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OpEd on Racism
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OpEd on Racism
Racism tops the list when it comes to the problems experienced in American society today. Racism has existed for decades now since the days of American civilization and civil wars. We can say that the burden of racism has decreased over the years but the truth is that the war against this vice is far from over. American racism is very much alive and more so today, there is heightened attention to the matter particularly in the wake of movements such as Black Lives Matter among other movements that continue to advance the equality agenda not only in the United States but in many places around the world. There have been plenty of discussions regarding the contributing factors to racism, police brutality, and unequal treatment of people of color in the U.S today and this piece provides my thoughts on the same.
I once knew of a lady who used to work for us as a house manager. She was a kind and sweet soul; the kind that every child would want to be their nanny. She took great care of me and the family loved him. My mother got so accustomed to her that she now considered her as part of the family. The nanny had a son who used to work as a gardener for a prominent white family in one of those elitist neighborhoods. The nanny and her son were both of African-American descent. The two did not have much in life, they were not very fortunate to get an education. The lady’s son had dropped out of college a while back due to lack of financial muscle to put him through the entire college education and all they did now was work to afford a decent living and a meal at the end of the day. It happened that the son run into trouble with his employers. One day, the eldest daughter of the white family where he worked as a gardener accused him of rape. Being, in a position of power and with many resources at their disposal, the family did not hesitate to have the gardener arrested. When our nanny received the news, she was at our place. She was confused by the whole fiasco. She knew for a fact that her son was incapable of doing such a thing. She did not know what to do and at this point, my mother offered to help her and made arrangements to have our family lawyer take up the matter. It was discovered that the daughter had made up the story because the gardener had refused her sexual advances. She was accusing him falsely as payback to him. The family never bothered to investigate the matter and they believed their daughter and they pulled strings to have the gardener arrested and prosecuted. They knew there was little he could as he did have money to hire a good lawyer.
Racial injustice against people of color is a serious issue that needs to be addressed at its root if we are to win against this war. It is clear that the gardener’s race placed him at a disadvantage to the extent that he did not stand a chance to even defend himself. In American society, there is negative stereotyping which affects people’s perceptions of people of color. People of color are viewed as poor and violent beings and they are seen as deserving of unequal treatment. For such a long time, in the history of the U.S. black people did not have rights including voting rights. There was the social separation of people based on color and this notion does not seem to have changed much. White supremacy position white people as dominants which warrant unequal treatment of black people in society. It is for this reason that the gardener found himself as a victim of racial injustice. Law enforcement will be quick to make an arrest when the person presumed to be the perpetrator is a black person. Additionally, it is important to note that white people comprise the majority of the American population. Hence, it goes without saying that majority of the police workforce is white people. As such, this brings prejudice when it comes to enforcing the law. It is assumed that people tend to behave and act positively when they are dealing with a person they consider to be from their group. This means that white police will are lenient when dealing with white law offenders than when dealing with black offenders. The battle against racism is far from over. As a society, we must come together and collaborate if we want to see change realized.
Cultural Differences in Team Members
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Cultural Differences in Team Members
Introduction
Increased globalization has led to the diversification of work environments and more than ever, employees are expected to partner with peers from different cultural backgrounds. This has culminated the rise of culturally related conflicts. The sensitivity of the conflicts has had far reaching implications on the performance of the corporations and in severe instances; it has threatened the very wellbeing of the organizations in respective locations. In order to enhance sustainability and ensure that employee practices are harmonic and supportive of each other, it is imperative to reconcile the inherent differences that would keep the conflicts at bay. It is against this background that this paper explains actual scenarios in which culturally related communication issues on a team caused misunderstandings and problems within the team. In addition, it underscores practical measures that were undertaken by the relevant authorities to address them.
In the first scenario, the team comprised of employees from China, Japan, the United States and Canada. At one point, the Japanese lady missed important training sessions that had been organized by the top management from the United States. She did not seek for permission before leaving and did not inform any of her colleagues about her absenteeism for a period of four days. When she came back, the training session was almost over and the management needed to know the reason for her absenteeism. She explained that she was forced to leave immediately because one of her family members had passed on. However, she expressed this while smiling and the message did not go down well with the authorities that were from the United States. They openly expressed their discontent with the reasons she was giving for her absenteeism from duties. Apparently, the European found this cold, inhuman and therefore untrue (Brubaker & Verdok, 1998).
With time, this strained the relationship between the Japanese lady and the top management who began to doubt her degree of dedication to the firm. After a period of two weeks, she was put on probation by the management in order to re evaluate her performance. It was at this stage that the regional management explained to the top management that the lady’s expression was in line with her cultural values. Essentially, LeBaron (2010) indicates that the Japanese consider it inappropriate to inflict any degree of grief and or pain in other individuals. This explained why the lady expressed her ordeal while smiling and but the management thought she was making up the story and therefore decided to take stringent measures against her. After this explanation, the lady was returned on duties and the top management apologized to her.
The second conflict was between two employees; one from France and another from Europe. The two employees shared an office and were expected to carry out most of the duties jointly. After being in the office for a period of one month, the European employee started complaining of a degree of coldness form his partner. In addition, he indicated that the French counterpart was disinterested in his duties and in most instances, he preferred working alone. This had made the European employee frustrated and was having adverse implications on his performance. The employee from French on the other hand considered the relationship normal and affirmed that he was satisfied with the working conditions.
