16 ms·

Dorothy Butler Gilliam: ‘I am not a maid, I am a reporter’

Barrin92 5y ago
"There were some old style editors who were still at the Post when I was there. One of them said, 'We don't cover black murders because those are cheap deaths,[..]Inside the newsroom some of them would say hello or nod or even speak to me but if they saw me outside the building they would pretend they didn't know me." I honestly can't even imagine what it's like to live like that. Not just the callousness but also just having to deal with it every single day, and probably the indifference by everyone else. Pushing through that over years and decades is really astonishing, I'd have probably given up anything a week in.
- imacerealkiller 5y ago
  It's sad that we know we would have given up, but for them it's not even an option.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- InitialLastName 5y ago
  > One of them said, 'We don't cover black murders because those are cheap deaths,' If anyone ever wondered what attitude triggered the slogan "Black Lives Matter"...
  - AzzieElbab 5y ago
    google Chicago shootings and then ask yourself why none of it made national headlines. Here is my first search result https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2021/8/21/22636162/chicago-weekend-roundup-august-20-23-crime-gun-violence-homicide-police https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2021/8/21/22636162/chicag...
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - dundarious 5y ago
      It’s news in Chicago so the Chicago papers don’t consider it “cheap” just because it’s commonplace. DC had a lot of murders in black neighborhoods too, at least in the past. Shouldn’t the Washington Post, a DC newspaper, cover those in detail? And if the time period of the article doesn’t line up and the murder rate rose later, how are those earlier black victims “cheap deaths” even by that metric? In every circumstance, there appears to be a racist connotation to calling black murders “cheap deaths”.
    - hairofadog 5y ago
      I don't understand what point you're making, but I have noticed that "google Chicago shootings" has become something of a racist dog whistle, so if that's not your intent there may be better phrasing with which to make it.
      - throwaway0a5e 5y ago
        The point he's making is that despite lip service by the media little has changed.
        AzzieElbab 5y ago
        not really. A lot has changed, but not in media. To media all lives are cheap
      - eplanit 5y ago
        The point is black lives seem to matter only if taken by a white police officer. The BLM movement is quite silent regarding other black deaths.
        mikepurvis 5y ago
        Is it? Definitely the most visible thing was the "defund" thing, but certainly in my circles I saw a lot of interest in reparations, housing reform, health care justice, etc, all with an eye toward addressing the generational economic issues that have led to or at least greatly exacerbated community violence.
  - silurian 5y ago
    FTA > She retired from the Post in 2003. Also, it seems as that quote is from her time there in the 60s judging by the surrounding paragraphs (clearer and more explicit) timelines.
  - will4274 5y ago
    Your comment hides a lot of depth and comes off as a bit flippant to me. BLM was largely triggered by cop-on-black killings. Civilian black-on-black killings (like those referred to in the quote) continue to get fairly little attention, even from the BLM organizations themselves. Indeed, this is a fairly common conservative criticism of BLM - that it's an anti-police movement, not an anti-black murder movement. (This is not to express an opinion on the criticism, merely to state it's existence.)
    - vmception 5y ago
      Can you explain that criticism? Why, to them, is that related? I've seen it before, and I've seen talk show pundits that they watch say it, but whatever is clicking in their head is not clicking in mine. I am not exactly understanding the train of thought which is being used to invalidate calls for police accountability. I am not seeing it related at all. I guess a stretch would be "black lives don't matter to them so why are they trying to convince us", or maybe its not a stretch to the people that would think that, but its also hard for me to relate to because I don't really get the segregation mentality, it seems dated
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - FactolSarin 5y ago
