Racial Or Ethnic Discrimination In The Workplace
Racial Or Ethnic Discrimination In The Workplace
Discrimination is a crucial issue in the workplace. Employees are discriminated in terms of race or their ethnic background. Racial or ethnic discrimination in the workplace can be obvious. However, racial discrimination is hard to detect. For instance, it is hard to identify racial discrimination during hiring or promotion. Though many organizations have put measures to prevent racial and ethnic discrimination, racial discrimination is still common in organizations. Racial discrimination is evident in different areas, in the organization,. Racial discrimination can be seen during hiring and promotion of employees. In addition, it is evident in remuneration and promotion of benefits to employees. The racial discrimination cases have increased for the past decades. The racial discrimination claims filed with EEOC in 2008 were 34,000. The racial discrimination cases accounted for 35% of all cases filed during that time. Racial discrimination is the most reported form of discrimination in organizations (Price, 2007).
Several laws have been developed to prevent racial discrimination in the workplace. The civil rights Act of 1964 protects employees from racial discrimination. The Civil rights Act of 1964 was enacted on 2nd, July, 1964 and outlawed main types of discrimination in United States. The Act outlawed racial, ethnic, national and religious discrimination of minorities. It also outlawed the discrimination of women. Title IV of the civil rights Act of 1964 is applicable to all employers who have more than 15 employees. In addition, the Act is applicable to government agencies, labor organizations and employment institutions. Title VII prevents various types of race discrimination. First, it prevents discrimination against ancestry. Employers and employee should not discriminate employees because of their ancestry as it infringes Title VII of the Act. Second, employers and employees should not discriminate their fellow workers based on physical features related with their race. They should not discriminate the employees based on their color, weight and other racial factors as it violates the Act. Using the characteristics to discriminate against employees violates the Act especially if the characteristics are connected directly to race and ethnicity of the person. Additionally, the civil rights Act of 1964 protects against race related illness. There are different kinds of diseases that affect people from a particular race. Also, there are other diseases that do not are not directly connected to race or ethnicity, but have a high prevalence in certain racial groups. Employee should not be discriminated based on diseases that affect their races. Moreover, the Act prevents the development of policies that discriminate employees based on their cultural features connected to race and ethnicity. For instance, organizations should not develop policies that discriminate employees based on their names, dress code, and accent and how they speak. The civil rights Act of 1964 prevents discrimination of workers based on belief and perception that a person belongs to a certain racial group. It also prevents discrimination of workers based on connection with another person from a different race (Price, 2007).
Many organizations have included the provisions of the Act in their policies to prevent racial discrimination. However, they have not managed to prevent discrimination of workers as employees are still being discriminated in terms of race. Organizations should implement alternative solutions to prevent discrimination of workers and prevent losses associated with racial discrimination. Racial discrimination affects the performance and productivity of an employee. This in turn, affects the organizations productivity negatively (Price, 2007).First, positive inter group contact prevents racial discrimination in the organization. Encouraging contact between different racial groups lowers racist attitude and beliefs. This in turn, prevents racial discrimination. Organizations provide a favorable environment for inter group contact as they facilitate positive and successful contact between various groups. This strategy is effective in preventing racial discrimination as it changes the perception, attitude and beliefs employees have about other racial groups. However, the strategy might not work if the organization does not provide a suitable environment to facilitate inter group contact. Employers should ensure there is equal status between various groups. Individuals in one group should aim at attaining shared goals instead of personal goals. This will ensure all members are represented in the inter-group contact. Many organizations might not be able to achieve equal status between different racial groups and this method might not work (Price, 2007).
Moreover, diversity training is an effective method to prevent racial discrimination. Organizations that utilize cultural diversity training gain support for new non discrimination laws and also reinforce other policies. Diversity training should be carried out regularly to equip employees with cultural knowledge. The employee learns how to acknowledge cultural differences among employees. Racial discrimination results when employees do not understand other cultures and use certain cultural characteristics to discriminate their co workers. Diversity training programs have various advantages, unlike inter group contact. Diversity training affects various domains including skills, cognitive and learning. Diversity training programs differ from one organization to another (Thomas, 2008). They differ in terms of training duration, location and composition of participants. Also, diversity training programs differ in terms of the approach used. Most diversity training program concentrate on cultural awareness. Cultural awareness training programs educate the employees on the effect of ignorance. Most people engage in racial discrimination via ignorance about the minority cultures. Providing correct information enhances awareness of inappropriate behaviors and actions and promotes behavioral change. Another approach is anti racism training. In this case, the member’s discuses past prejudice racism and stereotyping in the society. This enabled them to understand the culture of other groups including discrimination. However, cultural training might have a negative effect on the employees. For example, cultural training can lead to stereotyping and entrenching identities in cultural norms. Anti- racism training results to psychological discomfort among the major cultures. This leads to various reactions such as guilt, sadness, shame and humiliation. This in turn, increases the cases of prejudiced in the organization. This affects employee participation in the training programs as they might get tired of discussing race and knowing that prejudice is committed by dominant cultures (Paludi, 2012).
Though cultural training has disadvantages, it is effective in preventing racial discrimination. Organizations should implement cultural training programs as the training programs help change the behaviors and perception of the employees. They equip the employees with sufficient information about culture and this changes their behavior, perception, attitude and belief. They learn how to appreciate and acknowledge differences depicted by other employees. In addition, cultural diversity training programs promote diversity in the organization and ensure all employees get a chance during hiring and promotion. They also ensure all employees get equal benefits and pay. Implementing cultural diversity training programs will improve employee performance and organizational performance (Paludi, 2012).
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