PrimaDeli’s sacking of an employee should not be seen as a resolution to what seems to be an unfortunate one-off incident of racism (“PrimaDeli sacks staff for making racist remarks during job interview”; April 29). Rather, the incident should spur deeper thinking of the insidious ways of institutional racism.
In this incident, the racist remarks were not made by any employee, but the head of the baking department who is in a position of power to hire, dismiss and promote employees in the department. It is troubling when the few people in power who execute or have influence on company policies are prejudiced.
This raises certain questions on the company’s internal practices and management.
Does PrimaDeli send its people managers for training in setting up inclusive practices and preventing racial discrimination in the workplace? Is Mandarin the dominant language used in the workplace, which can potentially alienate other racial minorities? Is there proper racial representation in senior positions, and are there specific avenues for racial minorities to provide feedback on certain racial blind spots in the running of the company?
To be sure, institutional racism does not only come from prejudices held by people in power, but also from the dynamics of global capitalism.
The job applicant in this case, Ms Sarah Carmariah, said she was also asked if she could speak Mandarin because that is the language that most of the workers speak.
As a way of keeping costs low, many companies produce bread and cakes in central kitchens staffed by foreign nationals from China or Malaysia who speak mainly in Mandarin.
This is not the fault of any company; it is what many companies must do in order to survive in a competitive, saturated food industry.
But it does not change the fact that many racial minorities are institutionally disadvantaged in getting a job because they cannot speak in the dominant language that most of the foreign staff speak in.
Even if they are hired, it can be difficult for them to get promoted to management positions considering how the language barrier may hamper them from forming meaningful relationships with fellow workers.
It is time we begin the uncomfortable conversation on the various modes of implicit racism that exist within our industries, instead of dismissing this as yet another incident about the moral failings of an individual person.
Source: TODAY Online