      Holding police accountable for unreasonable killings is not being anti-police.
      - jaywalk 5y ago
        And if that's all BLM did, far fewer people would have any issue with them. But you're simply ignoring reality if you really think that they limit themselves to unreasonable killings.
        kbenson 5y ago
        Like any and every popular movement, there will people that attach themselves to it to serve their own agenda, sometimes fully self serving, sometimes because they see a platform to advance something they see as extremely important for society, even if many other people disagree on the fundamentals or just the methodology. While missteps of the BLM movement deserve to be called out and criticized, it's also important to remember that great many people are more interested with the original core tenets of the movement and so it's not accurate to paint them all because of the actions of a few. The same goes for the Democratic and Republican parties. I'm sure everyone here could point to bad actions that people have taken in the name of those groups and/or organizations, but that doesn't mean we should assume those negative instances represent the wishes of all the others in that group, or apply the criticism across the entire group when it doesn't reflect a majority of their views. And before people come back with their perceptions of how much of a group believes in and supports the actions of some, it's worth considering that opposition groups will always latch onto the problem people and subgroups and play them up as larger than they are, so the media will almost always either misrepresent them as a larger or smaller portion of that group than they actually are.
- mensetmanusman 5y ago
  This is still the case today, you can tell by which murders get covered in the press.
- LeifCarrotson 5y ago
  What I can't imagine is what it was like to be that person. I wasn't alive (much less socially or politically active) in the time period being described. I'm alive now, when we have similar but different attitudes towards racism and sexism. However, people who I know and respect, who taught me the fundamentals of morality as a child, were those same people in the 60s. What goes on inside the head of a person in this kind of environment? Are they oblivious? Do they rationalize it? Are they conflicted or confused but pressured? How is this cultural attitude maintained in adults or taught in childhood? I'm aware of some similar externally confusing contradictions in my own life - I eat beef and pork at family gatherings, though I believe those animals to be nearly as complex and intelligent as my own beloved dog; my home, vehicles, and lifestyle contribute fewer greenhouse gasses than my neighbors' might but still far more than they must if we're going to reverse climate change; I worry about erosion of privacy and corporate overreach but find the utility of Google's communication and navigation tools and Amazon's low-friction product delivery too compelling to avoid the appalling privacy implications... Will my children and grandchildren look back in horror at how I used to live? Did my parents and grandparents have the same questions and rationalizations about about their own lives? I've asked a few of them, but never gotten an answer that allows me to intuit their perspective.
  - chrismcb 5y ago
    Rationalisation mostly. It is fairly easy to rationalize almost anything.
whoaisme 5y ago
God I'm so sick of these articles. This woman spent literally her entire career focused on stories centered around black people, she spent her entire life shining a light on the black experience in america. That's more than fine, that's laudable. But then saying "You really cannot tell the true story or the full story if you are only telling it through the eyes of one group of people," she says. when that's literally what she did is asinine. What is with black people trying to have it both ways. They want to simultaneously speak for society at large and about the black experience in particular and that's okay but when white people do it it's racism. Double standards are double standards regardless of the value of your work
noisy_boy 5y ago
> When Dorothy Butler Gilliam arrived at a wealthy Washington woman's 100th birthday party the doorman told her she couldn't enter via the front door. "The maid's entrance is around the back," he explained. Just reading it boils my blood.
- telesilla 5y ago
