Tone Policing - A damaging expression of Bias

“Bias - a strong inclination of the mind or a preconceived opinion about something or someone. Bias may be favorable or unfavorable. ”

We all have bias - conscious and unconscious. Yes, we all do. You know, the ones that say Black women are aggressive, or that men are trash, and lions randomly walk on the streets of African Countries.

Ordinarily, bias can be relegated to harmless thought processes and generalisations BUT sometimes it can impact how people are perceived, their intentions and abilities. This leads to what we commonly refer to as “Micro-aggression”. Typically, small, defensible statements or actions but with highly offensive undertones.

As double minorities, Black female professionals face discrimination for both their race and gender. This is known as intersectional discrimination when two classes of prejudice converge to afflict one person.

One of the most common forms of intersectional bias in the workplace bias is Tone policing; where the attempts made by Black women to be authentic are demonised whilst their white female or male counterparts are praised for the same behaviour. Black women can be made to feel unappreciated, rejected and minimised which stifles their potential in the workplace.

With this post, we wanted to highlight how easy micro-aggressions can be reversed to honour the unique characteristics of Black women. Black women can be bubbly without being called noisy. We can be confident without being deemed as confrontational. We can be driven without being called over-ambitious, and we can be passionate without being called aggressive.

It’s time to challenge our biases regardless of how uncomfortable it is and let our words “empower, inspire and encourage others” rather than dismantle them.

Content co-written by Mary Mosope Adeyemi and Iyabowale Fadare