I really don’t know. Maybe it’s because it’s my dads birthday, maybe because it’s Friday, maybe because the suns shining…I’m sure the feeling will pass by 2pm or maybe even 12pm but for now, I’m happy!
Lots of traffic on the roads coming to work today, much more than usual for central London I had to eventually jump off the bus and power walk which was hard with all the slow walkers getting in my way. Anyway needless to say, I was late for work but not too late. Got an email from a friend that made me smile…just added to the good feeling.
I watched a documentary yesterday called “Is It ‘Cos I Is Black?” where three men – a white man, a Muslim man and a young white man in a wheelchair – decided to test the level of ‘Political Correctness’ within the general public. They did this by doing the same tasks to see who would get the most help or who could get away with what. It was a funny show especially when the Muslim man thought he’d really take the piss and ask for LEFT-HANDED toilet roll. He used the excuse that Muslim people do not wipe themselves with their right hand - Lol there’s a Nigerian trait in there me thinks. The shop assistant was glad to help the Muslim guy, the white man got little or no help but the guy in the wheelchair got the most help out of all three.
There was another test in which each of them would sit at a restaurant table and ask the waiter if they could have the chef cook their OWN meat which they had just purchased from the supermarket. The guy in the wheelchair couldn’t even access the restaurant simply because the disabled facility were unavailable due to building work. The white man couldn’t get the waiter to agree to cook the meat for him. The Muslim man however used the excuse that since the restaurant didn’t have Halal meat he would appreciate it if they cooked his own meat which IS Halal. Funnily enough a lot of the waiters didn’t actually know what Halal was or what he was even talking about! I don’t blame them though, the place where the tests were taken were in places such as Newcastle and other areas that are far less diverse than London.
Lots of traffic on the roads coming to work today, much more than usual for central London I had to eventually jump off the bus and power walk which was hard with all the slow walkers getting in my way. Anyway needless to say, I was late for work but not too late. Got an email from a friend that made me smile…just added to the good feeling.
I watched a documentary yesterday called “Is It ‘Cos I Is Black?” where three men – a white man, a Muslim man and a young white man in a wheelchair – decided to test the level of ‘Political Correctness’ within the general public. They did this by doing the same tasks to see who would get the most help or who could get away with what. It was a funny show especially when the Muslim man thought he’d really take the piss and ask for LEFT-HANDED toilet roll. He used the excuse that Muslim people do not wipe themselves with their right hand - Lol there’s a Nigerian trait in there me thinks. The shop assistant was glad to help the Muslim guy, the white man got little or no help but the guy in the wheelchair got the most help out of all three.
There was another test in which each of them would sit at a restaurant table and ask the waiter if they could have the chef cook their OWN meat which they had just purchased from the supermarket. The guy in the wheelchair couldn’t even access the restaurant simply because the disabled facility were unavailable due to building work. The white man couldn’t get the waiter to agree to cook the meat for him. The Muslim man however used the excuse that since the restaurant didn’t have Halal meat he would appreciate it if they cooked his own meat which IS Halal. Funnily enough a lot of the waiters didn’t actually know what Halal was or what he was even talking about! I don’t blame them though, the place where the tests were taken were in places such as Newcastle and other areas that are far less diverse than London.
Muslim man won the challenge.
Third was an ‘employment’ challenge where all three men applied for the same graduate jobs with similar fictional CV’s, the only difference being the name and off course the disability in the case of the guy in the wheelchair. The white man got 40 replies back asking for interviews whereas the Muslim and the guy in the wheelchair got about 14 and 7 respectively. It was actually expected that the Muslim man would win the challenge, but he didn’t. Never mind, maybe next time.
Of course I should be shocked and appalled that the Muslim and wheelchair guy didn’t get half as many replies back...but I’m not. Companies look for candidates who may suit their company/deparmental culture. If you are Asian/black/white whatever and they don’t feel you would be appropriate within that particular department or the company as a whole, they wouldn’t bother ask you for an interview. I work in a ‘lads mag’ office where the people here are predominantly white males, some females who are also white and me, the only black girl who isn’t a ‘work experience’ person. Some can say that is racially biased but I don’t believe it is. The lads mag I work for reflects a drinking, football crazy, hooligan almost sort of culture. There are exceptions to the rule (there always is) but this sort of culture is usually lived by white males. If someone is living the culture of the magazine it only makes sense to employ them. Nothing can be better in an interview for a magazine than ‘I live what you write about’. The same applies to the rest of the magazine section of this company. Take a look at some of the pictures in top magazines in the UK and you’d be practically looking at the workforce (minus the skinny models tho!). This is not only particular to white dominated magazines. I’m sure black hair magazines have a predominantly black workforce.
The show was interesting, it had more tests than I have put down here but it didn’t really tell me much except for the fact that people pity someone in a wheelchair when face-to-face, a white man can get more interviews than any other and a Muslim man has a case when arguing for left handed toilet roll. It lacked a conclusion as to what procedures can be taken to erase forms of discrimination on any grounds. Discrimination laws can only help so much, most are very vague and hard to prove. The programme wasn’t very educational but it was interesting to watch!
Of course I should be shocked and appalled that the Muslim and wheelchair guy didn’t get half as many replies back...but I’m not. Companies look for candidates who may suit their company/deparmental culture. If you are Asian/black/white whatever and they don’t feel you would be appropriate within that particular department or the company as a whole, they wouldn’t bother ask you for an interview. I work in a ‘lads mag’ office where the people here are predominantly white males, some females who are also white and me, the only black girl who isn’t a ‘work experience’ person. Some can say that is racially biased but I don’t believe it is. The lads mag I work for reflects a drinking, football crazy, hooligan almost sort of culture. There are exceptions to the rule (there always is) but this sort of culture is usually lived by white males. If someone is living the culture of the magazine it only makes sense to employ them. Nothing can be better in an interview for a magazine than ‘I live what you write about’. The same applies to the rest of the magazine section of this company. Take a look at some of the pictures in top magazines in the UK and you’d be practically looking at the workforce (minus the skinny models tho!). This is not only particular to white dominated magazines. I’m sure black hair magazines have a predominantly black workforce.
The show was interesting, it had more tests than I have put down here but it didn’t really tell me much except for the fact that people pity someone in a wheelchair when face-to-face, a white man can get more interviews than any other and a Muslim man has a case when arguing for left handed toilet roll. It lacked a conclusion as to what procedures can be taken to erase forms of discrimination on any grounds. Discrimination laws can only help so much, most are very vague and hard to prove. The programme wasn’t very educational but it was interesting to watch!
