-Elizabeth Chinery, Junior Community Outreach Coordinator
theconversation.com (Minority job applicants with ‘strong racial identities’ may encounter less pay and lower odds of getting hired)
Racial discrimination is a topic that many people believe has been decreased due to laws and places such as colleges and even many business promoting the admission and hiring of a more diverse set of individuals. However, the truth is this is far from the truth.
The problem of perceived and presumed identities play a big part in this form of discrimination. Many people use what they see at first glance thus creating a singular identity for an individual. In fact, it is quite common to do this. It’s safe to say that many of us do this on a daily basis. However, letting this determine how you treat an individual is where there is a big problem. As the article states, “people have more than one identity, such as being a mom, a Muslim, an athlete, a scientist and so on.” Therefore, seeing someone for the first time, taking one look, and creating your own story for that person is something that should be avoided because in a way this strips the individual of their entire identity.
Unfortunately, this way of thinking is quite common in many businesses when choosing who to hire and how much to pay the individual. This blatant disregard for an individual’s, generally a minority individual’s, qualifications and experience simply due to the fact that they are a minority is where the employment process takes a racist turn.
This article goes into detail further. Please take a couple minutes to read it and maybe bring up the discussion of this topic with friends and family. Let it encourage you to actively advocate for change.
Post a comment