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My Pen Is Mighty
Is Colorism Finally Disappearing In The Hospitality Industry?
Dark-skinned Black folks — particularly Black women — are getting hired in restaurant roles traditionally held by everyone except them.
I’m not sure if it’s because of the ever-present labor issues or the sudden woke-ness in the hospitality industry, but colorism is finally becoming less problematic.
Pre-pandemic, you’d be hard pressed to find Black faces — particularly Black women — working at trendy restaurants and cocktail bars. And I don’t mean light-skinned or mixed Black folks. I’m referring to brown- and dark-skinned Black people in the traditional sense — with non-Eurocentric features and kinky hair.
It’s also a great thing to see Black faces finally getting those coveted, high-profile positions they’ve been qualified to do for years, from beverage directors and bartenders to general managers and executive chefs. Yep, they had the skills all along, but many times they were not hired or just overlooked for certain roles. Often, you wouldn’t even see a Black hostess greeting guests, but my, have times changed.
