What's the Quota for Minorities in the Work Place?

What’s the quota for minorities in the work place? Yesterday I had an interesting interview for an entry-level company position. There were two twenty-something-year-old women conducting the interview (one black, one white), and the big fish eats little fish dynamic was evident in their dialogue, as well as body language. The black woman was a college graduate and assistant manager within the company, while the other was community college attendee, holding the position immediately below assistant manager. 

After engaging in a series of questions that I could’ve nailed straight out of high school, I’d seemed to have greatly impressed the white interviewer. However, the assistant manager followed each of my responses with the back-story on how her progress within the company overrides my experience. She even went as far as to say, “The company gave me a Benz last year,” which was quickly and humorously revealed to be a lie by the white interviewer. Exposed, the black assistant manager smirked at her white assistant and shot over a snide remark. She then asked how I’d feel if she made such comments towards me on a daily basis. (B!tch, what?) I explained that it wouldn’t faze me because communication shouldn’t be rigid. 

For over an hour, I watched the assistant manager readjust her countenance to hide her agony over having another competent and competitive black woman on staff. How do I know? Because she shot down every compliment her white assistant gave me, then embellished her title, life and character. While the white assistant was thrilled by my wit and equal amiability— so much so that she spoke as if I’d already had the job— the black woman seemed floored and resistant. Once upon a time there were goals of black mobility through racial uplifting.  But what’s really going on? Are black women pitting themselves against one another, or do some people feel threatened by someone they view as a challenge? In this post-affirmative action society, has intra-racial discrimination surfaced in the work place? These are the questions...