Diversity Management, Equality, Equal Opportunities, Affirmative Action, News & We The People!

January 4, 2008

A MODERN MANIFESTATION OF AN EXTREEMLY DANGEROUS MEME

Filed under: — Administrator @ 4:23 am

I had a conversation this evening that brought home the continued effect of a rather old and tiresome meme that we should all be aware of and oppose with all our might.

Its continued proliferation is destroying the very fabric of our lives and is largely perpetuated by our institutions and by individuals and groups.

I have been aware of this particular meme for about the last 20 years.

It’s the greatest barrier to effective diversity management.

Have a read here, It’s about how to entrap us all in to the most hideous pattern of thinking and being imaginable!

http://www.campbellconsent.com/WillieLynch1712.pdf

Leave a comment,

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Cheapest place buy viagra online
Flurazepam
Marijuana
Viagra no prescription
Cod delivered phentermine
Naloxone
Order generic cialis
Flucytosine
Prozac and xanax induced mood disorder
Cheap tramadol cod free fedex
Buy xanax without prescription
Vinorelbine
Macrobid
Phentermine ephedrine
Dibenzepin
Paxil with phentermine interactions
Buy phentermine cheap
Methixene
Buy phentermine in the uk
Meridia side effects
Phentermine uk suppliers
Otc viagra
Viagra online store
Viagra cialis levivia comparison dosages
Discount xanax
Cialis drug for impotence
Albuterol
Permax
Pyridoxine
Buy phentermine no prescription
Anileridine
Probenecid
Effexor drug interactions with viagra
Metoprolol
Vitamin b12 1000 mcg phentermine and panic attacks
Valerian
Levoxyl
Dangers of xanax and klonopin addiction
Buy Zyrtec
Cheapest secure delivery cialis uk
Fastin
Prometrium
Pyrilamine
Levitra vs cialis
Xanax bar effects
Phenindione
Griseofulvin
Azithromycin
Hexoprenaline
Lodine
Grapefruit viagra
Indapamide
Buy consultation free hydrocodone online tramadol
Online phentermine prescriptions
Oxyphenonium
Vitamin
What does xanax do
Buy online prescription viagra without
Lexapro
Phentermine on sale
Xanax gg 258
Glyburide
Erythromycin
Feldene
Mexican pharmacy viagra
Quinapril
Ketorolac
Nifedipine
Acetophenazine
Pyrimethamine
Anti cialis impotence
Tramadol ingredients
Amitriptyline
Phentermine 90
Viagra anxiety
Overnight phentermine shipping
Buy cialis in the uk
Cod diet phentermine pill
Can i buy phentermine anywhere in uk
Norethynodrel
Cyclobenzaprine
Meclofenamate
Ambien sleep aid
Oxycodone
Phentermine gynecomastia
Free phentermine sample
Generic viagra online pharmacy
25mg viagra
Cheap phentermine overnight
Buy phentermine online prescription
Fill online prescription viagra
Viagra jokes
Phentermine side affects
Buy viagra cheap
Phentermine 37.5 tablet
Phentermine vs adipex p
Rifampin
Meridia sibutramine
Phenyltoloxamine
Eon phentermine
Phencyclidine
Viagra cialis generic
Buy in online uk viagra
Adipex phentermine prescription
Dutasteride
Piroxicam
Bendroflumethiazide
Womens viagra
Abilify
Buy viagra pill
Simvastatin
Phentermine ingredients
Free shipping phentermine
Celiprolol
Extra cheap phentermine
Buy Adderall
Cheapest tramadol online
Cheap hydrocodone
Phentermine no prescription required
Etoposide
Viagra price
Glycopyrrolate
Chlortrimeton
Clarithromycin
Buy phentermine online without a prescription
Felbamate
Drug interactions with cocaine and viagra
Nortriptyline
Cyclothiazide
Alprazolam xanax
Cytarabine
Methocarbamol
Dirithromycin
Viagra
Viagra and high blood pressure
Colistimethate
Diet online phentermine pill purchase
Vicodin and pregnancy
Phentermine pill town
Viagra online ordering
Xanax urine test
Online pharmacy phentermine xenical meridia
Buy fioricet online
Albendazole
Ampicilin
Information on phentermine
Lowest phentermine prices
Generic soma
Leuprolide
Buy phentermine shipped usps

May 3, 2007

EMPLOYEE DIVERSITY TRAINING DOESN’T WORK !

Filed under: — Administrator @ 5:11 pm

So says a recent article in TIME magazine of Thursday, Apr. 26, 2007.

Of course it dosen’t; I have been saying this for the last 20 years, It can never work on its own as an approach to delivering equality of opportunity.

It can never work and dare I say that this is not big news either?

Dare I also say that there is a certain cynicism on the part of employers who have twisted and bent and hoodwinked their way through their various diversity programs?

Train till the cows come home, change nothing significant like HOW people actually make decisions, leave discriminatory structures and systems in place, maintain denial, make it all look nice.

