Hush Money, The Cost of Being Black in Corporate America, Jacquie Abram, Deborah Harris, authors
In Book two of the Hush Money series, Ebony Ardoin is really now at the top of her game. She has successfully settled the racism suit with her employer Daebrun Career Institute, and will assume the position of National Director of Student Finance on a different campus, after she returns from a well-deserved vacation.
Her mother has Cancer and is no longer responding to treatment. She only has a short time to live and Ebony is bereft. She is determined to fulfill her mother’s greatest wish, and so she arranges a trip, while her mother is still able to travel. She and her sister will take her mother from their home in Texas, to Shreveport, Louisiana, where her mother once lived. They will have a reunion with the family and friends that she has not seen for years, before she passes away. Using some of the settlement money, Ebony designs a fabulous, fairytale extravaganza.
When Ebony returns and begins her new position, she meets Cody from Information Technology, and he shows her around. All the other executives are traveling that week. She is convinced that he is mocking her in a very overt sexual manner. When she confronts him, she discovers to her pleasure, that he is not, and they make love passionately. A warm relationship develops.
When the executives return, a meeting is arranged to introduce her to all. She begins to notice that her superior is treating her like an administrative assistant, even telling her to bring him coffee. She believes this is inappropriate for someone in her position, and she is correct. Soon she discovers that the other executives resent her because her education falls far short of theirs. They all seem to have Masters Degrees and Doctorates, while she was unable to complete her Bachelor’s Degree because of the enormous emotional stress of the racism, the stress that increased exponentially with her mother’s terminal illness.
Out of the blue, Ebony’s friend Latoya Johnson calls. She had also received a settlement in a racism dispute and had just returned from a vacation and come out of hiding. She knows Cody and makes a big reveal about him which unsettles Ebony completely. She is devastated, confronts him and is forced to admit that he has betrayed her. Although he moves on to another job, she also tries to, and when an opportunity for a different position arises, within the Daebrun community, she eagerly applies for it. Once again, though, it seems that she is forced to admit that racism is preventing her advancement. Jumping through the hoops and obstacles they place before her, she soldiers on. To protect herself, she still maintains an accurate daily log, as before, so she can document the abusive behavior she is forced to experience.
I found Book 1 more engaging and authentic than this one, which feels far more heavy-handed, but both books should be read thoughtfully, so that these problems can be aired, and perhaps be treated with the respect they deserve, for even at the top of her game, Ebony feels threatened in the workplace. I keep hoping that what is being described here is an exaggeration of what is really taking place even after achieving success, in what should be an even playing field, but apparently is not.
I really admired and respected Ebony and Gabrielle’s relationship with their mother and their faith. It sustained and guided them. If we were not losing the tether to a higher authority today, I believe we would all get along far better. I do not believe that there is systemic racism. I believe that there is a systemic lack of perception about each other’s pathway. If we can’t figure out how to understand the shoes we each walk in, we will never bridge the gap. I hope that in the next book, Ebony has some success working toward that goal.