(Published September 1, 2008)
History was made last week when the Democratic Party officially nominated an African-American for the Presidency of the United States. I watched the live TV coverage with a sense of joy and wonder I hadn't anticipated. Look how far we've come! I thought at the time. But have we? Really?
We've all heard about how Spain's Olympic basketball and tennis teams made “slit-eye” gestures while posing for team photos. The teams were reportedly shocked that anyone found the gestures offensive; they were really trying to be “humorous” and “affectionate” towards the Chinese, they later explained. (Oh, okay. As I used to deadpan back in grade school, “That's so funny I forgot to laugh.”)
Even if they were trying (and failing) to be humorous instead of consciously trying to offend or ridicule their Chinese hosts, does that make what they did okay — no harm, no foul? No, of course not.
It's similar to employees telling race-based or other off-color jokes in the workplace; their intention may be to amuse, not offend, but that doesn't make the behavior acceptable.
Discriminatory actions don't always come dripping in hatred and bigotry. I'm willing to give people the benefit of the doubt and acknowledge that discrimination might sometimes be inadvertent, stemming from a lack of awareness or knowledge, or a lack of exposure to different ways of viewing the world.
That's why diversity training is so important; like any other type of training, it teaches people what they don't yet know but do need to learn. And even if it doesn't change the way some people think, it might at least have an effect on how they act. It drives home the point that we all have an obligation to treat others with dignity and respect.
Of course, there are always a few students who stubbornly refuse to learn. In that case, you'd better kick their lil' buns to the curb.
For instance, in one recent case, some white employees often used the term “boy” to address two black co-workers. Upon receiving complaints, their employer had them undergo sensitivity training, explaining why the term was derogatory (though it blows my mind that you'd really have to explain something like that). The employees stubbornly insisted it was just a harmless “Southern thing,” and continued using the slurs (at which point, they definitely should've been shown the door). Ultimately, it was their employer who was on the hook for $700,000 in compensatory damages for allowing a hostile environment. (Bailey v. USF Holland, 6 th Cir., No. 07-5304, 2008)
Employers with a harmoniously homogeneous workforce may not see the need for diversity training. But times are changing, and homogeneity is on its way out. Earlier this month, the U.S. Census Bureau announced that the U.S. population will be 54% “minority” (i.e., anything but non-Hispanic white) by the year 2050.
As someone who spent her formative years lisping Spanish phrases learned from “Sesame Street,” warbling “We Are the World” non-stop, and grasping strangers' hands in “Hands Across America,” I grew up valuing cultural diversity. I attended a university where white students were in the minority. I live in a city boasting more soul food and Asian fusion restaurants than burger joints. So these societal changes on the horizon do not seem jarring or threatening to me or my friends, because it's been an integral part of our life experience so far.
But the fact is, the world may be changing faster than some people can comfortably keep up. Don't let your employees get left behind.
"If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'."
— Bob Dylan, The Times They Are A-Changin', Copyright © 1963, renewed 1991 Special Rider Music
Eileen Mager
Writer
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