#StopSaying“I was in the field today”indicating one was not @ the office/headquarters/central.Most #nonprofits are run by whiteppl(80% in 2018) & esp in NYC, they serve BIPOC. In NYC, 85%=students of color. So why do we say we are in the"field"... w/POC?Why are we cool w/that? ⅛

@mofletch30 pointed this out in a meeting a few years ago to some Execs & I never forgot it. Since then,I've heard it repeatedly from people of all backgrounds @ various organizations."Were you in the field this week?""When we are out in the field, we need to.." *a thread* 2/8

#CurrentContext:Execs in non-profits make btwn $800-100k (Check Guidestar for 1090s of nonprofits-millions of $ for larger companies)while people working w/individs can make <$20k.This is an economic VIOLENCE that began in the 1600s
#HistoricalContext:Pres Thomas Jefferson’s 3/8

plantation/household, treatment of enslaved Africans varied with skin color. Darker skinned enslaved peoples worked in the fields& lighter skinned/house enslaved peoples did domestic work.(lighter skinned people were also relatives as a result of rapes. 1 son became his chef, 4/8

2 sons were carpenters,3 others passed into white society.) Important terms: “Field negro"-"Field slave"-"House slave”-“Overseer” The person who directed the daily work of the enslaved was the overseer, usually a white man (indentured servants,middle class/poor immigrants or 5/8

American whites) but occasionally an enslaved Black man—a "driver"-promoted to the position by an evil-white-supremacist('slavemaster'). Some plantations had both a white overseer & a Black driver. #PuttingItAllTogether:This is synonymous w/nonprofits b/c @ the top/the board 6/8

members/execs=white folx, lighter people=admin, darker people=working directly w/clients. Most nonprofits (espNYC!) have nothing to do w/fields or farm work so this usage is ridiculous. Questions: Do other languages use this terminology abt leaving headquarters/going out to 7/8

work w/the people? Why are we so unaware of we are saying in 2020? Let’s do better & stop using this statement that has its origins in a greedy, barbaric treatment of Blacks unless that is what you are still looking to perpetuate in your org. #BlackLivesALWAYSMattered #BLM 8/8

#StopSaying "When I'm out in the field..." referring to working with people and not being in the office.