The Real Way to Fight Racial Discrimination in the Workplace

By Elaine Sihera 

In the light of the racial and sexist comment by Don Imus, racism is obviously still alive and well in the wider society, especially the workplace. Imus was at work when he made those offensive comments, not in the privacy of his home. What must all the Black workers around him have felt on hearing his comments? And how do you deal with such open ethnic bias? Legal requirements might stem the tangible, open forms of racism, but they are useless against subversive discriminatory practices which have been woven into the fabric of working life: like bullying, put downs, poor assessments, lack of advancement, lack of fair conditions and proper training, negative labels and name calling, having to carry the burden of 'merit' and feeling isolated from the group. Those are common forms of 21st century racial discrimination.

Discrimination comes out of personal prejudice: simply having the power to put such prejudices into action by discriminating against others, whether openly or covertly. It begins from the recruitment stage. Human beings gravitate towards their own kind for validation, reinforcement, security and comfort. This is no different in the recruitment process. Put simply, we recruit in our own image and likeness. That is why many workplaces remain strongly monocultural, mainly reflecting one ethnic grouping. As the majority society sets the standards and has ownership of commerce, racial discrimination begins from the advert stage. From the moment the candidate's CV arrives in front of the interviewing gatekeeper, a minority person is being judged in a different way from their colleagues.

First, they will be judged on their name and ruled out; then if they make the interview, they will be judged on voice, personality, culture, presentation and perception which do not match with or conform to expectation. But, worst of all, they will be judged on a spurious thing called 'merit'. This word is never used in association with White males but it is always a burden which minorities and other underrepresented groups have to carry. White workers automatically 'merit' a position or seem entitled to it without question. Minority ethnic staff, women and other underrepresented groups, have to prove they 'merit' it, to justify their presence. At the same time, recruiters miss the supreme irony that, as we always recruit in our own image and likeness, many men are hired purely through their gender!

The Limiting Notion of Merit
The notion of 'merit' is precisely the way minorities are kept out and White males hang on to their power. They let in just the odd 'deserving' minority to give the impression of equality and fairness. He/She is then surreptitiously co-opted into helping to maintain the biased and discriminatory status quo through tokenistic merit rituals and the desire of the proud new appointee to justify their new role and to hang on it at any cost. The real tragedy is that so long as minorities carry the 'merit' concept like a millstone around their necks, they will always be perceived as second best, regardless of how good they think they are.

If the applicant is successful, he/she is likely to be given unpopular tasks, or tasks which might keep them busy but lack the status to attract coveted advancement. Like principals of colleges in Britain, only 4 are minorities out of over 400, yet 16% of students are minorities. This is mainly due to the fact that most minority teachers are given the kind of low status subjects which do not lead to promotion. Later on in the job, when the assessments are due, somehow the minority worker's productivity or approach will never be perceived to be quite up to standard. As most assessors will be from the majority group, who also hold the keys to scarce resources in such a competitive arena, minorities tend to lose out there most of all. That is why so many are on lower grades never seeming to be competent enough for supervisory or management posts.

Add to that the subtle bullying, name calling and the lack of training opportunities and the scale of discrimination begins to reveal itself, but not in ways which can be tangibly proven, which makes its underlying effects even worse. How do you tackle such ingrained imbalance which is regarded as not really being there when those affected feel its effects very clearly? Very difficult, on one hand, where you have narrow minds and closed hearts. Yet the answer to discrimination does not lie in any policies or fancy documents. It actually resides in each individual in the way they TREAT one another.

Basic Needs of Every Person
Every human being, without exception, seeks four things in their life, depending on personal aspirations. Each of us seeks to be SIGNIFICANT, APPRECIATED, VALUED and INCLUDED. Being significant is connected to our desire for achievement, being appreciated and included is crucial to our sense of belonging and being valued is tied up with our self-esteem. Minorities would place simply being 'included' as their top priority primarily because they tend to be alienated from the majority society and on the periphery.

Fighting racial discrimination in the workplace does not need paper policies and flowery words of intention, otherwise we would not still be asking this question in 2007, especially in view of the millions of words that have proliferated to combat discrimination; words that have seen little action. What is needed is a different, much simpler approach, one which emphasises responsibility, respect and accountability from every single employee, not just senior personnel or the policy makers. If every person in the workplace sets out to treat their colleagues in ways which help them to feel significant, as if they matter; to feel appreciated, especially for a job well done; to feel valued, especially as key workers who have a stake in that business/service delivery and to feel included because they are valued, there would be a dramatic shift in how people feel about themself and their potential, and how they are perceived, regardless of race, gender, age, etc. It means everyone, not just minorities, will be treated with value and fairness, instead of change being left just to the managers, or the White majority, while the general worker is left untouched in their subtle and negative actions.

True diversity is the acknowledgement of difference, the full acceptance of it and the celebration of it. Stemming discrimination and valuing diversity is thus an 'inside job', it starts from within us, in the form of appreciation and respect for that difference. Unless we feel good about ourself, and respect ourself, we cannot feel good about others. Thus, most of the time, discrimination is the end result of basic fear and insecurity - fear of loss in all its forms, and, above all, fear of difference. There has to be some self-doubt and low feelings of worth to call women who are trying to better themselves 'hos'. As Imus has proven, no amount of fine words and intentions in a policy will reduce that fear without the genuine will to change. And not from top-down either, but from the grassroots right up to the plush office of that executive in charge.

ELAINE SIHERA (Ms Cyprah -http://www.ecademy.com/user/elainesihera and http://www.myspace.com/elaineone) is an expert author, public speaker, media contributor and lifestyle columnist. The first Black graduate of the OU and a post-graduate of Cambridge University. Elaine is a CONFIDENCE guru and a Personal Empowerment, Relationships and Diversity Consultant. Author of: 10 Easy Steps to Growing Older Disgracefully; 10 Easy Steps to Finding Your Ideal Soulmate!; Money, Sex & Compromise and Managing the Diversity Maze, among others (available on http://www.amazon.co.uk as well as her personal website). Also the founder of the British Diversity Awards and the Windrush Men and Women of the Year Achievement Awards. She describes herself as, "Fit, Fabulous, Over-fifty and Ready to Fly!"

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