  For the record, this happens to any minority. It boils my blood too when someone says to me at a trade show "I'm looking for the CEO" and I'm standing right there, with my name badge and title of CEO. Or more prevalent: they walk straight up to my (non-technical) sale colleagues who more "look" the part.
  - magicalhippo 5y ago
    I worked part time at a grocery store as a cashier while studying. Several times people would come up to me while I was out in the shop restocking or similar, and clearly assumed I was the manager or ask if I was. The only common theme I could figure was that I was the only guy at work at those times. A couple of times it happened when I was together with the actual manager, a woman about my age. I saw the same thing with the assistant manager, a slightly older guy. If he and the manager were standing together, people would address him first, asking if he was the manager.
  - sgt 5y ago
    Maybe you just don't look like a salesman. Typical CEO look :)
- cirrus-clouds 5y ago
  Some examples from the UK: A few years ago (2016), a black MP (Member of Parliament) entered a members-only lift in the parliament building (House of Commons). Another MP (unamed) in the same lift told her: "This lift really isn't for cleaners." [1] More recently (September 2020), a black barrister (type of lawyer) was mistaken for a defendant three times in one day. Her experience was widely reported in the press. [2] These examples received press attention, but there are undoubtedly many examples that are never reported (for people from any ethnic minority). There have been horrible examples of racism against people of South-East Asian origin during the pandemic. Sometimes, it feels that progress is being made. At other times, it seems much still needs doing. The problem of discrimation appears to be Europe-wide too. The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) published a survey in Nov 2018 that examined the experiences of almost 6,000 people of African descent in 12 European countries. Summary of weighted results across all surveyed countries (taken from the report): https://imgur.com/a/gcHR5dk https://imgur.com/a/gcHR5dk [1] Black MP Dawn Butler 'mistaken for cleaner' in Westminster: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-35685169 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-35685169 [2] Black barrister mistaken for defendant three times gets apology: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-54281111 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-54281111
socialdemocrat 5y ago
A whole generation of blacks could not get decent jobs for reasons like that. This generation gave birth to a new generation with less opportunities than they could have had because of the opportunities their parents got denied. It takes long time do undo the damage such profound discrimination causes, and it requires the heroic effort of many individuals like this reporter.
- imacerealkiller 5y ago
  >it takes a long time to undo the damage such profound discrimination causes yes and for many, the damage is irreversible. Denied access to education is also a big factor Blacks face. If you are unable to study and get a good education, you can't work a decent job. It's then harder for you to let your children study to tertiary level as you might need them to step out to work earlier to contribute to the house, and they are then stuck in lower paying jobs. The cycle then continues when they have kids and when their kids have kids and it goes on for many generations.
  - reacharavindh 5y ago
    This is precisely why Education should not be treated as a business. If Education was free for every citizen, it does a lot to bring equality of opportunity (it does not fix all of the damages from discrimination, but aids significantly in recovery). So is healthcare. Having experienced education and healthcare in USA and Denmark, I cannot believe such extremes exist in the same world. It blows my mind that the wealthiest country on Earth by such a huge margin could not give its citizens unified and free healthcare and free access to Education. Just imagine what would happen to American economy in the long run if people were free to educate themselves(better workforce) and didn't need to go bankrupt because they got an unfortunate health condition? I am sad that there are no politicians that think about these in long term. Everyone seems to only care about the next election cycle.
