Multiculturalism and Diversity in the Workplace

Introduction

This morning while I was manually brewing the coffee grains using the dripping process (cup brewer), on top of hot milk in a clear glass mug, I notice that the coffee and the milk did not mix completely. The milk wasn’t completely white, but most of the dark bold coffee was settling down on top of the milk. This physical experiment showed me that: these two elements are not as oil and water; they are mixable, but natural method of dripping was not enough to acquire a mixed uniform color. They both needed some help to reach cohesiveness. Using this analogy is how I see our society today. We see the social prejudice and how the discrimination continues affecting the marginalized people.

I remember when I was working for a factory in Oregon. I worked there for years. During the time I spent working there, I made my way to be the night crew supervisor. At that time we worked two twelve hour shifts. As a supervisor I had to report to my boss all the concerns of my crew. There was another supervisor for the day time who was a white person who would treat Hispanic employees unprofessionally, using bad words and demeaning them for who they were. I would talk to my boss about this behavior expecting him to do something about the discriminatory part. My boss’s answer would be “Just ignore him, put up with him. Tell the guys (workers) not to take it seriously; you know how he is” My boss would not take action. An action like this one is not accepted. However, we still see this practice every day.

Is the United States of America the country that honors what we declare work diversity? This question came up to me several times in the last six months. I just did not know how to present my thoughts in the right perspective. Gener...

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... Hispanics are interested in certain high position in the work hierarchy. Others can be the absence of diversity in the work place due to psychological tendency to reject any body effect of our modern society. Personally I have been working with the county long enough and I notice a difference in my work place.

National organizations that are taking the time and effort to educate more people about multiculturalism; and they are doing it by summits. “The mission of the National Multicultural Conference and Summit (NMCS) for example is to convene students, scientists, practitioners, and educators in psychology and related fields to inform and inspire multicultural theory, research, and practice. We envision multiculturalism as inclusive of experiences related to race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, disability, social class, age, and other social identities.”