Reverse Discrimination

Reverse Discrimination

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

This is a heavy topic so before we dive into this I'd like to state that I'm not biased against race, gender or religion. I've worked with and for many different types of people, with many different backgrounds. The quality of work is what is important, not the cultural background of the person. However, in a world where we press for equality many forget what it means to be equal. The following opinion stems from two personal experiences, one working as management for a big brown delivery company and the other from a recent conference I attended that claims to focus on ideas worth spreading.

Working in management full-time for a Fortune 500 company is not glamorous. Actually, I wasn't management but I was also not considered hourly either. That's another topic entirely but I was very adamant about getting promoted to full-time management. This company requires that everyone go through a gauntlet of tests. First a computer-based test of multiple choice questions, then something called the "inbox" and finally a interview panel. The first test is fairly straight-forward as a personality test and through my time working here I've never heard of anyone not passing this. The final test in front of a panel requires you to ask what you would do in certain situations. The panel has a judging system that the panelists follow to determine a candidates score. For someone that has managed people before this test is nothing to be concerned about either. The inbox, on the other hand, is much harder to pass but that is because of the way it was constructed.

Let's say you were doing a math test and the first question was "2 + 2 = ?". Now, the next question states "Take the answer from question 1 and divide by 2". Imagine that all subsequent questions are based off of the previous question's answer. Then imagine that you had to write an essay about those answers in some sort of scenario (sales figures, payroll etc.). Finally, imagine if you wrote "5" as the answer to the first question. At that point, the entire test would be wrong because of one question. This is how the inbox was setup; you answer wrong right in the beginning and everything that follows would ultimately be wrong as well. Furthermore, you were never advised how to get the right answer after the test is marked wrong so when scheduling to take the test 6 months later, you have nothing to reference and no idea how to get a correct answer. Working with the people who have passed this test and were promoted to full-time management, nothing in the inbox is helpful in preparing them in their daily routine on the job. Reporting was either automated or provided by someone trying to pass the test. I took this test four times but finally passed. Then I waited for a promotion.

I was first choice for promotion several times but never got promoted during the four years after I passed the test. The first problem was that the district manager didn't like me and essentially blacklisted me from receiving a promotion. After he was demoted, I felt I had a shot until I stumbled upon a corporate PowerPoint presentation from human resources. It was an overview of hiring comparing last year's results with this year's plan. One of the slides struck a huge nerve, it documented the number of women and minorities being promoted. So, even after passing the gauntlet I still didn't have what it took to be promoted according to corporate.

Fast forward to last night with a presentation about branding and management given mostly to college students preparing for real world experiences. The first speaker talked about his history with figuring out what to do with his life. He then was proud to say he was the Chief Diversity Officer of the company he currently worked for and then explained what that meant. Basically, he seeks out women and minority run businesses and focuses on hiring them over other contractors. Which means it is his job to be biased against businesses run by white males. This is not good business nor should it be recommended to students to follow going out into the real world.

When a company says equal opportunity employment, it really should mean equal opportunity. There should be no quota or goal as to the types of people hired. It should only matter the quality of the service provided. We pay for the service, not for the stereotype. I can understand "the white man" has had a history of ruling the world and everyone else wants a shot at glory but to turn someone down because they aren't a minority or a woman is discrimination; plain and simple.

But don't just take my view, see what other people have to say. And I suggest you take notice to the frame of the comments; like this reply:

Everyone knows white people are inherently racist.

And everyone knows he's biased against white people.