Is a "Competitive" Black Male a "Problem" for Social Services?

Do social services fear the qualities that most empower their clients and colleagues?

Recently I had a conversation with three other Black Americans who are involved in the social services that illustrated how some helping professionals fear the type of behavior that they should actually encourage.

One of the social service professionals worked for the government, another worked for a non-profit, and the third worked in the private sector.

In the course of the conversation I asked whether or not it was their impression that African American males who are “competent and competitive” in Western Pennsylvania tend to be perceived as being “intimidating” and are marginalized in the professional workforce.

I was prepared for the usual round of denials from social service professionals, but what I was not prepared for was the intensity of their reaction to the particular phrase: “competent and competitive”. It was as though the phrase, itself, embodied social dysfunction.

My professional friends jumped all over the word “competitive”, and interpreted it as meaning a poor upbringing leading to bad public behavior.

They hyperventilated about poor work habits, bad attitudes, and not being able to get along with others in the workplace. Mind you, I had used the terms “competent” and “competitive” — and I was clearly referring to professionals like themselves. Yet their reaction was one that would have been appropriate if I had been talking about someone who was ill-mannered, unprepared, and lacked basic social skills. It was as if I had asked why gang members being sidelined by the professional workforce.

Although they were not directly addressing me, at least I hope not, their response was in full lecture mode, “You have to know how to act. You have to know how to dress. You have to know how to get along with people. You have to know how to behave in the workforce.”

Later, I replayed the conversation over and over in my mind and it was clear that the word that set them off was the word “competitive,” and when used to describe the behavior of Black males they saw it as an unqualified negative attribute. Do social service professionals believe that Black males should not be competitive? Would that make them feel more comfortable?

I retold this conversation to a friend and he nodded and confirmed that  the phrase “competent and competitive” sounded odd in reference to Black male professionals. Not that it was problematic, or signaled something that was dysfunctional to him — just that it was odd.

I searched my memory, trying to recall when and where I first picked up that phrase. Suddenly it hit me. I picked it up from a recording of a meeting between Senator Robert F. Kennedy, back in the  late 1960s, and advocates for education reform. Kennedy said that he wanted to see schools that would produce Black graduates who could “deal competently and competitively with their environment.”

In that context, to be competitive did not mean to be bad mannered or poorly socialized, rather it was the very measure of social competence and was essential for getting a foothold in the mainstream of American society. It was a necessary virtue on the road to social equality. To be competitive, in Kennedy’s day, was at the very core of self-esteem.

My frame-of-reference for the term came from Senator Robert F. Kennedy during  a recorded meeting on education reform

I realize that much has changed in the United States since the late 1960s. There is a more negative connotation to “competitive” behavior in anything other than sports. It seems to suggest, to many people, being self-absorbed and being a poor “team player”. The social services are particularly suspicious of competitive types as being ill suited for the “global village” or for membership in a community. Yet, the United States remains a highly competitive society. Even members of dominant groups must compete in order to survive. What chance do minorities have if they are not competitive also?

This sense of competition does not mean the lack of teamwork or community spirit — a basketball team is highly competitive, yet it will never win without cooperation and coordination between its members — but it does mean that one should be able to hold one’s own among others who are holding theirs.

Judging by the intensity of the negative emotional reaction from my colleagues I can’t help but to wonder whether or not many of us have lost sight of this. I can’t help but to wonder whether or not the social services prefer to have what they consider to be “well-adjusted” black males to interact with, as opposed to competent and competitive ones — who might be a little too independent-minded for their comfort.

C. Matthew Hawkins