    - NateEag 5y ago
      The US public school system is "no additional charge" - you have to pay taxes to help fund it regardless of whether you use it, but you do not have to pay anything beyond those taxes for your children to attend. It may not be much good, but that's a different question.
mercy_dude 5y ago
Non get koio t my v bev Yvriv before ga if for
DrNosferatu 5y ago
"Inside the newsroom some of them would say hello or nod or even speak to me but if they saw me outside the building they would pretend they didn't know me". When you experience this as an immigrant (so the ignoring party knows you have a different nationality) is it generally racism? - What do you think?
- mnw21cam 5y ago
  Sounds like fear to me.
  - CaptainZapp 5y ago
    Not to excuse racism in any way, shape or form. But I think that fear and racism are quite tightly connected.
    - lotsofpulp 5y ago
      The fear that you and your tribe’s quality of life will go down if resources, especially hours of low paid labor, were more equally distributed?
  - throw_m239339 5y ago
    Well it's the very definition of xenophobia, for racist reasons.
    - mnw21cam 5y ago
      I think what you're describing as xenophobia is fear of the other. What I see here is the fear of someone who would actually like to do the right thing, but has fear of what their own kind will do to them.
- xenophonf 5y ago
  Of course that's racism, just like what Ms. Gilliam experienced was racism.
- 5y ago
leephillips 5y ago
Things change slowly. This reminded me of a fascinating book I read years ago, Volunteer Slavery, by Jill Nelson, the first black reporter hired for the Post’s new Sunday magazine in the ‘80s. Although the restaurants in the neighborhood may no longer have been segregated, some of the newsroom attitudes hadn’t changed much. The book also happens to be quite funny. https://amzn.to/2XFSa68 https://amzn.to/2XFSa68
tharne 5y ago
I'd venture that in this day and age, the average person has more respect for maids than for reporters. While being a maid may not be a great job, it does actually benefit other people, and folks would miss maids if they all quit tomorrow.
literallyaduck 5y ago
Doing birthday stories for the rich shows and being told to use the servants entrance seems likely a classist discrimination not a race problem at first glance. Race seems to be the major factor for much of the rest of the article, which I'm not discounting. Whether maid or journalist count as tradespeople or guests is another discussion and the bigger question is why should it matter if the person is a maid or reporter why is it okay to deperson a class of people because of their job? Back to the discussion of race, how far have we come from the hotel owners denying this black woman access? Airbnb recently has had issues with people attempting to discriminate on race. Other discussion points aside this reporter got the job done and got the story: "You do what you need to do in order to get the story." I believe the most important line from the article is here: "And if you don't have people who see the world through different eyes represented, you just don't have a full picture of what's going on." Often I see only one party line, group think, everyone else is wrong because we are right and facts which don't support the narrative should be downvoted and suppressed attitude which will only create fractured communities and alienated people. To come together we must seek the truth, we must not silence different eyes, but must provide reasonable reproof with documentation to those who spread misinformation.
- DFHippie 5y ago
  > Doing birthday stories for the rich shows and being told to use the servants entrance seems likely a classist discrimination not a race problem at first glance. Here's a thought experiment: imagine the Post sent a white female reporter to cover the same event. Do you suppose the butler would assume this reporter was a maid? It is just a thought experiment. We can't know the outcome. But Ms. Gilliam lumped this in with everything else because she assumed the butler inferred her class and role from her race. She might have been wrong, of course, but her inferences should count for more than ours. She was there. She lived that life in that time. It seems pretty likely that people in that time assumed black women with business at houses of the wealthy were maids and improbable that they assumed women in the kit of a reporter in general were maids.

