مکالمه ی فعالانه قسمت د

ACTIVE SPEAKING / PART D

Tall, Dark and Handsome

After eight years, Abby won her case and was promoted back to her previous position in the orchestra.

Did Abby win her case? Yes, Abby won her case. How long did it take her to win her case? It took eight years to win her case.

Her fight was not over though. She returned to court again to demand equal pay with the men in the orchestra.

Was her fight over? No, her fight wasn’t over. Did she return to court? Yes, she returned to court.

Why did she return to court? She returned to court again to demand equal pay with the men in the orchestra.

After another five years of court, she again won. Today auditions behind screens for classical music are the norm in the US. And because of that, the number of women has increased 500%.

Are auditions behind screens for classical music the norm in the US? Yes, auditions behind screens are the norm in the US. Has the number of women increased because of blind auditions? Yes, the number of women has increased because of blind auditions. How much has the number of women increased? The number of women has increased 500%.

Of course, hidden bias and discrimination against other races is also a huge problem in the US and other countries.

What kind of discrimination is a huge problem in the US? Discrimination against other races is a huge problem in the US. Is this a problem in your country?

Take the story of Mexican-American Jose Zamora.

Is Jose Zamora American? Yes, Jose Zamora is American. He’s Mexican-American.

He had been unemployed for a month, but it wasn’t for lack of trying.

How long had he been unemployed? He’d been unemployed for a month. Was it for lack of trying?

No, it wasn’t for lack of trying.

He was extremely motivated to find a job.

Was Jose motivated to find a job? Yes, Jose was extremely motivated to find a job.

He was sending out between 50 and 100 applications each day, but he wasn’t getting any responses.

How many applications was he sending every day? He was sending between 50 and 100 applications every day. How many responses was he getting? He wasn’t getting any responses.

Suspecting it was his name that was tipping off racist bosses, he decided to get creative. He simply changed his name from Jose to Joe.

Did he suspect that his name was the problem? Yes, he suspected that his name was the problem.

Did he get creative? Yes, he got creative. How did he get creative? He got creative by changing his name from Jose to Joe.

Suddenly the job offers were filling up his inbox.

What happened after he changed his name to Joe? After he changed his name to Joe, job offers were filling up his inbox.

It seems pretty clear that this was an open and shut case of discrimination.

Does this seem like an open and shut case of discrimination? Yes, it seems that this was an open and shut case of discrimination.

In the US, discriminating against someone because of their race is illegal, but it could be hard to prove in court.

Is this illegal in the US? Yes, this is illegal in the US. Is it illegal in your country?

Unfortunately, this kind of thing happens quite a bit.

Is this kind of thing rare? No, this kind of thing isn’t rare. Unfortunately, this kind of thing happens quite a bit.

In 2002, there was a research study into the effects of race on hiring.

What was this research study about? This research study was about the effects of race on hiring.

The researchers sent out a lot of resumes with black sounding names and white sounding names.

What kinds of names did the researchers use on the resumes they sent? The researchers used black sounding names and white sounding names on the resumes that they sent out.

You probably know where this is going. No big surprise, but the resumes with white sounding names got 50% higher replies.

Which resumes got more replies? The resumes with white sounding names got higher replies. Is this surprising?

Jose doesn’t believe these employers intended to discriminate against Latinos.

What does Jose think about the intentions of these employers? Jose doesn’t believe these employers intended to discriminate against Latinos.

“Sometimes I don’t even think people know or are conscious or aware that they’re judging – even if it’s by name,” Zamora said. “But I think we do it all the time.”

Did he say we do it all the time? Yes, he said, we do it all the time. Does he think that people are aware of this kind of bias? No, he doesn’t think people are aware of this kind of bias.

Do you have any unconscious hidden biases? Click the link in the PDF to try the Harvard Bias test online and find out.