The Wrath of Inequality

 

            Generally speaking, I tend to be quite proud of my generation in its efforts to stress the importance of equality but sometimes we fall short of my expectations.  By short, I mean really short.  Recently one of my close friends, who happens to be African American, told me a quite unsettling story.  She was in a class and her professor explained that if two people with equal experience and credentials applied for the same job and one of the two had a more ethnic name, the person with the more average name is more apt to get the job.  My friends name happens to reflect her ethnicity, as many do, and it is somewhat unique.  Rightfully so, this upset her.  Furthermore, a student proceeded to explain that a parent is setting their child up for failure by naming them something ethnic and that parents should choose average names for their children.  That is to say that we are better off naming our children John, Jill, Bob, or Kate than anything unique or uncommon.  This is disappointing to hear because I do not think that a person’s name can reflect their abilities in the workplace.  To know that one of my peers feels that a person’s name can define their future is so discouraging.  It is sad that our generation is still employing prejudice thoughts such as these.  In this day and age it should not continue to be this way, but until there are some drastic changes, whether you like it or not, your name makes a difference to how or even if, you are viewed in the workplace.  That is like saying that a person with brown eyes is a better person to hire than someone with the same experience and credentials with blue eyes.  It is ludicrous.  

            After being so irked by this story I of course encountered another similarly prejudice story, which was what prompted me to write this blog in the first place.  I was eating lunch with a group of friends, when one was talking about a job interview she was anticipating.  After awhile of discussion, of course in a group of girls someone had to ask what she was planning on wearing to her interview.  She said she was unsure, but most likely black slacks and a nice top with appropriate shoes.  To myself, I thought this sounded normal; like something most people would expect to wear to an interview.  To my disgust, another girl suggested that she wear a skirt rather than slacks because she is more likely to get the job.  Taken aback, we all asked what she meant by this.  Calmly, she explained that a woman showing extra skin by wearing a skirt or a low cut top has a better chance of getting a job than someone who is more covered up or casual.  It is sad, but about a third of women are happy to wear skimpy clothing to win bonuses and promotions.  We should not be thinking of what to wear to earn a promotion, but rather what skill of ours will help us earn a promotion.  With this distorted way of thinking, we are destroying the equality we all worked so hard to achieve.  

How can we look to Hitler with such disgust when we ourselves are judging people by mere details rather than as whole human beings?  It may sound like a stretch to mention Hitler in a situation as such, but come on people!  We are in a new century, a fresh generation.  We are leading something unlike anything in the past with all of our advancements as a human race, yet still we dwell on the inequality that we feel from people of different genders, races and sexualities.  We are advancing in so many ways, but we are still caught in the ignorance of inequality.  Is this what our kids are going to have in their impressionable minds?  That Sarah is more capable than Shaniqua, and that bare legs get promotions more than raw skills?  Please, help save our kids’ generations and stop being so damn ignorant.  We are all human and when we get down to it, we are all just a bunch of bones surrounded by blood and organs.