How To Break Through Discussion: “Why don’t our own race support or credit each other that often?

2 months ago, Nene Leakes (The Real Housewives of Atlanta) was the talk of the town when she snagged Ebony’s Annual Power 100 cover complete with a photo of her bathing in diamonds. As soon as the cover was revealed online, Ebony Magazine was slammed for glorifying a reality star, with some readers questioning if the magazine had lost their credibility. Nene recently sat down for a chat with The Daily Beast and didn’t hold back as she responded to the criticism while saying that African American women can be so negative towards their own people. After reading Nene's response on the criticism of her Ebony cover (read after the jump) I could relate to her and asked myself the same question “Why doesn’t our own race support or credit each other that often?"

Nene on the criticism of her Ebony Magazine cover
I absolutely deserve to be on the cover. This cover is about money, power, and respect. And it’s about a come-up story and I’m the one that had that story this year … Not only did I come out as a reality star that was very boisterous and vivacious and outspoken and all those things. I flipped that into money and respect. And a lot of people can’t do that.

Nene on only getting negative feedback from her own race
But listen to me, definitely all of the negative feedback definitely came from my own; African Americans were the ones that were the most negative, and it’s so funny to me because I would call [the editor] over at Ebony and she would say ‘Girl please, glass houses. That’s all it is. They don’t want to see you on the cover, they don’t really understand the reason why you’re on the cover, they don’t know your story.’

Nene may have a point. She has been able to flip her reality TV stardom into a budding acting career, and I have to give her credits for that. I also understand what Nene is trying to point out by saying  that people of her own race can be so negative towards eachother.The fact, and I DONT LIKE to admit this, is that out of all races-ethnicities in my surroundings (West- Europe) I must say that black women criticize each other the most, when it comes to gaining succes in the same work field
(fashionworld, businessworld, modelingworld, etc.). We have to be real with one another. We all have stories to share that can help inspire and uplift someone else. We need to tear down the facades and be more open and honest.

Some women are catty. I’m not perfect and have to say I’ve been guilty of this bad habit myself at times and not all people are like that. It’s far easier to tear another woman down, or not give any credit leaving you the last one standing, than to link arms with her and work together to make a real difference. Shouldn’t we as black women be working together to make sure someone who looks like us, in gender and hue, accomplish something? Wouldn’t that help the effort to get more representation among the people who do the hiring? And wouldn’t it be great if we learned to celebrate each other’s successes, confident that what we give, we get and at some point someone would be doing the same for us?

The cattiness and competitiveness could be eliminated if we formed coalitions to help one another advance. And I am not saying that all black women display this attitude,  but I'm talking in general, there are a lot of women who are succesfull and can relate to Nene's story by not getting any credit from their black co-workers.

Now I’m curious, if you are a black woman, what’s been your experience with other black female co-workers? Do you feel in constant competition? Do you think this is a phenomenon that other women in the workplace experience? Discuss........