| The passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 set in motion events that significantly changed the face of corporate America. Early affirmative action programs, which started as a result of the Civil Rights legislation, were directed primarily at eliminating blatant discrimination within corporations and stimulating recruitment of minorities and women. Most of these affirmative action efforts, however, focused only on changing the demographic profile of the organizations and did not attempt to change the culture within the organizations or the attitudes and beliefs of those in the corporation. Despite these efforts, barriers and discrimination still existed but were often very subtle and sometimes not detectable by the casual observer. To assess the changes that occurred in the demographic profiles, one could look at corporate records, census information, and labor statistics that reveal growth in the number of African Americans employed at various levels within corporate America, as well as promotion and retention/turnover rates. These data have been collected and reported elsewhere. However, these statistics do not tell the whole story. Left untold are the challenges and triumphs African Americans experienced and a sense of what it was really like for African Americans in corporate America. The purpose of this research was to close this gap.; This study used phenomenological interviews to examine the experiences of ten African Americans who worked in large, predominately White, American corporations during the 1960s and 1970s. The results provide descriptive details of their lived experience to paint a portrait of what corporate America was like for these African Americans and helps fill in the details that mere statistics leave out. In addition, this research provides insight into the strategies these African Americans used to survive and even succeed in a difficult and hostile environment. Finally, the experiences of these African Americans were used to define the concept of partial inclusion, which is characterized by its failure to provide a sense of belonging, acceptance, trust, and adequate communication. |
