What happens in an organization where minorities are in leadership and the majority is subject to discrimination? Before we set out on this road to explore “reverse discrimination” let us be clear on a few things:

1)     Reverse discrimination is not equal to racism. Racism is more than a dislike or hatred of a person based on their race. It is an institutional element that continually favors the majority while aiming to keep minorities from prospering in society. It is near impossible for the majority to be institutionally disenfranchised or kept from opportunity when the system was created for their benefit.

2)     There are virtually no statistics that I could find on instances where non-minorities were impacted in numbers by discrimination in the workplace. I did find a recent case where there were racial statements made to students about a Caucasian teacher by an African-American Principal that resulted in a Title VII case that was won on the basis of discrimination. Take a look at the story here.

3)     While quite uncommon, there are instances where discrimination is not solely the result of the majority discriminating against minorities. Instead, the result is minority leadership or professionals discriminating against Caucasian staff members based on race and the premise that such behaviors are warranted because of how minorities have been traditionally treated in this country and in the workplace.

Now for a story…

I once hired this lovely Medical Assistant/Phlebotomist to staff my then patient service centers. She was a Caucasian woman and the line management was predominately African-American. She was the kind of worker you wanted to clone so you would have more of her to go around in the workplace. Anywhere they needed her she was willing to go. The patients loved her. She was by all accounts- great! This was until they started to abuse her kindness.

After a few times of them sending her to some of their worst patient service centers she kindly asked to cover a particular area. In which case, they became bitter and would make derogatory comments about whites in her presence. They would refer to other African-American staff as : “their people” to put emphasis on the fact that she was not one of them. Quite unfortunately, she became ill. During the time that she was ill, they gave her shifts conflicting with her appointments and treatments purposely. They gave her impossible assignments in opposite areas in NY just to trip her up while other similarly-situated African-American employees enjoyed consistent assignments and chose their shifts.

You may be thinking “hostile work environment” and you would be right. This woman cried to me almost daily because of the torment they put her through. The situation reeked of reverse discrimination.

Let’s put a Band-Aid on it

When we speak about Diversity and Inclusion we often act in a reactive manner wanting a quick fix to the situation. I have news for you- you can’t quickly fix an issue that has been intentionally and systematically engrained in practice overnight.  The answer to combating bias leadership whether it emanates from a Caucasian delegation or a completely African-American C-Suite is to put the right people in leadership to begin with. 

This woman was absolutely discriminated against. If you have ever had the privilege of being singled out or discriminated against in the workplace- you know how it looks and what it feels like. The way she was treated was no less wrong than if she had been an African-American being targeted by a Caucasian manager. Anytime we are making decision about how to treat another person based on attributes like race, color, gender, religion or anything else a person has no control over-we have eroded our humanity.

I have said this before and I will continue to stress both the necessity and obligation Human Resources has in an organization to be the moral compass of the organization and see that these events have no commonplace at work. If you are an HR practitioner, who has witnessed discrimination at work and turned a blind eye you are a coward. If you have presided over a discrimination investigation where it was clear that an employee was discriminated against and ruled in favor of management because you are “pro-management”, quit your job as an HR practitioner and find different work to do. Ideally, what you choose should be something that doesn’t directly affect the livelihoods and well-being of people.

The Call-to-Action

It doesn’t matter from which corner the bias or discrimination comes. We are all culpable and guilty when we allow these things to prevent anyone from being great and prospering. The only thing that should and does matter on the job is how well you perform. Now, that one of your colleagues is saying this and it is in your face- what will you do differently in your own organizations?

This blog post is part 2 in a series of blog posts I'm writing with RecruitingBlogs.com. You can read the first one here.