I am aware that I could be setting myself up for a measure of punishment from any who don’t want genuine change in their organization’s too, in emphasizing the statement above, we all know that any change must come via a change in environmental conditions.

Organizational structures need to be changed and systems and professional practice. MAKE people work to modified structures and rules, enforce them, just like with financial structures and systems for example.

It’s not exactly “Roket Science!”

The fact is that negative MEMES are running us all, these MEMES are allowed expression and transmission because the organizational structures and systems enable them.

To achieve change we must modify these structures and systems so as to DISABLE the expression and transmission of these negative memes, for example in recruitment and selection processes.

That way we get the change we want.. No more hand wringing eh?

Lets get REAL!

LINKS:

TIME MAGAZINE ARTICLE:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1615183,00.html

MEMES:
http://weblog.campbellconsent.com/?p=40
http://www.memecentral.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme
http://www.campbellconsent.com/memebased.htm
http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/MEMIN.HTML
http://maxwell.lucifer.com/virus/alt.memetics/what.is.html

Floyd Campbell is Principal of
CAMPBELLCONSENT DIVERSITY
Specialist in Diversity Management
Consulting, Training, Research & Marketing
http://www.campbellconsent.com

January 27, 2007

MEMES & DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT

Filed under: — Administrator @ 6:06 am

I would like to start a discussion on MEMES and their relevance to Diversity Management.

A “meme” is a psychological property. Like a virus it seeks to survive by drawing sustenance from other memes that confirm and reinforces its existence, it will replicate itself horizontally and vertically to guarantee it has future sustenance and reinforcement and survival. To tell it to go away or to stop working is a futile nonsense, it will simply mutate and disguise itself under any spotlight. This is why “awareness training” and the like will “always fail to deliver equality of opportunity.”

An article I read recently discussing diversity quoted some unfortunate and familiar stats relating to minority CEOs and boardmembers in the US corporate environment in particular. ( We know they are similar and even worse in Europe in general.)

Is it realistic to expect any positive changes to these tired old statistics in the absence of genuine structural and systemic improvement in our social institutions?

Do senior management and other “members of the “Overrepresented” groups in our corporations and institutions have any intention of enabling positive change?

What are the limiting factors to positive change in this context?

Please lets have your feedback to all three questions.

Further information and education on the role of MEMES and Diversity Management can be found at;

http://www.campbellconsent.com

And in other articles and links on this site

Floyd Campbell is Principal of
CAMPBELLCONSENT DIVERSITY
Specialist in Diversity Management
Consulting, Training, Research & Marketing
http://www.campbellconsent.com

December 21, 2006

THE ULTIMATE INTERNET MIND VIRUS (A MEME)

Filed under: — Administrator @ 2:36 am

I have not wrote to my blogg for nearly 1 year now. I have missed the writing for pleasure. I have been busy busy busy and only had space for WORK and any demanded work related writing.

My apologies to my readers. HAPPY XMAS AND NEWYEAR TO ALL

I was thinking today on the topic of MEMES and how they influence our lives. Their importance in the world about us. How deeply they colonise our very thoughts, feelings and actions.

I thought of HOW memes propagate, indeed proliferate and implications for diversity management etc.

I found an article below that’s rather illustrative and to me funny, I believe many of its elements are familier to most of us.

The links at the end enable an “Education on this topic I have written about before.

I hope it makes you “SMILE.”

Here it is.

A M E M E

meme (mēm)
n. A unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another.

A “meme” is a psychological property. Like a virus it seeks to survive by drawing sustenance from other memes that confirm and reinforces its existence, it will replicate itself horizontally and vertically to guarantee it has future sustenance and reinforcement and survival. To tell it to go away or to stop working is a futile nonsense, it will simply mutate and disguise itself under any spotlight. This is why “awareness training” and the like will “always fail to deliver equality of opportunity.”

Example of a meme as:
The Ultimate Internet Mind Virus (A MEME)
For illustration and entertainment only

I know this guy whose neighbor, a young man, was home recovering from having been served a rat in his bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken. So anyway, one day he went to sleep and when he awoke he was in his bathtub and it was full of ice and he was sore all over. When he got out of the tub he realized that HIS KIDNEY HAD BEEN STOLEN and he saw a note on his mirror that said “Call 911!” but he was afraid to use his phone because it was connected to his computer, and there was a virus on his computer that would destroy his hard drive if he opened an email entitled “Join the crew!”

He knew it wasn’t a hoax because he himself was a computer programmer who was working on software to save us from Armageddon when the year 2000 rolls around. His program will prevent a global disaster in which all the computers get together and distribute the $600 Nieman-Marcus cookie recipe under the leadership of Bill Gates (It’s true–I read it all last week in a mass email from BILL GATES HIMSELF, who was also promising me a free Disneyworld Vacation and $5,000 if I would forward the email to everyone I know).

