Comment
When hitting 'send' says so much
by Michelle Minnoch

The other day I read a story in the Toronto Star that I can honestly say made my jaw drop. Although Evon Reid may not be a name familiar to your ears, he has now been recognized and apologized to...by the Province of Ontario.

Evon applied to the Ontario Government for a position with Ontario Public Service as a media analyst. When he opened his email one morning, he saw what he thought was a response to his application.

But it wasn't. It was an email mistakenly sent to Evon from someone working at the office part-time. It was intended to go to another person in the office only. It was an email about Evon. It referred to the man, of Jamaican decent, as a "Ghetto Dude".

Hmmm, I am not sure about you, but the fact that these two words referring to a potential applicant were actually sent in an email from one co-worker to another is not only inappropriate, it is down right low, disgusting, degrading and just plain wrong.

In our time of political correctness and racial equality, it is hard to imagine those words would even become a thought that would move from the brain to escape the lips. When the thought is in black and white on your computer screen, and the 'send' button is hit, it is more than one person getting offended. Society as a whole will look at this one case, and as far as I'm concerned, wonder what's going on here?

I have now realized our society is in worse shape than I thought.

It is hard for me to comprehend the fact that this was actually something someone wrote down for others to see. Whether Evon saw it or not is not the issue here: the issue is that people, potential employers, whoever it may be, should not be stereotyping, degrading, down-classing an individual due to the colour of their skin, flair in their accent, belief system, or style of their clothes.

Call me naive, but I thought society was getting beyond all of that. Boy was I wrong.

I have never been a victim of racism. I have never lost a job due to the colour of my skin, been ostracized for my beliefs, or turned away due to my clothing. If a candidate has what it takes, he or she deserves the position applied for.

By the way:

Evon's resume includes the following; International Management Studies over the summer at the University of Hong Kong, one credit short honours degree in Poli-Sci from U of T, completed project on paradigm shifts in U.S. foreign policy, Get REEL Festival organizer, founder of Canadian International Peace project (U of T), participant in Forum for Young Canadians on Parliament Hill.

Although I have not seen the resumes of the other applicants, this one is pretty damn good. Referring to Evon as a 'Ghetto Dude' says not much about Evon, but more about the person who stated it.

I wonder who got the position and what their experience was? I wonder if the applicant was white? Makes you think.

I am not saying the person in charge of hiring for the position thinks at all the same way as the one who sent the email. But the fact that people think that way and have no problem sharing their feelings is what gets my goat.

We have all heard and some have told jokes of a raciest nature. Whether it's a priest, a rabbi and a hooker, or a Newfie, a Jamaican and and Scot, we have all been made fun of or made fun of one another.

When applying for a job though, the cards are off the table. It's not a white girl, Jamaican guy, and Chinese guy applying; it's Ms. Smith, Mr. Reid, and Mr. Lee.

And in the end, no-one walks into a bar with a hooker. They're too busy doing damage control.