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DelDOT’s Diversity Coaching Backfires

More news stories on Multiculturalism and Diversity

Mike Chalmers, News Journal (Wilmington), May 1, 2009

The Delaware Department of Transportation designed its recent “Diversity Spotlight” newsletter to be an “in-your-face” effort to fight workplace discrimination.

But some DelDOT workers, minority-rights advocates and a diversity expert said the newsletter itself was offensive because it spelled out the slurs, insults and stereotypes that co-workers should never say to each other.

The newsletter, which Secretary Carolann Wicks distributed two weeks ago to most of the agency’s 2,600 workers, covered “workplace faux pas” involving homosexual, black, Asian, white, Hispanic and elderly workers.

The section titled “The N word,” for example, actually spells out the word, then says, “It is never, ever acceptable to use this word in any context.”

The newsletter also says it’s wrong to ask a black co-worker, “Should we order fried chicken or watermelon for you?”

The section on Hispanic co-workers lists several ethnic slurs and says workers should not ask, “Can you help me out with my landscaping?” It tells workers to avoid specific slang terms for homosexuals and not tell older co-workers, “You know Wal-Mart is hiring.”

{snip}

But Wicks said she had second thoughts after The News Journal began asking questions about the newsletter and hearing that it had offended some DelDOT workers.

{snip}

She e-mailed an apology to the agency’s workers and removed the newsletter from DelDOT’s intranet. Also, Wicks said she, as a woman in the male-dominated field of engineering, would act as a spokeswoman for the agency’s diversity efforts.

Eric Peterson, manager of diversity and inclusion at the nonprofit Society for Human Resources Management, said the newsletter’s approach was counterproductive, adding that he was troubled by its choice of words.

“It makes people think, ‘Well, I’m not even going to talk to my African-American co-worker because I don’t want to say the wrong thing,’” Peterson said.

Frustration sparked attempt

Several DelDOT workers attending a union training session Wednesday in New Castle said the newsletter’s message fell flat because of its offensive language.

Matt Gardner, a DelDOT mechanic in Bear, said he didn’t take the newsletter seriously at first.

{snip}

Minority-rights groups said the agency bungled an important topic.

“Unbelievable . . . that in 2009 people working in the DOT could be so clueless that they need specific DO-NOT-USE words/phases spelled out for them,” wrote Maria Matos, executive director of the Latin American Community Center, in an e-mail after reading the newsletter.

She said several LACC staffers told her they learned derogatory terms they hadn’t known.

{snip}

Charles Brittingham, president of the Delaware branch of the NAACP, said DelDOT deserves praise for addressing racism head-on. But some of the words—especially the reference to chicken and watermelon—go too far, he said.

{snip}

Wicks said the newsletter came out of a long period of frustration with incidents of DelDOT workers using slurs or stereotypes. Wicks started working at DelDOT as an engineer in 1982 and became secretary in 2006.

{snip}

Original article

(Posted on May 6, 2009)

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Comments

1 — Question Diversity wrote at 5:59 PM on May 6:

Did this diversity booklet say anything about not equating Indian-Americans (i.e. from India) and 7/11 convenience stores? If so, then the state’s former senior U.S. Senator and now Vice-Messiah should have a read.

2 — Ronald wrote at 6:09 PM on May 6:

“She e-mailed an apology to the agency’s workers and removed the newsletter from DelDOT’s intranet. Also, Wicks said she, as a woman in the male-dominated field of engineering, would act as a spokeswoman for the agency’s diversity efforts.”

Stereotyping engineers as males? What will she be up to next, using the ” W ” word to stereotype them as WHITE males?

Ronald

3 — Anonymous wrote at 6:15 PM on May 6:

A diversity spotlight newsletter, DelDot workers, minority-rights advocates, a diversity expert, and a manager of diversity and inclusion at the nonprofit Society for Human Resources Management… that’s a lot of sensitivity, and keen perception of the kind that can’t be taught without years of training. You’d think at least one of them would notice: not a lot of white folks work for the Delaware Department of Transportation.

4 — hts wrote at 6:40 PM on May 6:

So is anyone surprised? Any thinking individual will understand the oppression of forced diversity. Proponents cling to the belief that forced diversity brings a plethora of new ideas to an organization… Balderdash. Logically it leads to suppression of ideas, due to the fact that some ideas are offensive to weak minded individuals. They will raise a ruckus because they are offended. Soon thereafter people refuse to speak for fear of retribution, then the thinking people leave. Simple.
Hts

5 — HH wrote at 6:43 PM on May 6:

I’ve said before but must say it again - I looooooove articles like this! This just so perfectly illustrates how utterly ridiculous the hyepr-sensitivty over race truly is. The more of this foolishness the better, as even the more weak-kneed Whites roll their eyes and see the asininity in all of it.


6 — Civilized Neighbor wrote at 6:53 PM on May 6:

As someone from the north I would have had no clue that fried chicken and watermelon had any racial connotation at all had it not been for various ‘anti-racism’ efforts making me aware of it. I love fried chicken myself. Not much of a watermelon fan though.

