Fine, Be a Bigot - Workology

Fine, Be a Bigot - Workology Fine, Be a Bigot Its not often our parents suggest we are anything less than authentic but from time to time back in  my teenage years, my mom would tell me, Heather, you may be the devils spawn but for Gods sake, quit acting like it! She was, of course, suggesting that I present a kinder, more gentler me. Perhaps she hoped  if I acted like a  nicer person, I would eventually become one. Fine, Be a Bigot I think of my mother and her pleadings nearly every time I teach a class on discrimination and harassment prevention. You see, unless a client is offering these courses as a preventative measure, the classes are typically  in response to a complaint or lawsuit. As such, I often get to meet the culprits of  the offensive actions  and find myself wondering what types of behavior  their parents encouraged. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and numerous other anti-discrimination and harassment laws  have, as their main purpose, the intent of prohibiting discrimination and harassment in employment. Regardless of the  color of their  skin, what god they  choose to adore, their  age, their  marital  status, or any number of other protected classes, employees should have  a healthy work environment free from disparate treatment. The laws, and accompanying regulations, suggest an employees  value should be based on productivity, quality, service, knowledge, merit and other  job related issues and NOT her/his  protected class. Likewise, employees should  receive rights and benefits similar to those in similar circumstances. And finally, employees deserve to  be treated with dignity and respect despite anothers opinion regarding their  protected class. I have been teaching discrimination and harassment prevention classes since 1995.  Back in the day, my approach was you should think this and you should think that. However, I was met with resistance. Rightly so! No one wants to be told how to think. In  1997, I changed my message. You can believe your genetics somehow make you superior, but you wont be allowed to act superior or denigrate others  at work without consequences. Or, your views are your own and I appreciate you feel strongly about them, but sharing them in the workplace will likely get you fired. I discovered this approach  encouraged discussion, not argument, which was more pleasant for all involved. Today, I am troubled by what I see in the workplace, in my  community,  around the state and throughout our country. I see thousands who hold  bigoted and supremacist beliefs and  appear to be emboldened; they are openly speaking and behaving in manners I believe to be hateful and derogatory. I often lay awake wondering if my approach for discrimination and harassment  training over the last twenty years has, at its core, been an invitation for  students to be prejudicial and biased. Rationally, I know this is preposterous. My students are  adults, not children. Any values or beliefs in their hearts and minds were put there long before I met them, but I worry about my message nonetheless. I have put great effort into developing courses that  encourage a healthy workplace. I offer relevant examples of offensive comments or behavior that, hopefully, enable meaningful self-reflection. I encourage students to recognize that color, ethnicity or other protected characteristics dont make or break ones ability to analyze, act, assist  others or work. Finally, I almost always engage the students in discussions specific to their own protected characteristics. They are encouraged to analyze which characteristics, if any, are an indication of their worth  as employees. Im thankful these discussions often result in  concessions that, indeed, things like religion, age, and national origin have little or nothing to do with  a persons value  at work. But there is always one or two students who just cant get there, and while I wish like hell I could change their minds or open their hearts, it seems  the best I can do is channel my mother. Fine, you may be a bigot, a racist, a chauvinist, a supremacist, etc.,  but for Gods sake, quit acting like it! And then I hope that if you  act like a  nicer person, you  will eventually become one.