The poor man then tried to call 911 from a pay phone to report his missing kidney, but reaching into the coin-return slot he got jabbed with an HIV-infected needle around which was wrapped a note that said “Welcome to the world of AIDS.”

Luckily he was only a few blocks from the hospital–the very one where that little boy who is dying of cancer is, the one whose last wish is for everyone in the world to send him an email and the American Cancer Society has agreed to pay him a nickel for every email he receives. I sent him two emails and one of them was a bunch of X’s and O’s in the shape of an angel (if you get it and forward it to twenty people you will have good luck but ten people only will give you OK luck and if you send it to less than ten people you will have bad luck FOR SEVEN YEARS!)

So anyway the poor guy tried to drive himself to the hospital, but on the way he noticed another car driving along without its lights on. To be helpful, he flashed his lights and was promptly shot as part of a gang initiation.

And it’s a little-known fact that the Y1K problem caused the Dark Ages.

(Author unknown)

Heh Heh!! This one had me in stiches for ages !

If you want to learn more about memes, follow the links below.

LINKS MEMES:

http://weblog.campbellconsent.com/?p=40
http://www.campbellconsent.com/memebased.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme
http://www.memecentral.com/
http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/MEMIN.HTML
http://maxwell.lucifer.com/virus/alt.memetics/what.is.html

You can download and share the article as a .PDF from HERE

Floyd Campbell is Principal of
CAMPBELLCONSENT DIVERSITY
Specialist in Diversity Management
Consulting, Training, Research & Marketing
http://www.campbellconsent.com

February 9, 2006

THE APOLOGETIC CHURCH OF ENGLAND

Filed under: — Administrator @ 12:12 am

Its been announced today that the Church of England voted to apologise to the descendents of victims of the slave trade.

Nice?

Apparently the apology comes after Dr Williams was criticised in November for saying that “missionaries “sinned” by imposing hymns ancient and modern on places such as Africa.”

I asked a 17-year-old English descendent of victims of the slave trade the following questions:

+ Do you welcome the apology from the Church of England?

+ What does the apology mean to you?

+ What would you like the church to do in practical terms to demonstrate the sincerity of its apology so people like you understand that they actually mean it?

He answered:

“I am a descendent of victims of the transatlantic slave trade and remain a current victim myself. Referring to your article about MEMES, the mentality that sparked it has travelled through time and to quote Dr Williams:” - “The body of Christ is not just a body that exists at any one time, it exists across history and we therefore share the shame and the sinfulness of our predecessors and part of what we can do, with them and for them in the body of Christ, is prayer for acknowledgement of the failure that is part of us not just of some distant ‘them’.”

I was impressed by his well-considered answer and was enthused to hear him continue..

“Yes I welcome the apology; however an apology in this context means very little in practice when the church and its officials are possessed of so much wealth and privilege as a direct result of its actions against my ancestors and upon us to this day, it must show a practical contribution to neutralising the effects of slavery that currently exist.”

OK. I encouraged, what would you want them to do now in practice for example?

His brow knitted for a few seconds as he concentrated on producing his answer, he looked me directly in the eye and said.

“This thing about killing the “slave meme” you talk about is something that I see holds incredible promise for the future of people like me as well as the descendants of the slave masters; I know you want to make it available to all the organisations.

What if they put their slavery made money where their apologetic mouths are and give you all the money you need to drive your “memebased diversity management systems” across the society? It would not even be pocket change to them!”

You could use the money to employ Public Relations firms to make the system popular. You could make money available to train people to install it in organisations and things like that to really make a difference..”

I grabbed him in a Bear hug the both of us in fits of laughter!!

“Now that would demonstrate the sincerity of their apology, show sincerity in practice!” his voice blasting as I squished him tight.

Indeed it would.

Floyd Campbell is Principal of
CAMPBELLCONSENT DIVERSITY
Specialist in Diversity Management
Consulting, Training, Research & Marketing
http://www.campbellconsent.com

LINKS:
http://weblog.campbellconsent.com/?p=40
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4694896.stm

December 22, 2005

First ever Hawaiian blog carnival on Management and Leadership

Filed under: — Administrator @ 8:34 pm

Checkout the Ho‘ohana Community HÅ?‘ike‘ike, the first ever Hawaiian blog carnival on Management and Leadership over at Talking Story.

http://www.sayleadershipcoaching.com/talkingstory/2005/12/hikeike_managin.html#more

The diversity of relevant articles and links is a must for those sneeking off moments with your electronic alterego over the Xmas holidays..

Merry Xmas and Happy newyear to all who read this.

Floyd/

December 16, 2005

SCIENCE FICTION, DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT AND THE FACTS ABOUT MEMES

Filed under: — Administrator @ 5:55 am

A “meme” is a psychological property. Like a virus it seeks to survive by drawing sustenance from other memes that confirm and reinforces its existence, it will replicate itself horizontally and vertically to guarantee it has future sustenance and reinforcement and survival. To tell it to go away or to stop working is a futile nonsense, it will simply mutate and disguise itself under any spotlight. This is why “awareness training” and the like will “always fail to deliver equality of opportunity.”

