Small Business Owner Insights

He that complies against his will
Is of his own opinion still.

~Samuel Butler (1612-1680)

Over at her other blog, Wendy has a blog entry titled Racism in Business, where she asks “I’m curious as to whether anyone else has encountered a racist statement in a business setting, and how you handled it.”.

Let me say up front that I just think Wendy is the Bee’s Knees; she is a huge inspiration to me and has blazed a trail for countless of us aspiring bloggers to follow. However, they do not call me politically incorrect for nothing, so lets look at this a bit more.

Wendy describes the scenario like this:

In the last year, I have twice found myself in an uncomfortable position. Both times, in the middle of a conversation, someone I cared about made an off-hand racist remark. In one of these circumstances, the person was loosely related to one of our business ventures.

Both times, my heart stopped dead in it’s tracks. And I didn’t know what to say, nor how to say it.

Let us name the offender in this scenario John, just to have something to call him. Also, for the record, I think John is very, very wrong.

Also, let me say up front that while I have no control over other people, I do have control over what happens in my workplace. I will tolerate no racism, racist statements, bigotry, harassment of any sort or the like from any of my employees. My customers and employees and I deserve to not have to deal with any of that. If John works for me, John will get counseled and he will no longer speak that way to anyone while representing me, or he will work somewhere else.

Further, notice in the example that no one of another race was injured or hurt or, for that matter, as far as I can tell from Wendy’s brief write up, present when these incidents happened. Had that been the case, my feelings on the subject would be very different.

One problem with discussions of this sort is that we get emotionally involved. It is in cases like this where a life based on principle comes in handy, rather than flapping in the winds of what is currently popular. In my case, it is one of my life principles that people should be free to live their lives and pursue their interests as they see fit as long as they do no harm to another. Even if I do not like what you have to say or what you believe.

Let’s step away from the scene for a minute and look at it from a distance

John is not unaware that this is not 1863 in Mississippi; he knows he is in the 21st century. In other words, John is aware that what he said is offensive to some people. John had the temerity to say what he believed, regardless of how politically incorrect (or stupid) it may be. He has that right. This is, after all, America, where we preach tolerance and diversity. We do, that is, as long as what someone else believes does not offend us. Then, we rise up in moral outrage.

The typical thought process behind the outrage goes something like this:

• I believe all people are equal
• John does not, and what is more, John says he does not
• John disagrees with me, so John is wrong
• I should correct John and let him know I am offended (because John has been living under a rock for the last 50 years and is unaware of the entirety of the Civil Rights issue.)

Just because you’ve silenced someone doesn’t mean you’ve converted them. John might be a bigot, and that may offend you, but really, it has nothing to do with you. John has a right to his beliefs, just as you do, no matter how repellent they are to you. Before you rise up in moral outrage that you could never tolerate such a bigot, ask yourself this:

“Where do I draw the line?

What if John held the opposite view you do on Gay Rights, would you still speak out? The opposite view on capitol punishment? What if you found out John cheated on his wife? What if he smoked crack? Beat his wife? Smokes cigarettes? Cheats on his taxes? Would you (heck, do you) do business with anyone who does any of those?

Once we set ourselves up as the arbiters of all that is good and decent (good and decent usually defined as what we ourselves believe), it is a slippery slope indeed. Hypocrisy lurks around every corner.

John has some problems, no doubt about it. So do I, so do you. They may not be problems with people of another race, but we all have failings. I am glad no anti-smokers refused to buy from me back when I smoked and was in direct sales. I am glad that health nuts do not refuse to transact business with us stocky people.

Racism is always wrong. Always. But remember that Jesus said nothing on the record against the rampant slavery of his day, nor did he storm the temple to protest the separation of the sexes in worship; rather, he sought to change men’s hearts so that eventually they would do the right thing of their own volition. Ultimately, well done is better than well said (another belief of mine). Seek to change hearts by your actions, not by your words. Befriend John and be an example. Show him by actions that men are judged by the content of their character, not the pigment in their skin. Making more noise accomplishes nothing; it just makes us middle class white people feel like we did something.

What do you think?