A Response Essay to The Good Black
The experiences of Larry Mungin, as detailed in Paul Barrett's novel, The Good Black provide the reader with a good framework for understanding the complex issues that face companies and employees when racial questions are on the table. Mungin's experiences at Katten Muchin & Zavis reflect the problems that are involved when a company moves to diversify its work force and the challenges minorities face when considering employment opportunities. One can see that the problems of defining racism against the context of poor management and the typical corporate working environment is extremely difficult. The subsequent litigation in this dispute also gives one insight into the problems of trying a racial discrimination suit.
To best understand the problems that developed between Larry Mungin and his employers as Katten Muchin & Zavis one must consider the reasons why he was offered employment. The position that Mungin was to fill was a recent construct of Mark Dombroff. Dombroff had only recently become a member of the firm himself and was recruited as a "rainmaker" for the firm. Dombroff's first move at Katten Muchin and Zavis was to aggressively pursue a new track for the firm. He envisioned as inclusive Insurance and bankruptcy practice which would cater to the needs of large corporate clients.
Enter Larry Mungin. Mungin was a burgeoning bankruptcy lawyer ready to aggressively pursue a partnership. This was not Mungin's first job, in fact he was looking for a firm in which he could launch his bid for a partnership as he entered his eight year of practicing law. He sought the services of a headhunter who paired him up with Katten Muchin & Zavis. Mungin's headhunter overplayed the possibility of Mungin bringing the FDIC with him if he were to accept an offer from Katten Muchin & Zavis. One can speculate that Dombroff initially considered Mungin because of the possibility of K.M.&Z adding the FDIC to their client list. However, it is also clear that Mungin's race became a deciding factor in his hire. As Dombroff noted " Harvard-Harvard, Weil Gotshal. His experience is bankruptcy, bankruptcy, bankruptcy. He's perfect! And he's black."(Barrett,p.9) Ergo, despite the reservations of partners like Vincent Sergi, concerning the amount of work available for Mungin, Dombroff offered Mungin a job.
Larry Mungin also had some expectations of his own as he considered taking a job at Katten Muchin & Zavis. As we know Larry Mungin sought a job with a firm in which he would be able to make partner.
Because workplace discrimination is closely tied with underemployment and unemployment, it’s important to know why blacks continue to obtain lower positions and promotions than their white co-workers. In The Social Psychological Costs of Racial Segmentation, Tyrone A. Forman discusses explanations of the separation of middle class African Americans in the workplace. The amount of blacks and whites co-working has grown, but blacks are often given the jobs with the lower prestige and rarely any chance of promotion. Despite increasing numbers of middle-class blacks working the same types of jobs, African Americans are primarily segmented...
The second part, “Why It Happened: Eighty-Five Years,” explains the origins of the firm and its founding and operating principles, and it sets the basics for why several deviations from these founding principles eventually led the firm astray.
Cañas, K. A. & Sondak, H. (2011). Opportunities and challenged for workplace diversity: Theory, cases, and exercises. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Gould, W. (1977). Black workers in white unions: Job discrimination in the United States. London: Cornell University Press.
Across the nation, millions of Americans of all races turn on the television or open a newspaper and are bombarded with images of well dressed, articulate, attractive black people advertising different products and representing respected companies. The population of black professionals in all arenas of work has risen to the point where seeing a black physician, attorney, or a college professor are becoming more a common sight. More and more black people are holding positions of respect and authority throughout America today, such as Barack Obama, Colin Powell, Condelezza Rice and many other prominent black executives. As a result of their apparent success, these black people are seen as role models for many Americans, despite their race. However, these groups of black people are exceptions to the rule and consist of only a tiny fraction of all black Americans. These black people in turn actually help to reinforce the inequality of black Americans by allowing Americans of other races to focus on their success. A common thought is, "They made it, why can't you do the same?" The direct and truthful answer to that question is Racism.
In today’s world, the American still has barriers to overcome in the matter of racial equality. Whether it is being passed over for a promotion at the job or being underpaid, some people have to deal with unfair practice that would prevent someone of color or the opposite sex from having equal opportunity at the job. In 2004, Dukes vs. Wal-Mart Stores Incorporation was a civil rights class-action suite that ruled in favor of the women who worked and did not received promotions, pay and certain job assignments. This proves that some corporations ignore the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which protects workers from discrimination based on sex, race, religion or national origin.
Some feel that affirmative action in universities is the answer to the end of racism and inequality. If more black students get into and graduate from good colleges, more of them will go on to even out the lopsided numbers in the work force. Prejudice secretly slips through everyone¹s thoughts. Or so Barbara Ehrenreich believes when she writes of a quiet, subliminal prejudice that is caused by statistics that prove the fewer numbers of blacks in high profile jobs. When we see ninety percent of leadership roles in the corporate world held by white men, we begin to doubt other¹s competence in that field. With so many minorities in menial roles, people begin to believe the white man is best for ...
Tom Watson, a partner at EDI, approached Dan regarding the conflict caused by Mike’s aggressive approaches. On behalf of the other partners, Tom informed Dan that “Mike must either conform to [EDI’s conservative] philosophy and management practices of the organization or else resign.” (Whetten & Cameron, 2011) Tom and his fellow partners are, in a sense, attempting to strong-arm Dan into taking action against Mike. Regardless of Mike’s decision to conform or resign, the partner’s remain firm in engaging a conservative investment strategy.
