Paper Example on Ethnic Discrimination

Introduction

A publication made by independent on Wednesday 15th August 2018 revealed that a woman's job application was turned down by a company on the basis that her name was "too ghetto (Usher, 2018)." Hermeisha Robinson originating from Missouri had made an application in a health company called Mantality for a customer service position. The job had been advertised and listed in a job listing site known as Indeed.com. She did as expected by submitting her application alongside her relevant documents and waited for the response. Later, she received a response through the email that originated from the company employee stating that her interest in a career at Mantality health was acknowledged. However, she was not considered as a suitable candidate as a result of having a suggestive "ghetto" name. The lady was very disappointed as she was convinced that she had all it takes including the necessary qualifications for the position. This consequently hurt her feelings, therefore, opted to share the matter in a Facebook post. She believed it was a form of discrimination shown by the company citing that her name had nothing to do with her career and delivery of service in case she was recruited in the company. She could not connect the relationship between her second name which was ethnic-based, therefore considered to be "a ghetto name" and the company job requirements.

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After uploading the humiliating job turn down the post in the Facebook social media platform, her position has received more than 2000 criticism with most of the comments shunning the offensive rejection as it is a form of discrimination practiced in most companies by ethnicity. There was a comment that argued that her name was good and part of her identity. It just based on her culture, therefore, had nothing to do with the job. Consideration of a name change would be irrelevant as it would be a clear indication of the effects of discrimination in job opportunity to the extent of preceding one's culture. Other people encouraged her in the comment section to get a good lawyer and sue the company for their evident discrimination.orego

When the case was enquired from the company, the management denied that the employee named Jordan Kimler had sent the email. They cited that email was as a result of hacking. The owner of the company that treats men with low testosterone Kevin Meuret said the email was a hack conducted by a person outside Missouri. Meuret went further to support his claims that other 20 applicants had complained of receiving the same email; therefore, the management had to engage MO police and the St Louis County's cyber crimes division to investigate the matter.

The case of Hermeisha Robinson and the humiliating job rejection by Mantality Health Company was a contemporary social psychology illustration of ethnical prejudice and discrimination (Fiske, 1998). Ethnic prejudice is an antipathy that is founded on a flaw and a generalization that cannot be changed. The recipient can feel it or be expressed as it was the case of the person who sent the response email to her. It is specifically directed towards a specific person or group because he or she associates or is a member of the group. An approach on social cognitive aims at the comprehension the prejudice emphasizing the functioning of the individual psychology. This mostly has an impact on the mode of personal information process in regards to others and themselves as well. Having an in-depth analysis of the presented case, there is a close relationship between the personalities shown by the worker at the hospital in response to job application by Hermeisha. The social psychological theory applied in the exhibition of prejudice by the health care is Authoritarian Personality.

Authoritarian Personality was first developed in the early 1950s by a group of researchers who were enthusiastic to discover why there was a rise in fascism in Germany and dug deep on the psychological factors that facilitated the operation of the regime. The team of investigators found out nine different elements that can be applied in the application and development on the argument of the definition of authoritarianism. However, there are three which are critical which includes submission, conventionalism, and aggression (Ekehammar, Akrami, Gylje & Zakrisson, 2004). This makes a description of the strict adherence to conventionalism, the values of the middle class, the submissive motivates the uncritical attitudes directed to idealized groups of the moral authorities and the aggression which is the behavior to watch out and condemn through punishment of the conventionalism violators. The authoritarian personalities are developed as a combination of specific patterns in the upbringing of the children as well as the family structure. Like in the case of the worker at Mantality Health Company who responded to the emails on job application by Hermeisha, there may have been a possibility that the person may have gotten the attitude as a result of the environmental factors. For instance, a child can develop the authoritarian personality belief from the parents of the surrounding communities. Extensively, there is research that suggests that authoritarianism may be caused by genetics, therefore passed on from the parent to the child. The analysis based on the families that have been associated with the authoritarian personalities have a typically organized hierarchy where there is the presence of a strict father figure, prejudice among the children will be most likely to be exhibited in such families (Fiske, 2000). The studies further detail that the types of authoritarians are prejudiced against race and ethnicity.

