapable of performing a key part of their job, and refused to do as they were told by their supervisor, they would've been gone instantly.
I moved to a new state in 2000 and got a job in a grocery store, in the produce department. One of the other clerks was a black guy who was often scheduled alongside me in the evening shift. I noticed within a few days that he would punch in at about 4 pm, put out a couple cases of bananas, and then disappear completely till about 9:30 pm. I had no idea where he was - I think he left the store completely, might even have been going home. I brought it up with the store manager, more than once; I was told they'd look into it, and you can probably guess what happened - nothing. It was never said publicly, but I could tell they were afraid to call him out on it for fear of being called racists.
Luckily for me he was too lazy to even do that much work, and after a few months he quit on his own.
In the 90's, the area of a company I worked in had a generously proportioned black lady who would go into a back room behind racks of equipment and sleep at a table there. No way she was going to get fired. It's some sort of privilege, though it doesn't feel particularly white.