It's A Hard Knock Life...

Have you ever found life to be hard at times? 

Struggles in life we usually call obstacles and as humans we should all understand that nothing comes easy therefore, we should be willing to work hard to achieve greatness. 

But what if working hard to achieve greatness is blocked by a system; a system which perpetuates exploitation of a particular group of people? Because this system exists, it can make it unimaginably difficult to have success.

Yesterday the retail giant Target made the news yet again, but this time discrimination against the LGBTQ community wasn't on their agenda. Nope. This time discrimination against Hispanics were on their agenda. 

The Huffington Post reported a discrimination lawsuit against Target, by three of its former employees who were fired as a retaliation tactic. Robert Gonzalez, Bulmaro Fabian, and Pedro Garcia-Ayala, claim in the suit that their supervisors were nearly all Caucasian who frequently used racial slurs when talking to Hispanic employees. 

Gonzalez says that when he went to human resources to report this problem his bosses retaliated, and he and Fabian and Garcia-Ayala were eventually fired. 

According to the complaint Target, gave its distribution warehouse managers a document titled "Organization Effectiveness, Employee, and Labor Relations Multi-Cultural Tips", which featured suggestions on how to manage Hispanic employees. The tips addressed a variety of Hispanic stereotypes from music, to food, to clothing.

The document stated the following according to the lawsuit:

a. Food: not everyone eats tacos and burritos;

b. Music: not everyone dances to salsa;

c. Dress: not everyone wears a sombrero;

d. Mexicans (lower education level, some may be undocumented);

e. Cubans (Political refugees, legal status, higher education level); and

f. They may say 'OK, OK' and pretend to understand, when they do not, just to save face.

This isn't the first nor will it be the last time that a retail giant decides to use a "Paula Deen-esque" work environment, to manage their employees. Because those at the top promote and teach their colleagues to be discriminatory towards those at the bottom, this only continues to breed a negative and destructive cycle which in turn promises that hate towards minority groups will always exist. 

How does one expect to achieve greatness and/or success with such a road block in the way?

Well, because of these major road blocks, detours, obstacles, and struggles, our faith and help from others will

always be a guiding force to achieve greatness. And because we must be exceptional or we just won't be, giving up should never be an option. Yes it's hard, yes we get weak, yes we become fearful, and yes we can even get depressed, but our faith is what eventually snaps us out of complacency and rejuvenates us to carry on. It must, because without faith it becomes easier for the world to chew you up and spit you out. But by channeling that negative energy into a positive, you can guarantee your success because you're the one steering the destiny wheel. Just don't ever give up. 

Gonzalez, Fabian, and Garcia-Ayala, were correct in defending their rights and by doing so they're also defending other Hispanics' rights. They're heroes because being the little guys, it takes courage to fight against a wealthy corporation that has no qualms about replacing you -- especially since you're not a person you're just a number to them. These men could very well have families to feed but took a stand anyway for justice. That's commendable.

My question is: "How can we expect minority groups to ever advance within corporations, if corporations purposely have a "system" in place to block any future success?" 

My answer? "Become your own boss. Everybody's good at something; use that."

The Things That Make You Go Hmmmmm...

2013 LA