Hermeisha Robinson fell victim of the authoritarian personality illustrated by the recruiting team in the hospital company. It seemed that the company recruiting officer was only willing to employ the workers, not on necessary qualification and suitability, but the basis of ethnicity. She was viewed as a commoner, and her name was used as the basis of her disqualification from her shortlisting of employees to be recruited in the company. The person makes the situation further worse by responding to a job application by being explicit that she could not be recruited because her name suggested a lot of "Ghetto." This is a form of discrimination that explicitly proves the recruiting officer's hatred towards a specific community. According to Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory reasoning, Jordan Kimler may have responded so because of the childhood setting and experiences (Heaven & Bucci, 2001). A negative attitude may have been developed in regards to some specific names especially those associated with a particular community. The response of the email terming the applicant's name as ghetto suggestive is an indicator of the ethnic and class discrimination as ghetto is a part of an area that is generally occupied by citizens of the lowest social level. In most instances, it is a specific community in America, of the African-American community that usually segregate themselves to isolated slum areas.

The ethnic discrimination shown was an indication of the social diversity that is exhibited. Kimler contributes to the creation of a society that is divided into social classes to an extent regardless of the qualifications one may be having; the cultural names have a say in the recruitment process. His job rejection email has an impact on the life of Hermeisha as she felt disappointed and hurt. The stigma inflicted on her was hard to overcome therefore shares her feelings across the media platforms. Her name which is accused of being suggestive ghetto name becomes the barrier to employment moreover it is a black name. In contrast, there is the likelihood that if it were a white person applying for the same job, he or she would have been considered for the post.

The insidious bias against certain groups of people is predominant in most employment opportunities with some people lacking jobs even before the job is marketed. Research further indicates that the more the name is unusual, the more the person is more susceptible to discrimination. The discrimination may have occurred as a result of the preconceived belief on the black names as being ghetto suggestive. This is a clear indication of bias by class. Moreover, the names are typically associated with the lowest socioeconomic status. Tracing back on the history, such names had been developed as symbols of resistance. In the late 1960s during the sociocultural shift that advocated on individuality, there was a diversity created in the naming of the white's and black's children. The blacks started giving their children names that were an indicator of the rise championing of the black culture through the black power movement. The black names suggested resistance of uniformity and the influence by the west European which limited the cultural framework of the mode of present ability of a person. As a result, some employers still have a negative attitude towards the people with such names with the fear that the people may extend their resistance practiced then in their companies.

The ethnic discrimination shown by Mantality Health Company is one of the many cases that have furthered illustrated the growing perception of blacks. Studies have revealed that in most resumes sent out by the Black American; especially those with African American sounding names have less than 50 percent chances of getting employed or even being invited for the interviews (Williams, Neighbors & Jackson, 2003). This is very unfortunate as the minority group is judged by their names, which is an indicator of prejudice and discrimination. There is the need to appreciate the importance and significance behind each name and prevent the bias. Although some name of the black-American may sound too ghetto suggestive, therefore considered as nonconformity testaments. However, they do not indicate any form of unacceptable personal traits in any business settings as they are a form of cultural identification. Every name is unique and sacred, and therefore no one should be victimized or have experience as a result of being associated with a particular artistic community as it was the case of Hermeisha Robinson. Although the organization rejected the accusation, the government should have intervened by ensuring the person responsible for the ethnic discrimination is brought to book, and justice found.

Reference

Fiske, S. T. (1998). Stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. The handbook of social psychology, 2, 357-411.

Fiske, S. T. (2000). Stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination at the seam between the centuries: Evolution, culture, mind, and brain. European Journal of Social Psychology, 30(3), 299-322.

Ekehammar, B., Akrami, N., Gylje, M., & Zakrisson, I. (2004). What matters most to prejudice: Big five personality, social dominance orientation, or rightwing authoritarianism?. European journal of personality, 18(6), 463-482.

Heaven, P. C., & Bucci, S. (2001). Rightwing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation and personality: An analysis using the IPIP measure. European Journal of Personality, 15(1), 49-56.

Williams, D. R., Neighbors, H. W., & Jackson, J. S. (2003). Racial/ethnic discrimination and health: findings from community studies. American journal of public health, 93(2), 200-208.

Usher, T. (2018, August 15). Woman rejected for job because her name is 'too ghetto'. Retrieved from https://metro.co.uk/2018/08/15/woman-rejected-for-job-because-her-name-is-too-ghetto-7842270/