Evon Reid, who was called the “Ghetto Dude” in a mis-forwarded email from the Ontario government. Photo taken from his Facebook page.
It’s insult added to injury: not only did poor Evon Reid find out that he wasn’t accepted for a job by way of an accidental email forwarding, he was referred to in the email as a “ghetto dude”.
“This is the ghetto dude that I spoke to before,” said the email written by Aileen Siu, who works in the Ontario government cabinet office as an acting team leader in cabinet office hiring, which was meant to be forwarded to a job-search colleague.
There’s a mish-mash of issues brought up by this gaffe, including:
- Race: Reid is black, but there’s some question as to whether or not Siu knew that. In the Toronto Star article, Reid did indicate that the office spoke to his mother, who has a Jamaican accent. Siu pointed out that she’s Asian and implied that she understands racial discrimination. Of course, not being white doesn’t give you immunity from being a racist, in spite of what the loonier elements from the left will tell you. Kudos to Reid for handling this issue well: in a follow-up article in the Star, he said “”This isn’t a Confederate flag in a pickup truck. But it’s the kind of private view that affects decisions about someone like myself in the job market.”
- Class: I’ve seen the term “ghetto” used as an adjective by people from all races and all walks of life to refer to something that’s cheap, crass or tacky: “He shortchanged us when the bill came around! That’s so ghetto!” Reid’s from Malvern, a part of the large east-end Accordion City suburb called Scarborough (which often gets tagged with derisive names such as “Scarberia“, “Scarlem”, or the one that made me laugh out loud the first time I heard it, “Scompton”). Malvern has a rep, and Reid pointed this out when he said that it’s got one of the highest levels of youth unemployment in Canada.
- Qualifications: Reid’s credentials, from what was written in the Star article, are pretty good for someone who’s not quite out of university yet. They include a summer course in international management strategies at the University of Hong Kong, some solid projects in his courses, a good resume and a glowing letter from a former employer. It’s a crying shame that he wants to work for the government.
- Using office email wisely: First, there’s the obvious issue of double-checking the list of people in the “to:” and “cc:” fields of your email — we’ve all heard stories about people who’ve forwarded mail to the wrong people. But less obvious is the fact we live in the post Sarbanes-Oxley age, which means that every last little email you send using your employer’s email system is logged somewhere. The bottom line is that you should write email on the company email system as if someone at a law firm will be going over it with a fine-toothed comb someday.
- Multi-tasking: Siu said that she was multi-tasking when she made the mistake. Let this be a lesson to those of you who still think you’re being productive when you multi-task.
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One thing that often gets overlooked in such situations is "institutional racism."
Chances are the author of the note will be fired. And when that happens, the office where she worked will stand proud and say "This place is clean now."
But what about the person she INTENDED to send the note to -- a "co-worker". Or the fact that she used office e-mail to use a phrase such "ghetto dude" in the first place, when we all know office e-mail is monitored by our superiors. None of us would dare to use such a phrase -- even if we're busy and multi-tasking -- if there was even a remote chance that they would say "Now, that's not appropriate. We will have none of that" To me this reeks of an office-wide atmosphere of intolerance.
I don't know about the rest of you, but wherever I work "shit flows down." Time and again when I'm hired somewhere it's not just my qualifications that gets me in the door, but because my personality appeals to those who hired me. Then, when management changes, I often find I'm no longer on their wavelength. So, I keep my head down and try to get along, but pretty soon I'm collecting EI again so that management can surround themselves with people who suit their comfort levels. Such as young, hot-looking women.
I work for the Ontario Gov't and ashamed at this Aileen Siu individual. She should be fired immediately for sending such an offensive e-mail. Don't hold the work ethic of OPS'ers hostage. We are a good and diversified bunch. Hold those leaders who decide to keep morons like Aileen around hostage. That twit gives all of us OPS'ers a bad name. She is a ghetto dudette for writing that about an applicant. Shame on you Aileen!
I know I'm going to get flamed on this, but I would not assume that Aileen Siu is racist. Perhaps she was familiar with where he was from, and was referencing it. For all I know she had earlier talked to her co-worker about having grown up in the same or similar "ghetto".
Another likely story is that she was couldnt understand his mothers accent, and made mention of that to her co-worker. Maybe she only recognized the accent as ghetto instead of Patois. Which is a racist stereotype, but indicative of Malvern & Jane & Finch, and some of our ghettos...
I dunno - it just doesnt seem somethng to get fired over.