Discrimination in the Workplace and School

Racism at Work

Racism is one of society’s major issues. It is an unfortunate phenomenon that has plagues societies’ for many years. People getting discriminated against for the colour of their skin, their religion or their race are what minority groups face in their everyday life.

Racism at work is very much apparent. People who fit the description of the minority group are discriminated against. They may get the harder shifts just so that the majority group (which is usually white people) can get the more sought after hours. A lot of the time two people, one from each group, will apply for the same job. They both have the same education, qualifications and experience. After the interviews, the minority person had the better interview but the white person will get the job just because he or she is the dominate race. Even if the minority person has better qualifications and more experience, the odds are usually in the white person’s favour. This unfair discrimination is due to the employers own personal views of that minority group and that person applying for the job had to suffer the consequences for something he/she did not do. The minority group itself most likely did not do anything to the employer but for some reason that only the employer can fathom, he/she hates that particular group and will not hire this person because of that. However, some workplaces intentionally hire the minority group. This does not solve all that much because now the majority group is being discriminated against. Regardless of good intentions by the employer by doing this act, racism still occurs.

When the minority worker gets his/her job, he/she will sometimes receive less pay than a person doing the same job for the same amount of time who is part of the majority group. An unfair advantage is then given to the majority group because they will receive more money and obtain greater benefits. The majority group will also most likely get the promotion that the minority group deserves all due to the fact that the employer is a racist. These acts create a poisoned environment for the minority group as other employees will start to discriminate against him/her.

-Robert Lanni