I saw an episode of Star Trek “Voyager” this evening, the episode was called “Memorial” It was about the Voyager crew forcefully and painfully experiencing the “memories” of a massacre of many innocent people 300 years previously on some far flung planet. A malfunctioning monument to the massacre on that planets surface was broadcasting the painful memories.

The crew decided to repair the monument because they wanted to ensure that the record of the massacre remain available to future travellers who will learn from and benefit from the available detailed record of the event in that they will know of the damage caused by the terrible incident and not repeat such folly in their own lives and cultures.

It stuck me that on planet earth far worst follies than what had happened in the voyager story have occurred, over and over again. Those incidents have been very damaging to our human culture. So much more damaging than mere words can be expected to convey.

Perhaps the most damaging in our human history has been the “Transatlantic Slave Trade” that sold innocent human beings for commercial profit, the trade spanned centuries, it transformed the entire world and its transformation is very much with us today still, eating away at our decency and respect for each other, our security and safety with each other and with the very planet that sustains us, eating away at our very sanity as individuals and as a culture.

The Transatlantic slave trade set off the so-called western industrial revolution.

It fuelled the taking of land and the murderous dehumanisation of its “natives” across multiple continents bloating its practitioners with incredible wealth and privilege.

It encouraged the insane concept that groups of humans beings are superior to others, it encouraged and endorsed the disrespect towards human beings, the natural environment and our planet’s ecosystem. It fractured and devastated the cohesion of brother and sisterhood that binds us together as one.

The Trans Atlantic Slave Trade and its insane practitioners taught and reinforced the concept that “great wealth” and privilege comes from disrespecting and dehumanising others - Their “Ideology.

That great wealth and privilege comes from similarly disrespecting the natural environment.

That great wealth and privilege comes from disrespecting the ecosystem that sustains the very life on our planet.

As someone once said:

“An idea is something you have.”

“An Ideology is something that has you!”

Better be a wholesome and sustainable one.

These “memes” became entrenched in the structures, systems and professional practice of our institutions, organisations and individuals on a hitherto unprecedented scale.

The practitioners of the Atlantic Slave Trade wanted them there and could afford to have them put there via public relations programs of whatever ilk, because without them they would not have been able to conduct their horrific “business.”

One cannot enslave their equal.

One cannot “dominate” the natural environment and ecosystem unless one is “Superior to it, has majesty over it!

These “memes are still very much with us today, they have not been removed from our culture.

These “memes are literally “Killing us!”

Day by Day!

Evidently the overwhelming majority of us have not learned much from the “history lessons” about the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade where we have been fortunate enough to have a glimpse of it with reference to the way we relate to “others” among us. We are still living the lie of these memes.

Still telling ourselves often subconsciously, often secretly, sometimes openly of our superiority, to other humans, to the natural environment, to our planet’s ecosystem.

Still propagating the memes vertically and horizontally in our culture through our social structures, institutions, systems and practice.

When we damage the lives of others expressing theses memes we also damage ourselves because we are out of synch with the world around us and must always be working against it by definition.

The descendants of the “victims” of the practitioners of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade are “today’s victims” of the current “beneficiaries.” passed down through the ages this meme.

Many bury their heads in the sand of denial that the effects are still reverberating among us, reverberating throughout our world despite the facts.

Many simply don’t care because they think that the headlong dive to our oblivion grants them some petty privilege or status, many are simply miserable individuals who have no other way to achieve a modicum of “self esteem” except to maintain the conditions that oppress and are destroying us all and our planet.

Many simply want to drive a bigger car or to live in a bigger house!

How to kill a meme?

A meme is a psychological property. Like a virus it seeks to survive by drawing sustenance from other memes that confirm and reinforces its existence, it will replicate itself horizontally and vertically to guarantee it has future sustenance and reinforcement and survival. To tell it to go away or to stop working is a futile nonsense, it will simply mutate and disguise itself under any spotlight, this is why “awareness training” and the like will “always fail to deliver equality of opportunity.”

To kill a meme we must brake its cycle of transmission, just like with a virus.

To kill a meme, as psychology 101 will inform us we must change the environment in which it thrives, make that environment hostile to it.

To kill a meme we must starve it of its affirmation and reinforcement activity, supported by personal and institutional practice that disables its transmission.

Our social structures that support systems that support practice are the main transmission mediums for these negative memes under discussion. Yes individuals and groups as private persons do transmit these negative memes too, however it’s our social institutions that are the really big transmission media.

They compel us to do our jobs a certain way that can often seem entirely normal because they have been established in some cases for hundreds of years. - Examples include our national institutions and larger corporations that were actually founded to support the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade. (Some world famous banking and other financial institutions immediately come to mind.)

