We are all treated the same

"That's what I am afraid of" 

Are we all treated the same? 

There is no doubt that there is racism in any workplace. As for my personal assessment at my workplace, we seem to have found a way to shove it down beneath the surface. Indeed even our year end reviews contain a rating for "embraces diversity". When I ask why I only get a satisfactory rating there I usually get an answer along the lines of 'well, that's not a bad rating" and that is true. So how can I achieve a better rating? I participate in multicultural events, I have been on diversity committees which means I have stapled stuff to bulletin boards. Being tall really helped out there. Bear in mind that frank, productive discussions are generally frowned upon. If you are overheard and taken out of context, you could find yourself getting what we refer to as "the call" to find out that the very thing you were earnestly trying to make better, has just brought your time with the company to an end. So the answer is not to talk about it. If you cant talk about it you certainly cant embrace it right? If your rating for Embraces Diversity goes below satisfactory, your overall rating becomes "Good-bye".

So what type of feelings does this foster? The "scorekeepers" have a ball with this. Who got away with what because they are whatever? As companies strive to achieve a diversified staff, are they training their managers for the multicultural issues that will arise?  There is of course diversity training. That's right folks, come early and get a good seat for the once a year video and discussion that will not land you in hot water. The trainings I have been through have actually been quite informative. Although it seems that right along with the trainings being scheduled, there are always rumors around that they are only holding the training because they have recently been sued for some sort of injustice.

So how effective is diversity training?  In order to even begin to define that, you need to consider what actually makes a person multiculturally competent. (Chrobot-Mason 2012) The issue there lies in the many ways in which a person can be considered multiculturally competent. the study I reviewed presented several definitions that all seemed to center around an individual being open to new ideas as well as being keenly aware that there are differences and possessing a high level of emotional intelligence. (Chrobot-Mason 2012) If you have leaders that are indeed competent, the next focus would be on the training itself.  While saying you have a diversity training program in place sounds great, there can be several pitfalls that should be avoided. Those pitfalls are a lack of follow-through in order to create lasting change within an organization, lack of clarification of goals and objectives for the training, and finally trainings that focus exclusively on differences. (Chrobot-Mason 2012) Focusing on differences can basically serve to alienate white males that are present. They tend to report feeling as if they were invited to the training merely as targets for blame. (Chrobot-Mason 2012)

Another concept that I feel it is important to discuss is Psychological Privilege. 

Psychological privilege may be defined as “an invisible package of unearned assets” that serves as a basis for denial to prevent awareness of the disadvantages of others in our society. In this context, privilege is defined not as monetary privileges or social privileges, but rather psychological privileges that give the dominant group the mental freedom to do as they please without having to consider their racial categorization. This mental freedom results in a highly ethnocentric view in which majority members perceive their actions, attitudes, and beliefs as normal, and fail to consider other perspectives or explanations. (Chrobot-Mason p203) 

Basically this is saying that it is incredibly important for members of the dominant group to be aware of the ways in which they are perpetuating biases and stereotypes. this leads to a denial of disadvantages. (Chrobot-Mason 2012) That sounds great in a study but how does one know they are actually participating and denying a disadvantage? Suppose I (a white male)  interview for a job and I am qualified for it. Suppose a person of color interviews for the same job and they are just as qualified. In the real world the interviewer is going to hire who they like best. Should I feel bad if the interviewer is white and I get the job? Suppose the other candidate gets hired and they feel like they got the job because they are of color. Is it possible now or ever that race wont at least enter into someones thought process? Even if the applicants themselves don't see it that way, someone will.

As with everything else we have modernized, we have also modernized racism. Modern racism theory describes the cognitive component of racial attitudes which characterizes the more subtle attitudes found in current American society, as opposed to the more blatant and observable racist attitudes that existed prior to the civil rights movement. (Chrobot-Mason p 204) The principal tenets of modern racism are: (a) discrimination is a thing of the past because Blacks now have the freedom to compete in the marketplace and to enjoy those things they can afford, (b) Blacks are pushing too hard, too fast, and into places where they are not wanted, (c) these tactics and demands are unfair, and (d) therefore, institutions giving Blacks more attention and status result in Blacks receiving undeserved gains in society (Chrobot-Mason p 204) I suppose it matters what level of an organization you occupy as to what level some or all of these sort of creep into your thoughts. I would imagine if most people really took a good long look at themselves and at what they have done (or not done) to get where they are, it would not all be terrific. If you look at a CEO of a major corporation, you could say that they have taken Psychological Privilege to the level. Excluding just about everyone. Yet they know that they need the workers in their organization to be happy and productive. Big companies are full of project people that churn out great ideas and initiatives. Racism and diversity in the workplace needs to be a constant project. I have leaned as much if not more from my coworkers than from any training class. Imagine if this topic was front and center in the everyday, as opposed to talked about once a year.  

   

Reference

Chrobot-Mason, D. (2012). Developing multicultural competence to improve cross-race work relationships. The Psychologist-Manager Journal, 15(4), 199-218. doi:10.1080/10887156.2012.730440