5. The Comment That Hung in the Air
The client meeting started like any other. Ideas were exchanged, feedback was given, and strategies were discussed. But then, the conversation took an unexpected turn.
The client made an offhand comment about an image—one of a Black man wearing a hoodie and carrying a baseball bat. "I don’t know if I like this image," the client said casually. "I feel like I’d cross the street if I saw this guy."
The room erupted in laughter.
She didn’t laugh. As the only Black person on the call, her silence felt deafening in her own ears. Her face flushed with anger, but she stayed quiet, the weight of unspoken words settling heavily on her chest.
Moments like these weren’t new. She had heard comments like this before, and she knew how they often went unnoticed by others who didn’t share her lived experiences. For them, it was just another careless remark, another uncomfortable laugh to move past. But for her, it was a stark reminder of the biases she faced every day.
What she didn’t know was that someone had noticed.
After the meeting, one of her colleagues—someone who wasn’t Black but recognized the harm in the comment—decided to speak up. They approached a BIPOC creative director who hadn’t been in the meeting and shared the story. The creative director was appalled. “That’s not cool at all,” they said firmly.
The issue was escalated to the head of the account team. They took the concern to the client, but the approach felt... off. Instead of framing it as a violation of company values, the account lead softened the message. They said, “Someone on our team was offended by a comment you made.”
Someone. Not she. Not the only Black person in the room.
The client wasn’t told that their words were inappropriate because they conflicted with the agency’s core values of inclusion and respect. Instead, the message was personalized, almost as if it were a subjective grievance rather than an issue rooted in systemic bias.
The conversation with the client ended there. The agency still held the account, but she was left wondering—how did the client take it? Did they reflect on what they said? Did they understand the gravity of their comment, or did they dismiss it as political correctness?
For her, it wasn’t about the account. It was about something deeper. It was about ensuring that comments like this weren’t brushed aside, excused, or softened to preserve relationships. It wasn’t just her battle to fight—it was everyone’s.
Because allyship, real allyship, means standing up and saying, “This isn’t okay”—not just for the person impacted, but because it’s fundamentally wrong.