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‘60 Minutes’ Story on Diversity in the Military Rings True
There was a great segment on “60 minutes” on Sunday. It was a piece about diversity in the military. Unfortunately, the issues that they were dealing with could have applied to Corporate America. So many of the problems that the soldiers talked about in that episode were issues I’ve come across. They were dealing with always having to be perfect and having to be twice as good as their colleagues. One soldier said that he had to learn how to address his commanding officers because they were automatically scared because he was a “large, black man.” He was about the same height and weight as I am, which makes me wonder how people perceive me.
Sec. Of Defense Lt. -Gen. (rtd.) Lloyd Austin talked about a situation where he was a commanding officer. He faced so much disrespect that he sent one of his subordinate officers to address the troops. Since he was white, Austin believed that they would be more open to his comments. My dad faced the same situation in higher education. He gave a seminar, and half the professors, who were white, walked out and refused to even listen to him. Just one more reason why I like working for myself.
