A few months ago I called my credit union with a simple question, and ended up getting routed to the supervisor of fraud detection because after I answered the basic security questions the customer service lady said, “well, we don’t have that Michelle is a male, so I’m going to send you to my supervisor.” I tried to tell her I’m not a male…I just have a deep voice, but she had already sent me on to her supervisor. It was frustrating and a bit humiliating, and it brought back all the comments throughout my life that I’ve heard about my voice.
A few days ago, I made another call to the same credit union. But this time, I had an advocate. A State Farm insurance agent was on the phone with me. So, ‘Mark from State Farm’ made the call, and when the customer service person answered, he said very quickly, “This is Mark from State Farm, and I have Michelle on the phone with me…” Without a hesitation, I was given the information I was looking for.
This is the importance of advocacy–or at least one of them. I realize that advocacy is more than just this, but I think it is at least this: Someone in a position of authority or privilege making the call while someone else is on the line and making sure they get the help they need.
This experience on the phone made me ask myself who would benefit from me ‘being on the line’ with them. It was another confirmation that as an educated white person, my voice on the line is REALLY important. There may be someone else who is frustrated, discouraged, and humiliated from trying to get through the system, or trying to get answers, or whatever. And I can do all kinds of good by staying on the line with them, making the call, and making sure they get heard.
I’m not very good at this advocacy thing, I have to admit. But now I’ve got another way to think about it. Hopefully I can keep looking for ways of staying on the line.