Effective Diversity Management techniques seek to modify institutional structures, systems and professional practice in such a manner that employs the use of “Objective Criteria” in the context of decision-making and implementation. The decision makers then cannot apply the memes to the decision-making processes. The memes cannot then be transferred or reinforced.

The memes “Starve,” and wither away because they are not reinforced by action! Not transmitted by compelled infection.

An international, western based memorial to the ” victims” of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade and their decendants, has been a long time in the building, opportunities to learn from this brutal ugly past remains minimised and we are in constant danger of repeating it in it’s full blown glory.

All commentary and utility welcome.

Floyd Campbell is Principal of
CAMPBELLCONSENT DIVERSITY
Specialist in Diversity Management
Consulting, Training, Research & Marketing
http://www.campbellconsent.com

Transatlantic Slave Trade:

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/slavery/triangle.asp

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/slavery/index.asp

http://www.nmm.ac.uk/freedom/viewTheme.cfm/theme/triangular

http://www.nmm.ac.uk/freedom/links.cfm

Memes:

http://www.campbellconsent.com/memebased.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme

http://www.memecentral.com/

http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/MEMIN.HTML

http://maxwell.lucifer.com/virus/alt.memetics/what.is.html

November 22, 2005

THERE IS NO DIVERSITY WITHOUT DIVERSITY!

Filed under: — Administrator @ 11:29 pm

I was at a seminar today; the group were functionaries from around town discussing “Generating Growth via Integration and Diversity.�? Impressive.

The overwhelming majority of the participants about a hundred and ten plus were from major public sector organisations with a smattering of private and voluntary sector folk. All the presenters and speakers were members of the local over-represented group.

As the afternoon went on and the self congratulations and back patting mainlined, I watched the two handfuls of underrepresented minority group members leave one by one twos and threes until I was one of a very small handful left. I thought this rather interesting and I wondered if the main group even noticed!

Why did they leave then, did they have pressing appointments, all of them?

Why was I personally feeling uncomfortable and isolated and thinking of leaving too I wondered?

I know myself to be battle hardened, I have been around this profession for near twenty years and I have been around a large variety of groups discussing diversity management.

The presentations and discussions to me seemed to be focused on exploiting diversity OK. “Look at the different initiatives we have coming up to “Fix�? those underrepresented folks.�? And “look even a few more here on how we can extract from those initiatives.

Sure good stuff, what about the modification of structures and systems and professional practice within the organisations themselves, adapting the environment to truly servicing the needs of ALL stakeholders?

I wanted to contribute my near twenty years expertise in the field to those just starting out, past the single question I asked all afternoon in order to understand the contents of a self congratulatory advertisement I could not see on the acetate up front.

I kept quiet in the main because I got the distinct vibe in the place that my meaningful contributions would be unwelcome, I had raised my hand several times seeking space and I felt that I was roundly ignored by the moderator for example.

Without doubt I was the most experienced person in the room by far, this was known to the moderator and several participants I had met previously at other events.

Did I feel ignored and unwelcome? Yes I did.

Is that reasonable that I felt that way?

Yes I think so. Let me be clear here, I have the circulation list and can contact individuals with my own tailor-made message so I am not feeling putout because I did not get an opportunity for self promotion or something; I am not shy and am well studied in chipping in with any information I see appropriate at these events.

I simply felt that the issue of effective diversity management that meets the genuine needs of ALL stakeholders was so near yet so far!

The event, the folks, the presentations the orientation all followed the same old tedious established lines. The over-represented participants discussing with delight the possibilities of exploitation associated with the under-represented participants. Real benefits to under-represented groups came way down the list.

Structural changes to their organisations to modify the working environment so as to produce the genuine diversity they alluded to was off the list all together as far as I got and they planned the event, not I.

The tendency to allow the underrepresented groups less access to the “discussion.�? was tantamount to overt exclusion, as this could have been planned for. Only one attempted to pose a question then left shortly after, I was not satisfied with the answer he got to his question though I must say I did not hear every word of it.

I cannot say that the event’s planning allowed for any reasonable amount of exchange between participants as a whole or between the floor and the panel in the allocated times.

At the coffee break I noticed how difficult it was to make contact with anyone. Was it I? I don’t think so, I am normally a very communicative type and I only had two brief conversations, one with a person I had met previously in the space of fifteen to twenty minutes. I did not take a single business card.

It seems to me that if one is seriously seeking to install effective diversity management process and procedures etc in one’s organisation one would actively seek to genuinely involve the diverse groups involved and enable them ALL to “own�? that installation too!

Lets face it, otherwise; All you will ever hope to have is a potential public relations headache and even disaster further down the timeline as people vote with their feet at the very time you don’t need it. You will not make long-term realistic diversity management goals.

Those who have to live with daily unlawful, immoral and dangerous discrimination are “experts�? in how it is NOT DONE and what people do when they are not doing it and trying to pretend that they are. They can spot a phoney exploiter at many paces and will tell their friends and they will leave where they are not welcome, be that physically or otherwise.

