QUICK TIPS: FIGHTING ON-THE-JOB DISPARITIES

TIP #1: If you think you’re fighting racially-based obstacles on the job, take a step back from the situation and try to look at the situation from other perspectives. Are any of the issues, which you perceive as race-based, possibly caused by other legitimate reasons? Write down the basis for your position of on-the-job racism. You should list specific examples of inequitable treatment, a racially-hostile environment, etc. You can’t just make a claim of racism. You have to be able to back it up with details (directives, quotes from staff and managers, emails, memos, etc.)

TIP #2: Talk to other staff. Find out if other minority staff share your perspective. Start taking notes. Try to determine how significant the suspected problem on your job may be. Ask staff what you can do—as a group—to address the problem, if that’s what you collectively, or even individually, decide to do.

TIP #3: Come up with possible solutions for any problems you’ve identified. It’s always better to have a suggestion for making things better, even when coming up with these ideas is not necessarily your responsibility. When it comes to something as important as earning a living and your work environment, think of things that can improve your situation. This includes asking if the company will provide sensitivity/diversity training, send out a reminder regarding the policy on harassment, conduct an investigation into the pattern behavior of a particular coworker, etc.