As I said in my subject line, I am still healing from the harm I endured as a BIPOC employee during my time at the ASPCA. I was never directly called any derogatory names, but I endured micro aggressions by white women and I witnessed the way they spoke about other BIPOC people (employees and community members). The way they treated other white people compared to BIPOC people was blatantly different and favorable toward white people. In speaking with other BIPOC people across the ASPCA (from the west coast to the east coast), I know that my experience is NOT unique. The work in Los Angeles that is happening in BIPOC communities is poorly managed by white women who are constantly rewarded for treating community members, employees and animals like data points. It is evident that they have been given the flexibility to do what they want at the expense of the mental and physical well-being of their mostly-BIPOC teams who are the ONLY reason the ASPCA has achieved any of its goals. They have the flexibility to: - take vacations during the busiest times while getting upset about others taking time off - show up to meetings late looking like they just rolled out of bed - behave rudely and unprofessionally while judging BIPOC employees for being “too sensitive” or “too aggressive” - praise each other and openly punish and dismiss BIPOC employees - make insensitive and tone deaf comments about BIPOC communities - and contribute the bare minimum to the operations while wondering why their teams struggle to upscale Any time I made an effort to stand up for the well-being of my team or tried to elevate our work based on well-known best practices, I was gaslit, called defensive/angry, and was accused of not being a good decision maker. Aside from continuously witnessing the white women in leadership take victory laps and all the credit for the work of brilliant BIPOC women, what was equally harmful was seeing the ASPCA excel at displaying their white supremacy in the midst of their “DEI efforts.” I sat through council meetings (open to all staff) where white people cried, got defensive, expressed their fear of losing white donors and expressed how privileged they are for not noticing the harm (they’ve) caused on BIPOC people. The ASPCA’s work is driven through a white savior complex and white supremacy lens. They don’t believe in the abilities and empowerment of BIPOC communities and a clear of example of what they think of them is this: They’ve made analogies that compare the spay/neuter movement to enforced sterilization of BIPOC women. In short, they don’t take DEI seriously and they make every effort to tiptoe around racial justice and equity- all in effort to maintain power. Their executive leadership team is made up of all white people, they keep hiring more white leaders and they keep promoting white people (while blatantly denying promotions for BIPOC people). If you’re a BIPOC person interested in joining the ASPCA, I think you should know what you are stepping into. If you’re a white person, then the ASPCA might just be the safest place for you to work at.
