Re: Corporate Constipation -- Addendum

[Maurice King <Maury -dot- King -at- MCI -dot- COM>]

As an addendum to my previous post, I wish to address at least one comment
I have received from somebody regarding one sentence:

>You would have thought that I was a wetback!

I was informed that the term "wetback" is politically incorrect. True, I've
been away for some time, so I'm not up to date on the politically correct
vocabulary, but my intent in using the term was to express my contempt for
the small mindedness and the prejudice that I have found in the United
States upon return. I certainly do not want to denigrate any ethnic group
in that remark, only to condemn the prejudice that should have died during
the years of my absence and, sadly, has not.

Just for the record, I've overheard conversations with Human Resources
personnel who swore that they'd never hire anyone not born in the US. I've
also heard negative remarks made about Canadians who come to work in the
US. Because my spoken English is much more British than American as a
result of my having lived in the Eastern Hemisphere for so long, I often
encounter prejudice on this score, and some companies have assumed that I
couldn't POSSIBLY know how to write clear American English; that's what
writing samples are for, but these types aren't interested in anything
other than knee-jerk reactions.

Dealing with slow-moving managers in the hiring process is one issue;
prejudice is quite another matter. If I detect discrimination, I'm the most
outspoken opponent on the planet, and I don't care who is the victim or
what the rationale is for discriminating. There is no "good"
discrimination. If I thought that the slow responses were because of
prejudice, I'd not hesitate to prosecute; discrimination is a crime.

- Maurice