"There were some old style editors who were still at the Post when I was there. One of them said, 'We don't cover black murders because those are cheap deaths,[..]Inside the newsroom some of them would say hello or nod or even speak to me but if they saw me outside the building they would pretend they didn't know me." I honestly can't even imagine what it's like to live like that. Not just the callousness but also just having to deal with it every single day, and probably the indifference by everyone else. Pushing through that over years and decades is really astonishing, I'd have probably given up anything a week in.

imacerealkiller 5y ago
It's sad that we know we would have given up, but for them it's not even an option.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
InitialLastName 5y ago
> One of them said, 'We don't cover black murders because those are cheap deaths,' If anyone ever wondered what attitude triggered the slogan "Black Lives Matter"...
- AzzieElbab 5y ago
  google Chicago shootings and then ask yourself why none of it made national headlines. Here is my first search result https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2021/8/21/22636162/chicago-weekend-roundup-august-20-23-crime-gun-violence-homicide-police https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2021/8/21/22636162/chicag...
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - dundarious 5y ago
    It’s news in Chicago so the Chicago papers don’t consider it “cheap” just because it’s commonplace. DC had a lot of murders in black neighborhoods too, at least in the past. Shouldn’t the Washington Post, a DC newspaper, cover those in detail? And if the time period of the article doesn’t line up and the murder rate rose later, how are those earlier black victims “cheap deaths” even by that metric? In every circumstance, there appears to be a racist connotation to calling black murders “cheap deaths”.
  - hairofadog 5y ago
    I don't understand what point you're making, but I have noticed that "google Chicago shootings" has become something of a racist dog whistle, so if that's not your intent there may be better phrasing with which to make it.
    - throwaway0a5e 5y ago
      The point he's making is that despite lip service by the media little has changed.
      - AzzieElbab 5y ago
        not really. A lot has changed, but not in media. To media all lives are cheap
    - eplanit 5y ago
      The point is black lives seem to matter only if taken by a white police officer. The BLM movement is quite silent regarding other black deaths.
      - mikepurvis 5y ago
        Is it? Definitely the most visible thing was the "defund" thing, but certainly in my circles I saw a lot of interest in reparations, housing reform, health care justice, etc, all with an eye toward addressing the generational economic issues that have led to or at least greatly exacerbated community violence.
- silurian 5y ago
  FTA > She retired from the Post in 2003. Also, it seems as that quote is from her time there in the 60s judging by the surrounding paragraphs (clearer and more explicit) timelines.
- will4274 5y ago
  Your comment hides a lot of depth and comes off as a bit flippant to me. BLM was largely triggered by cop-on-black killings. Civilian black-on-black killings (like those referred to in the quote) continue to get fairly little attention, even from the BLM organizations themselves. Indeed, this is a fairly common conservative criticism of BLM - that it's an anti-police movement, not an anti-black murder movement. (This is not to express an opinion on the criticism, merely to state it's existence.)
  - vmception 5y ago
    Can you explain that criticism? Why, to them, is that related? I've seen it before, and I've seen talk show pundits that they watch say it, but whatever is clicking in their head is not clicking in mine. I am not exactly understanding the train of thought which is being used to invalidate calls for police accountability. I am not seeing it related at all. I guess a stretch would be "black lives don't matter to them so why are they trying to convince us", or maybe its not a stretch to the people that would think that, but its also hard for me to relate to because I don't really get the segregation mentality, it seems dated
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - FactolSarin 5y ago
    Holding police accountable for unreasonable killings is not being anti-police.
    - jaywalk 5y ago
      And if that's all BLM did, far fewer people would have any issue with them. But you're simply ignoring reality if you really think that they limit themselves to unreasonable killings.
      - kbenson 5y ago
        Like any and every popular movement, there will people that attach themselves to it to serve their own agenda, sometimes fully self serving, sometimes because they see a platform to advance something they see as extremely important for society, even if many other people disagree on the fundamentals or just the methodology. While missteps of the BLM movement deserve to be called out and criticized, it's also important to remember that great many people are more interested with the original core tenets of the movement and so it's not accurate to paint them all because of the actions of a few. The same goes for the Democratic and Republican parties. I'm sure everyone here could point to bad actions that people have taken in the name of those groups and/or organizations, but that doesn't mean we should assume those negative instances represent the wishes of all the others in that group, or apply the criticism across the entire group when it doesn't reflect a majority of their views. And before people come back with their perceptions of how much of a group believes in and supports the actions of some, it's worth considering that opposition groups will always latch onto the problem people and subgroups and play them up as larger than they are, so the media will almost always either misrepresent them as a larger or smaller portion of that group than they actually are.
mensetmanusman 5y ago
This is still the case today, you can tell by which murders get covered in the press.
LeifCarrotson 5y ago
What I can't imagine is what it was like to be that person. I wasn't alive (much less socially or politically active) in the time period being described. I'm alive now, when we have similar but different attitudes towards racism and sexism. However, people who I know and respect, who taught me the fundamentals of morality as a child, were those same people in the 60s. What goes on inside the head of a person in this kind of environment? Are they oblivious? Do they rationalize it? Are they conflicted or confused but pressured? How is this cultural attitude maintained in adults or taught in childhood? I'm aware of some similar externally confusing contradictions in my own life - I eat beef and pork at family gatherings, though I believe those animals to be nearly as complex and intelligent as my own beloved dog; my home, vehicles, and lifestyle contribute fewer greenhouse gasses than my neighbors' might but still far more than they must if we're going to reverse climate change; I worry about erosion of privacy and corporate overreach but find the utility of Google's communication and navigation tools and Amazon's low-friction product delivery too compelling to avoid the appalling privacy implications... Will my children and grandchildren look back in horror at how I used to live? Did my parents and grandparents have the same questions and rationalizations about about their own lives? I've asked a few of them, but never gotten an answer that allows me to intuit their perspective.
- chrismcb 5y ago
  Rationalisation mostly. It is fairly easy to rationalize almost anything.