I wanted to say a few words in the more than widely spoken local second language that all professional here know as I communicate best with that and the first language is a bit hard for me to follow sometimes so I did miss a lot at this diversity management seminar and I think that was unfortunate.

I was ignored until the end and I left immediately, feeling really disappointed with the afternoon though I would have liked to have had a chat with specific individuals. I can’t remember the last time I did that at a seminar, I am known to be the last one to leave these events; I love to meet other participants to chat review and network.

The moderator actually said to me privately at a previous event in response to my contributions asking questions that required considered answers; “You are not here to teach anything!!”

I feel that was a shame.

Why else do we attend seminars if it were not to exchange information and knowladge?

Diversity must in fact exist in order for it to be exploited!

Is anyone listening?

A company CEO mentioned in my “DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT HANDBOOK,�? whose business had experienced a 250% growth during the eighties because of their diversity management minded culture had the following to say on the issue:

“If you want to get from here to diversity, you have to seek out, at every level of employment, the people who have new and different stories to tell. And then you have to make real room for them; you have to learn to listen closely to their stories. It accomplishes next to nothing to employ those who are different from us if the condition of their employment is that they become the same as us. For it is their differences that enrich us, expand us, provide us the competitive edge.�?

All commentary and utility welcome.

Floyd Campbell is Principal of
CAMPBELLCONSENT DIVERSITY
Specialist in Diversity Management
Consulting, Training, Research & Marketing
http://www.campbellconsent.com

November 16, 2005

Fire in France Snow in Sweden, Do I resent that?

Filed under: — Administrator @ 5:09 pm

Fire and civil unrest are burning France and other places in Europe for long days now with no credible solution in sight at the time of writing. Why would this happen in the land of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity?

I happen to be currently sitting in northern Sweden as I write this, It’s turning winter now and temperatures are already subzero and falling fast, I go to Stockholm tomorrow to conclude my business here before returning home to the UK.

I used to live in Sweden and decided to move back home a year ago, have been working somewhat too hard since. I am on a visit as part of my transition now, I hope to have a couple days off and see some friends and relax a bit moving around, driving to see some sights with whoever of them will come with me as is my joy.

I used to live in Paris in my youth more than 25 years ago, I remember walking to an appointment somewhere on the Champs Elysees one morning and as I exited the Metro in a fast stroll I came upon a group of 5 policemen.

The one in the middle of the 5 from my point of view, apparently youngest and keen broke ranks from the others, from the corner of my eye and perpendicular to my path, he strutted in my direction 20 feet away closing sharpish to intercept.

“Attente!�?

I kept walking about my business, moving with the stream heading out to the street.

“Papiers!�? he continued upping the volume.

I knew at this point if I did not acknowledge him I was asking for it so I turned on my heels.

Hello can I help you sir!

“Papiers!�? His tone got harder more menacing.

“Je demande..�? He was getting tense now.

“Oh yes sir you want to inspect my papers, please let me take them slowly out of my pocket.�? I said in the clearest English at audible volume for all within ear shot, whilst keeping my palms facing forward at my side. I hoped his English was enough to interpret that I was not going be any “trouble.�?

I handed him my British passport, he wanted to search my pockets.

I let him dig and rotated my body cooperatively as he emptied my pocket at the entrance to the subway, many pedestrians in and out his hands bulging; Wallet, passport, driving licence, a magazine and bits and pieces threatening to spill all over the pavement.

He found “lots of cash, French francs! He seemed to think it was a lot from his reactions it being in the region of only £300 UK. I wondered what he was going to make of that?

Was it that he wouldn’t expect me to have this “much�? money and would inevitably waste my time I wondered?

He looked me up and down his lips tense, his complexion went up a candela red as I pointedly held my calm and dignity.

He turned to face his comrades over there lurking looking on and walked over to them, they huddled around his out stretched hands of notes and stuff each of them grabbing an item and handing it back to him in turn.

I stood waiting..

One of them rattled off something in French too fast and quiet for me to translate, except that I picked up on something to the effect of;

�?This one is hot !�?

My heart froze as I projected the time wasting coming up, the explanations and maybe even the man handling and I was surly going to be late now.

They huddled and exchange commentary with each other for a while apparently a bit excited, the elder of the bunch finally walked over to me after about 5 minutes smiled, muttered something friendly about roast beef and gave me back my cash and papers and au revoir bonne journée.

They had found the slip I got with the cash withdrawal at the bureau de change earlier.

Did I resent that?

Sure I did.

Forward 15 years or so I found myself in Rotterdam on a couple weeks off and no solid plans, I wanted it that way as is my custom, I like to follow my nose to interesting adventures.

I left my friend’s home one morning a couple days after arriving, jumped on a train to Amsterdam because I wasn’t sure what I was doing and found a car rental office in town. I needed to be mobile door to door whatever.

I turned the keys and headed out the parking lot I had an Idea.. How about ..?!

