The Delusions of Discrimination

 Many students across the world work as hard as they can so that they can go to their dream university and work in their dream jobs, retire by age 60 and live happily ever after. Although this is a worthy dream to work for, in reality, many of us will unfortunately fall short due to factors we can’t even control. America has become synonymous with job discrimination, as people are unjustly treated when it comes to jobs in major corporations, all based on their race, appearance, or gender. For some odd reason, people continue being discriminated and neglected because of non-work-related reasons, which only hinders the prospect of equality and societal happiness; themes both Nancy Mairs and Deborah Tannen write about.

In Nancy Mairs essay, Disability, she writes about many common misconceptions regarding physical disabilities and how these disabilities aren’t the defining characteristic of a person. Mairs argues that physical disabilities should be viewed as “normal”, candidly dissecting many of the irrational reasons for the segregation and discrimination shown. She mentions how many advertisers refuse to place physically disabled people in advertisements, because people fear physical disabilities as it is the “only minority you can join involuntary”, and by doing so, that “is to admit there is something ordinary about disability itself”. Like everyone else, disabled people are ordinary and shouldn’t be “marked” as different. Physical disabilities don’t necessarily “devour one wholly”, yet the general public believes that it does.

Deborah Tannen talks about the “markedness” of woman in There is No Unmarked Woman, critically analyzing the plethora of difference in societal norms between men and woman. Tannen argues that every decision a woman makes is securitized, examined through microscope to the most minute detail. Men, on the other hand, garner no attention, blend into society with no unmarked trace. Tannen observes the attire and aesthetic of three women in a conference, descriptively describing their hair, clothes, and style. Each woman “had a different style”, and Tannen explains how every woman exhibits some characteristic that is needlessly “marked” or unordinary.

How does this relate to job discrimination you may ask? Prejudice is extremely prominent in the U.S labor market, as many minorities, most noticeably African Americans, are unjustly stripped of promotions, opportunities, and education. Research done by Marianne Bertrand and Sendhil Mullainathan shows the glaring racism in the U.S labor market by sending nearly 5,000 resumes to open job applications in Boston and Chicago. These resumes were randomly assigned to a “black-sounding” name or a “white-sounding” name in order to assume an applicants race. The resumes varied by quality and two high- and low-quality applications were sent to one job opportunity. The study found that resumes with “white-sounding” names received 50% more callbacks than “black-sounding names”. Even with higher-quality resumes, the “black-sounding” names were still passed over.

Although racism is seeded through the economy of America, many companies are beginning to see the delusionality of racism. Many policies and regulations are being placed in order to maintain a more equal amount of representation of race, gender, and appearance. As a society, we should continue to push for equality for all, and fight for those who’s voices can’t be heard. No one should be defined or “marked” because of their race or appearance, but solely on their character and actions.