whoaisme 5y ago

God I'm so sick of these articles. This woman spent literally her entire career focused on stories centered around black people, she spent her entire life shining a light on the black experience in america. That's more than fine, that's laudable. But then saying "You really cannot tell the true story or the full story if you are only telling it through the eyes of one group of people," she says. when that's literally what she did is asinine. What is with black people trying to have it both ways. They want to simultaneously speak for society at large and about the black experience in particular and that's okay but when white people do it it's racism. Double standards are double standards regardless of the value of your work

noisy_boy 5y ago

> When Dorothy Butler Gilliam arrived at a wealthy Washington woman's 100th birthday party the doorman told her she couldn't enter via the front door. "The maid's entrance is around the back," he explained. Just reading it boils my blood.

telesilla 5y ago
For the record, this happens to any minority. It boils my blood too when someone says to me at a trade show "I'm looking for the CEO" and I'm standing right there, with my name badge and title of CEO. Or more prevalent: they walk straight up to my (non-technical) sale colleagues who more "look" the part.
- magicalhippo 5y ago
  I worked part time at a grocery store as a cashier while studying. Several times people would come up to me while I was out in the shop restocking or similar, and clearly assumed I was the manager or ask if I was. The only common theme I could figure was that I was the only guy at work at those times. A couple of times it happened when I was together with the actual manager, a woman about my age. I saw the same thing with the assistant manager, a slightly older guy. If he and the manager were standing together, people would address him first, asking if he was the manager.
- sgt 5y ago
  Maybe you just don't look like a salesman. Typical CEO look :)
cirrus-clouds 5y ago
Some examples from the UK: A few years ago (2016), a black MP (Member of Parliament) entered a members-only lift in the parliament building (House of Commons). Another MP (unamed) in the same lift told her: "This lift really isn't for cleaners." [1] More recently (September 2020), a black barrister (type of lawyer) was mistaken for a defendant three times in one day. Her experience was widely reported in the press. [2] These examples received press attention, but there are undoubtedly many examples that are never reported (for people from any ethnic minority). There have been horrible examples of racism against people of South-East Asian origin during the pandemic. Sometimes, it feels that progress is being made. At other times, it seems much still needs doing. The problem of discrimation appears to be Europe-wide too. The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) published a survey in Nov 2018 that examined the experiences of almost 6,000 people of African descent in 12 European countries. Summary of weighted results across all surveyed countries (taken from the report): https://imgur.com/a/gcHR5dk https://imgur.com/a/gcHR5dk [1] Black MP Dawn Butler 'mistaken for cleaner' in Westminster: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-35685169 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-35685169 [2] Black barrister mistaken for defendant three times gets apology: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-54281111 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-54281111

socialdemocrat 5y ago

A whole generation of blacks could not get decent jobs for reasons like that. This generation gave birth to a new generation with less opportunities than they could have had because of the opportunities their parents got denied. It takes long time do undo the damage such profound discrimination causes, and it requires the heroic effort of many individuals like this reporter.

imacerealkiller 5y ago
>it takes a long time to undo the damage such profound discrimination causes yes and for many, the damage is irreversible. Denied access to education is also a big factor Blacks face. If you are unable to study and get a good education, you can't work a decent job. It's then harder for you to let your children study to tertiary level as you might need them to step out to work earlier to contribute to the house, and they are then stuck in lower paying jobs. The cycle then continues when they have kids and when their kids have kids and it goes on for many generations.
- reacharavindh 5y ago
  This is precisely why Education should not be treated as a business. If Education was free for every citizen, it does a lot to bring equality of opportunity (it does not fix all of the damages from discrimination, but aids significantly in recovery). So is healthcare. Having experienced education and healthcare in USA and Denmark, I cannot believe such extremes exist in the same world. It blows my mind that the wealthiest country on Earth by such a huge margin could not give its citizens unified and free healthcare and free access to Education. Just imagine what would happen to American economy in the long run if people were free to educate themselves(better workforce) and didn't need to go bankrupt because they got an unfortunate health condition? I am sad that there are no politicians that think about these in long term. Everyone seems to only care about the next election cycle.
  - NateEag 5y ago
    The US public school system is "no additional charge" - you have to pay taxes to help fund it regardless of whether you use it, but you do not have to pay anything beyond those taxes for your children to attend. It may not be much good, but that's a different question.

