"Tolerance" Discusison

I am in the process of getting my Bachelors Degree and one of my classes is called Success Strategies. Every week we must engage in an online discussion that varies in topic, and in this class rarely has anything to do with the topic we are actually studying. Below is the latest week’s article for discussion. After that is my response to the discussion and to other’s posts that I read as I became more and more angry at the foolishness of those responding who had not been out in the work force for as long as I have or simply have no knowledge of what the “real” work place is like. The response is based on my own experiences.

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Diversity in the Workplace

Below is a topic to begin our discussion this week.

A diverse workplace is becoming more prevalent as technology and communications grow and companies seek to find the most talented individuals possible. Let's explore this topic further as it relates to you. Please participate in the discussion below.

You work hard through school and end up landing a great job right after graduation. The only catch is that you have been hired into a firm that is owned and operated by a Uzbekistan group. You had to look that up on the internet to know that this is a country slightly larger than California located in Central Asia, just north of Afghanistan and it was formally part of the Soviet Socialist Republic. While in the office, most of the other workers speak Uzbek with each other. Their sense of timing is very different than yours and they often forget to meet when you have scheduled time with them. They seem to be functioning with a sense of humor that you do not understand and they rarely take the time to explain. During the noon hour, the entire office fills with strong sour scents from the workers warming their meals. There are times when you find the odors unbearable and have to take a walk outside to escape. Usually after a full day of work, you notice that almost the whole office is now working quietly at their desks and you always worry if they think you are uncommitted by leaving when you do.

Although you love your work and you tout the prestige and income that accompanies a high-level job, you sometimes feel very frustrated at your lack of connection with your peers at work. After sometime, you try to catch the international soccer games on ESPN just so you can try and participate in their Monday morning discussions. You also invite them out to their ethnic restaurants and try to engage them in some more American cultural events to keep their interest. However, throughout your concentrated efforts, you only reach one or two sympathetic peers who seem to try and make you feel welcome.

One day, in a fit of desperation, it occurs to you that this is what many Chinese, Indian, Afro-American, homosexual or even blind employees must feel at times in their jobs. Funny, you never thought that you would be in this situation. However, now that you are, you have a new appreciation for what these diverse groups must feel being in different environments.

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Now, here is my response:

NOTE: I used capitol lettering because of the lack of bold, italics and colors that can be used in our discussion forums. There was no other way of emphasizing.

I agree with at least one student here that one’s success or failure in the work environment has nothing to do with anything but one’s skills, personality compatibility, teamwork, and performance of the job they are given. In all the years I have been in the workforce, whether it be at the small costume shop that was my first job, to the video rental store, to the Toys R’ Us, to the government contractor that I work for now, I have not seen any form of discrimination that has been listed in the above article. I think there are those that take isolated incidents and blow them out of proportion to the point of making others think there is an epidemic of discrimination in the workforce. I just don’t believe it’s there. I’m not saying discrimination doesn’t exist in the workplace, but I don’t believe it is as prevalent as some would have us believe. I took some time to talk to a few of the “minorities” that are a part of my company and asked them about discrimination. All of them, without one exception, stated that in their entire careers, they have not once experienced discrimination in the workplace. I have to admit that I grow tired of people having knee-jerk reactions to reports of discrimination. For some, if they hear about one incident, one single report of an isolated incident, the whole world is experiencing it and it’s out of control! Give me a break!

As far as equality in the work place. It’s completely impossible. There is no way anyone can ever be equal in the workplace. It could not function. I don’t subscribe to the unrealistic expectation to make everyone feel equal. I have found that to be impossible as well. Every person in AmericaAmerica will be afforded the same opportunities. People’s circumstances, upbringing, financial state, values, etc., will all determine what opportunities exist. The same goes for the work place. Ultimately every person may be presented with the same benefits, but the opportunities in that same work place will not be given to every person. We would have to go back to the point about success being dependant on one’s skills, personality compatibility, teamwork, and performance of the job they are given. I can not be given the same opportunities as others in the work force simply because of the diversity, another catch word with political implications, of talent that exists. As far as “treating” everyone the same, no one can even define what that means. If it means everyone should be given the same amount of respect, I disagree. Respect is earned in the work place, not freely given out like candy. If it is, there will be problems. One should have to earn the respect of their superiors. That’s the way the “real” work place works anyway. If a person is unfriendly, doesn’t work well with the team, doesn’t have the capacity to follow orders when given and has little respect of authority, how well do you think this person should be respected. Now of course, as I said before, none of this has anything to do with culture, religion, which was not listed in the article as people who are discriminated against, color of skin, orientation, whatever. has the same rights, but VERY FEW in

