Name of Person Reporting Incident:
Keya Crenshaw
Location of Incident:
Greater Columbus Arts Council
Time/ Date of Incident:
2016-2017
Circumstances of Incident:
- Discrimination based on: race, ancestry, ethnicity
- Event by type: microaggressions in the workplace
Description of Incident:
Daily micro and macro aggressions from all white co-workers, especially my direct supervisor. At an arts council, a place that should inherently be a culturally diverse institution, I was the only brown person. Not only that, but my education, background as an artist, and my experience caused them to perceive me as a threat to their all white order. I had a lawyer and even opened a case with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission that was of course ignored as the arts council is a state and city funded entity.
What have you thought about since the incident took place?
I think on the incident daily which has also affected other positions I have held as well as working relationships. I constantly think about how I should have fought harder for myself, refused to be silenced, and even opened a case against them. I have noticed they are “attempting” be be more diverse, but it’s not proactive, it’s reactive and smacks of being insincere.
How were you affected by what happened?
Defamation of character-they tired to sully my reputation in the city, made it difficult to find other positions as they work with many local nonprofits, and destroyed my life long dream of working for the art council. I had built my entire career around the idea of working there one day, so when the opportunity finally presented itself in 2015, I was thrilled. Little did I know it would be the worst experience of my professional life.
Who else was affected by what happened and how?
My close friends as they saw me change into someone bitter and angry by what happened.
What do you think needs to happen to make things as right as possible?
I think we need a systemic change in the art world–too many people are concerned with lining their pockets and aren’t actually qualified for the work they do. HR teams need to be trained in diversity and inclusive hiring practices. Workforce’s need to be trained in Implicit Bias. Despite all that, it still may not change, but it could be a start.
What do you need for your healing?
What I need for healing I’m afraid is unattainable; I need racism to cease to exist. I used to wish and pray for their demise, harboring hate in my heart, but I soon realized that was counterproductive. I’m now on my own personal healing journey where they thought of them and their system can no longer harm me.
