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Here in the United States, white, European, physically able, heterosexual men have traditionally defined the workplace norms and standards by which all other group members are judged. Some of those standards have been affected by the socialization of white men to be physically strong, competitive, aggressive, direct, dominant, knowledgeable--and emotionally restrained. But that was then. This is now.
The 1990s are a transitional time for gender roles in our society. Women truck drivers and executives seem like an anomaly to many in these changing times, with sex roles increasingly blurred. Many men--and women--have q been socialized to assume that only men would hold jobs requiring physical strength and dexterity, and that only men were supposed to hold the superior positions in organizations. As diversity reshapes the way American businesses look--and work--the sense of loss and disorientation experienced by many white men today is creating new dilemmas. Have you run into any of the following problems recently?
Many white men resent having others assume they are all racists or sexists and are uniformly the "enemy."
A human resources manager admits, "Yes, some white males are blatant racists and sexists, but there is a very broad spectrum of views out there. A lot of men may be insensitive to blacks and other minorities or guilty of putting women down, but that doesn't mean we're all bad. I can accept criticism of a specific behavior but not broad categorizations. Like women, blacks and others, we're individuals and want to be judged that way."
A food service manager says, "If we talked about others the way we're talked about, we'd be considered bigots Another white manager adds, "We're now the new victims; one lousy system of stereotyping has been traded for another. White heterosexual male-bashing has become fashionable."
"This indiscriminate white male-bashing has got to stop," says a housing administrator who is white. He describes how he has spent his entire professional career in a multiracial workplace developing low-cost housing, and a new black employee at a staff meeting denounced him as "just another white racist" when they disagreed. He adds, "Even though I know it's not a personal thing, I was in a rage. I don't know if we'll ever get it together."
Many white men say...