Tell me again that things are getting better. This is the six part podcast about the High School in Southlake, Texas. I encourage you to listen to it. For me it represents exactly what is happening in the entire United States. We are at war. It’s a war about whether we will respect everyone’s culture or demand the adoption of an Ozzie & Harriett, Father Knows Best, or Leave It To Beaver culture.
I’m almost 70 years old and I’m tired of it. It’s painful for me because I can still vividly recall my own experiences. I remember what I experienced at the University of Michigan. I remember what I experienced in the military. I remember what I experienced as a police officer.
When I went to work in corporate America I thought I had experienced all of the slights that America had to offer. Then I learned something new. I learned about programed failure. In a nutshell it was being placed in an assignment or role in which you were expected to fail. It wasn’t just my company it occurred at fortune 500 companies all around America. If you worked at IBM in the 70’s and 80’s you probably worked in Office Products Division. OPD was where the vast majority of non whyt people landed. The focus in OPD wasn’t mainframes or big iron. It was products like typewriters where there wasn’t the same opportunity for success or income.
I worked at Xerox. I was focused and determined to be successful and I was. Then I got my first exposure to programed failure. I was promoted to my first leadership role and moved from Michigan to Cincinnati, Ohio. Although it was less than 300 miles away it was a world apart. I hadn’t been in Cincinnati for 3 months before I got a visit from a regional executive. He was there to counsel me. He was a whyt man about 5’5″ and balding. I was a black 6’4″ man with a heavy voice. We met in my office and he told me that in order to be successful I needed to make sure that I didn’t intimidate the people who worked for me. He went on to say that my height and voice were intimidating.
After that visit I started doing something that I still slip into unconsciously today. I slump in my chair to not appear too large and I moderate my voice so that it does not appear to strong. This guy wasn’t doing me a favor he was intimation that unless I adopted his cultural norms my career would be adversely impacted. I shared that story with you because what happened to me was happening to non whyt children in Southlake, Texas. When you listen to the podcast you’ll understand what I’m talking about.
This is an opportunity to understand where we are in this country. If we are to change anything the first step is understanding the issue.
Think!!
Eyes Wide 👀 👁 Open!!!
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