about three-quarters [74%] of black adults say that being black is extremely (52%) or very (22%) important to how they think about themselves …. By comparison, about six-in-ten Hispanic (59%) and 56% of Asian adults say being Hispanic or Asian, respectively, is extremely or very important to their identity. Only 15% of white adults see race as a central piece of their identity.
A contributing factor in the workplace is Black employees can possibly be “the only” one or one of a few underrepresented people making race feel that more salient and central to identity. For example, several years ago, I went to a wedding of a Black coworker, who also invited a white law firm partner. I subsequently asked the partner about the wedding. He said he enjoyed the wedding, and gained some insights into what it might be like being a Black employee, like myself, in a predominantly white law firm. He noted that when he arrived at the wedding, over 90 percent of the attendees were Black. Reflexively, he began to look for another white person in the room. He noted this was one of the few occasions in his life when he thought of himself as a part of a specific race. He wondered if that is something I thought of in the daily experiences in which I am one of only a few Black employees in a given environment.