In It Together: A Conversation About Race Fitting In Is Sometimes Hardest Part Of Job

Randy Bustamante had an engineering degree, a desire to work for Hewlett-Packard, and a choice between San Francisco and Spokane.

Bustamante took the job in Spokane.

The avid team roper figured that Eastern Washington would be a better place for a horse person.

It wasn’t until later that the New Mexico native took a good look around his work area at HewlettPackard’s research and development lab at Liberty Lake. “Holy mackerel,” he thought.

“There’s no one here that looks like me.”

Bustamante was the only Hispanic. He was also one of the youngest engineers.

“It was a little uncomfortable to be 2,000 miles away from home and realize that the only thing you have in common with people at work is work,” he said.

Bustamante, now 31, has worked at HP’s Spokane division for eight years. During that time, the company has made tremendous strides in diversity issues, he said.

Many of the co-workers on his work team now are women and minorities. He’s also a member of a grass roots “inclusivity taskforce,” which has provided valuable support. “It’s funny how often you feel like you’re going through this all on your own,” he said.

Bustamante credits a mentor for helping him learn the informal “system” for getting things done at HP. On his own, it may have taken him longer to learn it than a white colleague, he said.

Bustamante does resume screening and phone interviews as part of a hiring team. Minority job applicants increasingly ask what it’s like to be a person of color in the Spokane area, he said. Some also inquire about the Aryan Nations’ presence in North Idaho.

Bustamante is frank. He’s never experienced overt discrimination in the company or the community, but he knows of people who have. He and his wife have also discussed whether Spokane would be a good place to raise bicultural children. It’s an issue they haven’t resolved.

Since he’s a member of the inclusivity taskforce, Bustamante also gets questions from co-workers on diversity issues. He answers them when he can.

“Just because I’m a person of color doesn’t mean that I’m an expert on diversity,” he said.