7 — Whiteplight wrote at 8:50 PM on May 6:

“As someone from the north I would have had no clue that fried chicken and watermelon had any racial connotation at all had it not been for various ‘anti-racism’ efforts making me aware of it. I love fried chicken myself. Not much of a watermelon fan though.”

Posted by Civilized Neighbor at 6:53 PM on May 6

I don’t ever eat fried chicken, so I figure I am not a racist. That’s how I deal with it. But I’m with you, watermelon is too seedy for me. I guess that would be my White elitism showing through. Oh well, we can’t help being what we are….

8 — Whiteplight wrote at 8:56 PM on May 6:

Sratch my earlier comment on Georgia. That happened in the country of Georgia, not our state. (Ooops)

9 — Realist in Atlanta wrote at 5:14 AM on May 7:

“Sratch my earlier comment on Georgia. That happened in the country of Georgia, not our state. (Ooops)”
- Posted by Whiteplight at 8:56 PM on May 6

Your ‘earlier comment’ is not here. But thanks for clarifying this anyway.

- Real

10 — Anonymous wrote at 7:57 AM on May 7:

The original purpose of hate crime laws was to put White Christian males in jail and release anyone who commits a crime against a White Christian male.
They have served their purpose well.

11 — Quiet Professional wrote at 9:26 AM on May 7:

This is just another instance of blacks taking advantage of any opportunity to exert power over other people. I can’t speak for anyone else here, but there’s no doubt in my own mind that no one was offended, save perhaps self-hating intellectual flyweights like Secretary Wicks, who fears she may have transgressed against the powers of diversity.

I work with and amongst blacks on a daily basis. I see them in their neighborhoods, their homes, and on the street. Within that context I’ve found them to be some of the most profane, disrespectful, argumentative human beings one could possibly imagine.

I see this in an observer’s capacity, and it’s how they treat each other. As a white male, I fully expect them to treat me like garbage - that seems to be their current birthright, and I’ve become accustomed to it; however, the way they treat each other leaves me, at times, completely speechless. Thus, I simply can’t believe that anyone else could ever reach through their coarse outer layer and offend them.

Like many other claims of “racial insensitivity,” this is nothing more than blacks teaming up to bask in the spotlight of supposed victimization. It’s their chance to push people around.

12 — ex pat wrote at 10:49 AM on May 7:

never mind…. I found it: (I’m actually surprised they included white folk)

White Co-workers
• That’s how a typical white person acts.
You are suggesting that all white people are
the same by putting them in the same
category. The behavior may have nothing to
do with the person’s race.
• I don’t trust white people; they are all
racists. This is stereotyping and totally
insensitive. Get to know the person or
discuss why the actions may have offended
you. Don’t generalize.
• White trailer trash.
Why would you think that referring to
someone as trash is acceptable? This is
derogatory, and should never ever be used.

13 — Anonymous wrote at 11:43 AM on May 7:

The other part of the ‘diversity’ problem is the incalculable COST to (formerly) white society as a whole, in monetary terms.

If I’m not mistaken, the U.K. currently has 50,000 jobs in the ‘diversity’ field. I am sure all of those people are earning at least £30,000 a year, which is £1.5 BILLION spent every year, on patching over an unwanted social experiment, which has been forced on the white majority, clearly against our wishes.

After all, if most of us wanted ‘diversity’, there would be no need for 50,000 people to be acting as ‘Thought Police’ constantly, throughout the country, nor the huge amount of money that is wasted on it.

Imagine what we could have done with that money every year, in a happy, all white society. Heaven forbid!

14 — Question Diversity wrote at 3:01 PM on May 7:

DelDot = The Delaware Department of Transportation. When did it get out of the road building business and become a social welfare agency for favored minorities? The answer is that Delaware is a perpetually blue state that will probably elect Democrats to everything until eternity, so of course when a civil rights group starts complaining, the state’s going to cut them in on state road contracts. Having to buy performance bonds, running an efficient contracting company to be competitive for low bids? That’s all racist, too much disparate impact on black folk.

15 — Anonymous wrote at 12:58 PM on May 8:

“I work with and amongst blacks on a daily basis. I see them in their neighborhoods, their homes, and on the street. Within that context I’ve found them to be some of the most profane, disrespectful, argumentative human beings one could possibly imagine.”
______________

I always use my real name when posting, but not this time. I also work with Blacks daily. Their cruelty and stupidity towards other races is only matched by their cruelty and stupidity towards their own race. One Black I work with said he wanted to be a rapper (he actually had recorded some songs) but that if he got a reputation, he would be killed by envious Blacks. His cousin had actually been killed for just such a reason. They complain about the slightest imagined offense by a White, but put up with outright tyranny by the gangs and thugs infesting their neighborhoods. Their every complaint has been pre-programmed by leftist media and academia. And yet they actually behave exactly as the most extreme racists predicted they would from before all the Civil Rights Acts. On the way home from work I thank God I am White.

16 — Anonymous wrote at 11:57 PM on May 11:

Everyone in Delaware know the history of DelDOT and how common it is to hear all kinds of remarks on the job. My uncle works for them, he’s always talking about how some employees continue to say things they would never say in the corporate world. He took the diversity class at work, but the guys walk right out of class and cuss up a storm. You hear blacks usining the “N” word all the time. Management just got fed up.


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