Latest / Black Box Theory Podcast / Who Decided a Suit Means "Professional"?
Transcript
- Malcolm: The same way you wouldn't wear a do-rag or a bonnet to a job interview, to a networking event, you wouldn't wear it to the club. And that has nothing to do with any any of the things I just said. There's a time and a place for everything, right? Carry yourself. Present yourself in a way that you want to be treated and you want to be understood and you want to be taken like you want to be taken seriously, bro. We like, come on, bro. Like, like, like, if you want people to take yourself take you seriously, it's not about conforming. To to culture to standards, but it's about like like we're in HBCU, bro. We are already prejudiced. We are we already have all these bad titles and these people that doubt us, that think the truth that we aren't smart, that we're violent, that we're just like, you know, gang members, this and that. Adding wearing a do-acrobant, all it does is just amplify those those prejudices and those beliefs, bro. We have to separate ourselves. If you want to be treated and and understood as someone who's about their business, that handles their business, that you're you're you're educated, right? You're you're you're well read, right? You can you can you know you you can you can perform things at a very high level, you're high functioning, you're capable, you can excel right in different fields, right? Like like you can do things, right? You have to dress the part, you have to show yourself, you have to carry yourself, you have to present yourself, bro. So it's like it's Thomas: That's Eurocentric. Thus you're you're appealing to Eurocentric business standards. Malcolm: Okay. Well, if if that's the case, it i i i i i that that like if we really want to like like play that game bro like tell me like like please go to the camp like any name any top institution in the world that you want to MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, UC Berkeley. Any of these institutions, bro. I I I want someone to just take a tour on that campus, walk into a random class, tell me how many there's already very few of us. Tell me how many people of color you see in there wearing doag or a bonnet of class, bro. Thomas: And and no, that's another thing too. People say Eurocentric. I get that a lot of the world has been colonized, but I bet you can go to any country on this earth that has a business or corporation or any any level of business. I'm not talking about a mom and pop shop where it's, you know, people can wear whatever because I mean they own it Malcolm: Mm-hmm. Thomas: and they're they're not you know what I'm talking about. It's people wear suits, suits and ties. That's not I don't know why people say that's like a Eurocentric. People everyone wears a suit and a tie. People all over this world wear suits and ties and and have a clean cut. I understand, yes, locks, having locks is that's that's fun. Yes. We're not talking about hairstyles, talking about head coverings that are unnecessary. You're it's not it's not religious. It's not it's not a part of your outfit. You're just putting the stuff on. Like I I got told at a young age, like, don't do that. It's because pe you never know how people see you. It's like Malcolm said. And and it's really this doesn't even just apply to black people. It does mostly. But I have seen, and I have to say this because I saw a comment saying, it was a black woman, I think, or she was saying, like, I hate when I go to the sea in the airport and I only see African Americans wearing bonnets and pajamas. And I'm like, look, look, look, that that is false. That you don't travel. If you say you don't travel, I have seen. Other races wear bonnets, pajamas, crocs, flip-flops, feet out, unkept, beaters. I have seen more of that from other races than African Americans. You say that's false, but people that push that, that say, they're the only ones that do it, we only do this. No, no, no, no. Address your self-hatred, open your eyes, and stop just letting everybody who has a different shade of skin. Pass by your view, right? Malcolm: Mm-hmm. Thomas: Everyone talks about genetics and mutations and blah blah blah. Where did people come from? Where did humanity originate? What is the mutation? What is the mutation to adapt to your environment? Humanity started in Africa. People have darker skin. Why are you judging skin at all? And you look at animals. I don't know too many animals that have white, like like pale skin. Why? Because animals live outside. So albino, they don't have any. There's they that's like a a a condition in animals and and affects humans as well. But the point is people are always changing what are what we're talking about. They're always changing the goalposts, we're always moving the bar.