On scrutinizing the scenario, it was found out that the inherent conflicts were culturally inclined. In his review, LeBaron (2003) indicates that the French were naturally accustomed to spacious living and working conditions. This was also reflected in their conversations in which they preferred maintaining some considerable space between them and the individual that they communicate with. The Europeans on the other hand are used to relatively small living and working spaces. Likewise, this is reflected in their communication mannerisms in which they prefer sitting or standing close to other persons during conversations.
In this case, the latter was not comfortable with the French’s habit of creating space. He interpreted this as lack of interest and coldness. Based on these assumptions, he found it difficult to initiate close relations that are essential for enhancing team performance. To counter the scenario, the management was forced to carry out a cultural training in order to educate its workforce about the inherent culturally differences. According to Bibikosa and Kotelnikox (2001), this could also be carried out through information dissemination and sharing with respect to culture.
Conclusion
From the preceding analysis, it is certain that cultural differences are typical of working environments of international organizations. If left to persist, they do not only impact on performance but they also threaten the organizational welfare. The management plays an important role in reconciling these differences in ordered to enhance output. In addition, the employees need to be informed about the differences in order to avoid conflicts that can stem from the misunderstandings. Of great importance would be for them to exercise some degree of tolerance for them to accommodate each other.
References
Bibikosa, A. & Kotelnikox, V. (2001). Managing Cross Cultural Differences. Retrieved 13th June, 2010 from: HYPERLINK “http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/crosscuttings/cross-cultural_differences.html” http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/crosscuttings/cross-cultural_differences.html
Brubaker, D. & Verdok, T. (1998). Conflict Resolution Training in Another Culture: Some Lessons from Angola. Retrieved 13th June, 2010 from: HYPERLINK “http://www.odihpn.org/report.asp?ID=1100” t “_blank” http://www.odihpn.org/report.asp?ID=1100.
LeBaron, M. (2003). Culture and Conflict. Retrieved 13th June, 2010 from: HYPERLINK “http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/culture_conflict/” http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/culture_conflict/
LeBaron, M. (2010). Transforming Cultural Conflict in an Age of Complexity. Retrieved 13th June 2010 from: HYPERLINK “http://www.berghof-handbook.net/articles/lebaron_hb.pdf” t “_blank” http://www.berghof-handbook.net/articles/lebaron_hb.pdf.
NAFTA, WTO, EU & Third World
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NAFTA, WTO, EU & Third World
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is a controversial trade pact that eliminated majority of the tariffs among other trade barriers on services and products passing between Canada, the United States, and Mexico. The pact that went into effect in 1994 stayed in force until 2020, when it was replaced. NAFTA pact managed to effectively create a free trade zone for the three countries, making it an important feature in the bilateral relationship between Mexico and the United States (Villareal and Ian, 33). NAFT gives coverage to services excluding maritime, transport, and basic telecommunications. The pact also incorporates the protection of intellectual property on various areas including trademark, patent, and copyrighted material. NAFTA’s government procurement provisions apply to the goods and contracts for construction and services at the federal level. Moreover, United States investors are assured of equal treatment for domestic investors in Canada or Mexico. NAFTA makes it possible for companies to ship goods that qualify to be shipped to Mexico and Canada duty-free. Under NAFTA rules, goods can qualify in numerous ways. It can be due to products getting whole produced in a NAFTA party or because of a lack of sufficient amount of materials or work needed to make a product what it is during exportation.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an international institution that was formed in 1995 to manage global trade rules among nations. The WTO functions on agreements that have been signed by numerous trading nations in the world. The primary function of the World Trade Organization is to assist producers of services and goods, as well as importers and exporters, manage and protect their businesses. The World Trade Organization had 164 member countries as of 2021, with Afghanistan and Liberia as the youngest members, having joined in 2016. WTO also has 25 observer governments and countries. Essentially, WTO is an alternative dispute entity that oversees international rules for trade organizations by giving them a platform to negotiate and resolve trade matters.
The European Union is an international entity that comprises 27 European countries that oversee common social, economic and security policies. The members of the European Union include Belgium, Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, and Cyprus, Estonia, Denmark, Finland, Greece, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Ireland. Latvia, Luxembourg, and Lithuania, the Netherlands, Malta, Portugal, Poland, Romania, Spain, Slovenia, Slovenia, and Sweden. The United Kingdom, one of EUs founding member existed the organization in 2020. The European Union was formed by the Maastricht Treaty that took effect on 1st November 2023. The treaty was meant to enhance economic and political integration in Europe through the creation of a single currency (euro), having common rights for citizenship, unified security and foreign policy and advancing unity in matters of asylum, immigration, and judicial affairs.
The Third world is a term that has been historically used to refer to a category of economically developing nations. Although the terms have since been outdated it is part of a four-part section categorization used in describing the economies of countries according to economic status. The third world comes after the First World and Second World countries but well ahead of the Fourth World, which was barely recognized. Nowadays, the preferred terms used to refer to third-world countries are underdeveloped countries, developing nations, or middle or low-income countries (Ayoob, 14). Generally, nations are characterized by employment growth, domestic product, unemployment rate and employment growth. Underdeveloped countries are monitored closely by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), which seeks to give a aid for the purpose of improving economic and infrastructure systems comprehensively.
Works Cited
Ayoob, Mohammed. “The third world security predicament.” The Third World Security Predicament. Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2022.
Villareal, M., and Ian F. Fergusson. “The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).” (2017).