mercy_dude 5y ago

Non get koio t my v bev Yvriv before ga if for

DrNosferatu 5y ago

"Inside the newsroom some of them would say hello or nod or even speak to me but if they saw me outside the building they would pretend they didn't know me". When you experience this as an immigrant (so the ignoring party knows you have a different nationality) is it generally racism? - What do you think?

mnw21cam 5y ago
Sounds like fear to me.
- CaptainZapp 5y ago
  Not to excuse racism in any way, shape or form. But I think that fear and racism are quite tightly connected.
  - lotsofpulp 5y ago
    The fear that you and your tribe’s quality of life will go down if resources, especially hours of low paid labor, were more equally distributed?
- throw_m239339 5y ago
  Well it's the very definition of xenophobia, for racist reasons.
  - mnw21cam 5y ago
    I think what you're describing as xenophobia is fear of the other. What I see here is the fear of someone who would actually like to do the right thing, but has fear of what their own kind will do to them.
xenophonf 5y ago
Of course that's racism, just like what Ms. Gilliam experienced was racism.
5y ago

leephillips 5y ago

Things change slowly. This reminded me of a fascinating book I read years ago, Volunteer Slavery, by Jill Nelson, the first black reporter hired for the Post’s new Sunday magazine in the ‘80s. Although the restaurants in the neighborhood may no longer have been segregated, some of the newsroom attitudes hadn’t changed much. The book also happens to be quite funny. https://amzn.to/2XFSa68 https://amzn.to/2XFSa68

tharne 5y ago

I'd venture that in this day and age, the average person has more respect for maids than for reporters. While being a maid may not be a great job, it does actually benefit other people, and folks would miss maids if they all quit tomorrow.

literallyaduck 5y ago

Doing birthday stories for the rich shows and being told to use the servants entrance seems likely a classist discrimination not a race problem at first glance. Race seems to be the major factor for much of the rest of the article, which I'm not discounting. Whether maid or journalist count as tradespeople or guests is another discussion and the bigger question is why should it matter if the person is a maid or reporter why is it okay to deperson a class of people because of their job? Back to the discussion of race, how far have we come from the hotel owners denying this black woman access? Airbnb recently has had issues with people attempting to discriminate on race. Other discussion points aside this reporter got the job done and got the story: "You do what you need to do in order to get the story." I believe the most important line from the article is here: "And if you don't have people who see the world through different eyes represented, you just don't have a full picture of what's going on." Often I see only one party line, group think, everyone else is wrong because we are right and facts which don't support the narrative should be downvoted and suppressed attitude which will only create fractured communities and alienated people. To come together we must seek the truth, we must not silence different eyes, but must provide reasonable reproof with documentation to those who spread misinformation.

DFHippie 5y ago
> Doing birthday stories for the rich shows and being told to use the servants entrance seems likely a classist discrimination not a race problem at first glance. Here's a thought experiment: imagine the Post sent a white female reporter to cover the same event. Do you suppose the butler would assume this reporter was a maid? It is just a thought experiment. We can't know the outcome. But Ms. Gilliam lumped this in with everything else because she assumed the butler inferred her class and role from her race. She might have been wrong, of course, but her inferences should count for more than ours. She was there. She lived that life in that time. It seems pretty likely that people in that time assumed black women with business at houses of the wealthy were maids and improbable that they assumed women in the kit of a reporter in general were maids.