I pointed toward Spain on the map and headed into Belgium, enjoyed it’s flatness until I reached the French border entry where I was picked out of the crowd and held; they wanted a detailed examination of my car!

Hours later as they gave me back my keys and I resignedly asked if I could go now, I meekly asked the officer.

“Why did you search my car so thoroughly really?�?

“Because you are entering France.�?

“OK!�? I replied upbeat and drove on my way south.

Did I resent that?

Sure I did.

I came up on the border post with Spain on the French side, I was picked out of the crowd and held, and they wanted a detailed examination of my car again!

Hours later as they gave me back my keys, I resignedly asked if I could go now, I asked the officer more pointedly.

“Why did you search my car so thoroughly really can you tell me?�?

“Because you are leaving France.�?

“OK !�? I replied semi sceptically and drove on my way into Spain.

Did I resent that?

Sure I did.

I had a great time indeed with some friend in the north of Spain. Bilbao, San Sebastian and Vizcaya all over. Loved the big hotel on the hill in San Sebastian overlooking a lighthouse and huge expanse of ocean, room with floor to ceiling glass wall/windows enabling the most fantastic view, pricey, then again why does one work so hard?

For reasons I won’t go into I spent longer and more loot there than expected some 2 weeks passed and the final bill was a monster, we did party!

One evening about 6pm I said goodbye to my friends and headed north for the long drive to Amsterdam and Rotterdam and hit the border with France.

I was picked out of the crowd and held, they wanted a detailed examination of my car yet again ! Crying out loud!!

Hours later as they gave me back my keys and I resignedly and resignedly again asked if I could go now, I tensely, bored and carefully asked the officer.

“Why did you search my car so thoroughly, you guys must be looking for something important? Every-time I have crossed a French border on this trip I have been stopped and searched, could you please explain why?�?

“Because you are driving a nice car and you have all the papers in your bag.�?

“Is that a crime?�?

“Well you have receipts from Hotel Bla Bla and we wondered how you can afford to stay there and drive a car like this.�?

Well I work hard at a job I like and I get well paid. Do you search every one driving a nice car and who may have stayed at Hotel bla bla or only people who look like me?

Well we have to be careful who we let into France, we thought you were carrying drugs maybe!

“OK!�? I replied and drove on my way north.

Did I resent that?

Sure I did.

Why?

I do come from a country where the police don’t wear guns openly on the street. They do in France and elsewhere I know. That does intimidates me tremendously I admit. I can never relax around someone in the possession of a loaded gun.

I am not French or immigrant to France, or descendants of immigrants to France or from a French colony that may or may not be a department of France, however I find it difficult in a country where the police with guns exercise their powers of stop and search with such alacrity and targeting of underrepresented groups in the street in the humiliating fashion that has been my experience.

I find it difficult when as a grown adult man, I find myself subjected to the humiliation of stop and search while presumably decent honest folk look on at someone like me, who must be a criminal of some sort if the police are interested?

I resent it that I cannot spend my hard earned cash on the convenience of a car and hotel room to rejuvenate my mind, body and spirit without being suspected of being a criminal and humiliated after a time that I found to be peaceful and fun filled with my friends. I wanted to keep those moments and memories clean.

I resent it that a French policeman or European policemen or women generally, would feel it entirely rational to take the view that I could not have afforded the convenience of a “nice�? car and hotel room except by illegal means. Do they have some “mime” that says that guys who look like me can’t earn a decent living without resorting to crime?

Why would they think a thing like that I wonder, is there some kind of secret unspoken understanding they have that I am not privy to?

I resent it that so many people must share my experience in France and elsewhere based on our human god given looks.

I would like to see organisational / institutional structures and systems and professional practice in place devoid of racist stereotyping where police and other public officials approach people with courtesy and respect for who they are in the first instance, because they are more enlightened human beings.

I would like to see police use their resources to effectively target the real criminals and maintain law and order instead of contributing to “The mess!�? we do need them believe me.

Since the above incident I have refused to ever return to France, I cannot say it will be like that for ever, It’s a contrast though to the frequency with which I used to visit, I notice now to that I no longer speak or understand French. It has been sometime now.

Recently I was driving at night in Stockholm Sweden with a male friend who looks like me racially; we had just left another friend’s apartment and walked to my car intending to go pick up my laptop from the office on our way home in town.

We were thirty seconds or so into our journey and pulled onto the highway. A blue light flashed in my rear view mirror, outside its rainy, lonely and pitch black, and of course very cold Swedish winter coming. I continue on to a distant gas station down the road about another minute and pulled in directly in front of the CCTV camera so it could see what was going down. you never know.

I opened the car door and stepped out as they pulled up behind me.

“Good night sir.�? I said smiling.

“Good night.�? He said coolly

“Why did you stop us, is there a problem?

“We saw that you were 2 (“bleep!�?) in a nice car and we have to check it’s not stolen. Do you own the car?�?

“Yes I do, it is however registered to the company I work for.�?