David Fletcher is a portfolio manager with many years of experience and success under his belt. He currently is a limited partner managing an Emerging Growth Fund for Jenkins Fletcher Partnership or JFP. The company was small when David started and consisted of a CEO, Paul Jenkins, CFO, 2 financial assistance, 4 research analyses, 1 research assistant and a receptionist. David first started with JFP he hired an Administrative Assistance, Whitney to help organize his calendar, contact companies and take messages, etc. Whitney proved to be capable and eager to learn. Under David’s guidance she received her MBA and was promoted to a Portfolio Manager in training. One of her primary areas was Healthcare but she also had retail and environment. In addition, Whitney developed a solid network of contacts and was very good at annualizing the financial statements of potential business. However, David was still holding her hand and had not allowed her to invest completely without his input. Also, she was just starting to attend conferences solo. Although Whitney was helpful, David felt he needed to form a team to help with the labor intensive job of processing all the information for managing the fund. His typically day was consumed by meetings, phone calls and conferences and he could not keep this pace for the long haul. Therefore, he discussed the possible of forming a team with Paul Jenkins and several of investment firms before proceeding with the concept of a team at JFP.
There exists symbolic racism and statistical discrimination, which play into society’s biases and put black people at a disadvantage. Symbolic racism suggests black people have different social values and statistical discrimination explains the hostility towards black people as a group. The relationship between symbolic racism and statistical discrimination is that the two forms of racism feed into each other. In having experiences with a few black individuals, the person judging them might subconsciously generalize all black people based on that experience, which is statistical discrimination. This leads to symbolic racism because they now perceive black people as a group to be different. This is evident in the hiring practices of some employers, both white and black, who have explained their biases against hiring black people. Employers cite issues based on their observations with black employees, claiming that when some of their black employees “talk black,” customers are driven away, or that employers have had experiences with employees who were lazy, leading to a general distrust of the commitment of black employees. It is not wrong for the employers’ experiences to shape their perceptions, but generalized perceptions have put black people as a group in an undesirable
Institutions in the businesses sector are swarming in racial discrimination, much of which is covert and difficult to detect and prove. Racial discrimination excludes, marginalizes and exploits those citizens who are discriminated against, ceasing any opportunity for economic progress and development. Under certain regulations some businesses are required to diversify their workplace by hiring certain amounts of people of color, but in reality these small quotas do not do much for the overall condition of the people who are being discriminated against. Businesses that fail to take action on racial discrimination tend to have lower levels of productivity. This stems from employees not being interested in working hard, or because people with exceptional talents and skills choose to shy away from certain places of employment due to the fear of racial discrimination. Employees who feel wronged also tend to switch jobs, forcing the organization to spend more time and resources on hiring and training new employees, besides coping with the low productivity of a new employee. (Nayab)The effects of racial discrimination in the American work force could be identified with funded research on the topic. With ample data employers will be able to better understand the negative affects that racial discrimination have
In today’s workplace, African Americans continue to be subjected to overt discrimination. This can take the form of ethnic jokes, racial slurs and exclusionary behaviors by Euro-American co-workers and managers. Even more disturbing is the verbal abuse, calculated mistreatment and even physical threats experienced by some African Americans while on the job. African Americans have also faced overt acts such as being reassigned to lower level projects, not receiving a promotion even though they were equally qualified and receiving less wages than other employees, even less qualified new hires. The discrimination can be so pervasive that African Americans feel uneasy and threatened, demotivated and disrespected, eventually feeling forced to leave to search for other employment.
In the today’s economy, the websites of professional businesses and organizations are a good example of segregation that has actually been expanding rather than shrinking. In fact, shockingly, most of these professional sites are “Black Only” instead of “White Only.” In the traditional era, segregation experienced in the United States in the organization only featured “White Only” and “Colored” signs hanging in shop windows, but now are declared “Black Only.” In this perspective, numerous organizations unanimously promote, hire and trade with other Blacks. These organizations are violating the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. among other brave black and white men who advocated for non-discriminating country (Orfield 64).
What we noticed is that due to Control's relative inexperience and lack of understanding of joint venture, James was recalled only after completing one third of his contract length, to be replaced by a relatively inexperienced employee from Singapore (Jimmy Chao). Controls Asia Pacific, in doing so, ignored the fact that they might threaten the success of the joint venture.
America is often referred to as “The Melting Pot” of the world. With this appellation, it is not wrong to assume that the U.S. has one of the most diverse cultures. Conversely, a majority percentage of people in America would disagree with this sentiment and argue that the U.S. is comprised of many subgroups. These subgroups vary based on race and skin color and are hardly “melted” together. This apparent racial divide is very common in many American corporations as well. Management researchers have found that maintaining a racially diverse workforce has been proven to have many important benefits within a corporation. For example, having a racially diverse workforce can help match the culture of the customers in the economy to build trust, provide new and differing insights, and right some of the wrongs caused by racism and sexism in our society. Facilitating diversity is not easy, and many organizations have encountered challenges from attempting to do so. Fortunately, there actions that organizations can take to overcome these challenges in order to make diversity a reality.