Then there is the whole matter of the word “tolerance”. Boy, there is an abused and redefined word! The Websters New College Dictionary, printing 1995, defines tolerance as “The capacity for or the practice of recognizing and respecting the beliefs or practices of others. a.) Leeway for variation from a standard. b.) The PERMISSABLE DEVIATION from a specified value of a structural dimension, often expressed as a percent.” Now if you look this up, for example using MS Word’s dictionary, you get the following definition, “The ACCEPTANCE of the differing views of other people, for example, in religious or political matters, and fairness toward the people who hold these different views.” No longer is it simply being respectful that someone else has a different view, it is the acceptance of that view. Nope, sorry, ain’t gonna happen! Those people who purport and use the “tolerance” card on me are the same people, who by the very “modern” definition of the word that they helped to define, violate it on a regular basis. I have been told I am intolerant, not because I have tried to even talk about my belief system or culture or anything else for that matter, no, it has been simply because of WHO I AM and WHAT I BELIEVE that I have been violated on a daily basis. I have been discriminated against so many times it’s not worth mentioning. Even here in this discussion group it has been stated that I have an out of perspective view, unprofessional and negative because I may at one point or another mention my faith or belief in the workplace. Folks, it’s not against the law, it’s against what some would call the “dominant culture”.

Now, before I get a bunch of nasty-grams from people, please notice, I am not attacking anyone, I am not pointing fingers at anyone, I am not making sweeping generalizations about anyone, I am simply drawing on my own experiences and relaying them to you. I am in a minority group that is harassed daily, pushed aside and told to shut up, put down by media, the educational system, labeled as intolerant, told we should not be involved in public institutions or public policy and slandered on a regular basis. Now I know that some of you have been trying to figure out what minority group am I talking about. Some of you may have even jumped to several conclusions now and made assumptions about me. There may even be one or two of you that I have permanently lost the respect of. That’s fine, I am used to it. My minority group, as we are called, have developed pretty tough skin. No matter what we say, how we say it or what platform we use, we get the same response.

How tolerant are you really? What definition of “tolerance” do you see as valid? Can anyone really be “tolerant” in the modern meaning? Is it really possible to not only allow, but accept every single point of view, religious faith and political view as valid? I am very loving to people, not groups. I don’t like certain activities, words, language, and choices people make, notice I didn’t say anything about the person themselves. I have worked with individuals, very successfully I might add, for years, that I didn’t agree with anything they did of believed outside of work. It’s okay to disagree with people, it’s okay to not agree. It’s okay to be strongly against one person’s point of view.

In limiting this to the workplace, which is what I think this is really all about, as long as these differing views do not cause problems in the workplace, it’s fine to adamantly disagree philosophically with the persona in the next cubicle. Just because a conversation leads to religious discussion of differences or beliefs, doesn’t make it illegal, unprofessional, foster a negative work environment. Personally, I feel if it does, there are some pretty immature people working there, or some really intolerant people being the squeakiest wheel.

As far as one expressing their faith in the workplace….Did you know there are actual laws that protect our rights to express ourselves in the workplace. I tire of people using the “don’t push you faith on me” or “force you religion” on people. Come on! Nobody even knows what that means! To one person someone pushing their religion is simply mentioning that they have one faith or another. To another person if someone decides to bring it up in conversation that’s pushing it. To yet another if someone has the decency and cares enough to say, “I will pray for you”, that’s seen as offensive. What a load this whole thought is. How many times have people actually had someone corner them in a cubicle at the office and state that no matter what they say they are going to preach to them until they convert? How many? If I saw that I would have to say, yes, this person is out of control, but even then I would suspect an emotional problem, not a religious one! I’m tired of non specific terms that can be redefined on a whim to serve as someone’s way to shut another individual up simply because they disagree with them or don’t want to hear it. I listen to offensive talk, language, jokes, etc. every day and I have no recourse. I’m the one being intolerant if I say anything, I’m the one making problems if I express my faith or religious values, yet people can crawl all over mine, make fun of them, insult them, degrade them, and try to make people believe they are invaluable and don’t belong, and I AM THE INTOLERANT ONE?!

Well, there it is. This is what I feel about this subject and what I was reluctant to express. I know there will be those who disagree with me and that’s okay. I don’t ALWAYS agree with everyone or anyone for that matter. By the way, here’s my minority group. I am a white, male, Christian Conservative, who believes in traditional values, believes the family is the backbone of society, is Pro-Life, Republican and really likes Rush Limbaugh. Now, you try walking down the street or work in today’s workforce environment with THAT target painted on your back!