“Oh that is a problem because we need to prove the car is not stolen.�? He informed me.

“What’s special about us two in a car that would make it stolen then?�?

“It’s a nice car and you two are driving it.�?

“Did you know that it’s illegal in Sweden and the European Union to use racial profiling in this way?�?

He shrugged his shoulders bored.

The second police officer sidled up to the scene.

“When you checked the car on the computer whilst following us was it reported stolen?�? I asked.

“No.�? the second one said.

“You saw its registered to a company?�?

“Yes.�?

“We need to call the company to see its not stolen.�? The second one said reaching for his phone.

“You can try, I doubt if anyone is there now, It’s getting late why can’t you accept the car is mine and let us go?�?

“Because we never meet guys like you who can afforded a car like this without stealing it, if we can’t confirm the car is yours we will have to take you with us until we do and we will want to have a look at your home!�?

“What for?�? I said getting alarmed.

They called my office, my young assistant who happened to be working late took the call, she was white and Swedish and sounded so as she told him that I was indeed the owner of the car and principal of our company. She could have been anyone.

They seemed disappointed and a bit off balance as their radio suddenly squawked something pressing, important or interesting.

Off they went to their car without a goodbye or thank you and in a few seconds drove off leaving us standing there.

I mused to my friend;

“When will we be free of this rubbish, it been over 500 years now mate?�?

My friend says;

“I really hate this place and how they treat us for no reason. Sometimes I worry they will in time drive me insane, maybe that’s the idea.�?

“I am sorry about this man, lets go to town and forget it, they only want to keep us down and keep us broke so we can’t afford nice cars or nice anything! I replied.

“You know!”

Do I resent that?

Sure I do.

Who Cares?

Links

That hotel on the hill San Sebastian
http://www.monteigueldo.com/ns_en_localizacion.htm

France on fire
http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=322&start=0&&edition=1&ttl=20051117161046

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4441246.stm

All commentary and utility welcome.

Post a “Comment�? and “subscribe�? to this RSS feed by cutting and pasting this link to your RSS reader—- http://weblog.campbellconsent.com/?feed=rss2

Or otherwise link to this site.

E-mail this link to a friend or colleague http://weblog.campbellconsent.com

Floyd Campbell is Principal of
CAMPBELLCONSENT DIVERSITY
Specialist in Diversity Management
Consulting, Training, Research & Marketing
http://www.campbellconsent.com

October 18, 2005

Diversity Fragment 10052

Filed under: — Administrator @ 2:37 am

Guidelines on potentially discriminatory questions

Precision about exactly what questions are discriminatory is elusive; there are however a number of areas that can prove to be troublesome and which are best avoided.

In general if you:

1) Would not ask a member of “the over-represented “group(s)” the question you are considering, its best to avoid it.

2) If you cannot reasonably justify or show that the information received back from the question will assist in selecting the “Best person for the post” then avoid the question.

In my “DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT HANDBOOK” is a general guide to some tediously common, often offensive and potentially discriminatory questions.

Sample is extract from “THE DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT HANDBOOK� -the comprehensive manual of do’s and don’ts for effective diversity management. © Copyright 2000-2005 Floyd R Campbell All rights reserved. admin@campbellconsent.com www.campbellconsent.com

All commentary and utility welcome.

October 17, 2005

UK Trade Minister Guilty Of Sex Discrimination

Filed under: — Administrator @ 3:19 am

A government minister has admitted breaking the Sex Discrimination Act by appointing a “weaker” candidate to a prestigious job.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/4334806.stm

October 11, 2005

UK’S DDA CONSULTATION ENDS 14TH /11/ 2005

Filed under: — Administrator @ 2:40 am

Consultation on a Revised Code of Practice on Part 3 of the UK’s Disability Discrimination Act 2005 ends 14th /11/ 2005.

Have your say: new duties for landlords, clubs and public authorities

http://www.drc.org.uk/

BRITAIN’S HIDDEN BRAIN DRAIN

Filed under: — Administrator @ 2:14 am

Many employees are both overworked and stressed and the current model of work looks increasingly unsustainable.

So says the final report of an investigation by the UK’s Equal Opportunities Commission.

The report is entitled: “BRITAIN’S HIDDEN BRAIN DRAIN” The EOC’s investigation into flexible and part-time working.

http://www.eoc.org.uk/PDF/brain_drain_final_report.pdf

UK Age Discrimination Deadline

Filed under: — Administrator @ 1:52 am

On 14 July 2005, Alan Johnson, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, launched the “Coming of Age� consultation seeking views on draft Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006. The consultation ends on 17 October 2005. Subject to the approval of Parliament the legislation will come into force on 1 October 2006.

http://www.dti.gov.uk/er/equality/age.htm

October 10, 2005

Professional Opportunities

Filed under: — Administrator @ 7:03 pm

Cooperative professional arrangement in order to create teams who will bid for specific contracts in any available jurisdiction.

http://www.campbellconsent.com

Powered by WordPress