The article under analysis herein is Beyond Good Intentions: The Next Steps Toward Racial Equality In The American Workplace, by Arthur Brief, Robert Buttram, Robin Reizenstein, Douglas Pugh; et al. In this article the authors discuss racism in the American workplace, both in terms of progress and the need for additional steps to eliminate a new form of racism that exists. Based on a literature review and a research study simulating the workplace, the authors contend that while blatant racism has largely been eliminated from the American workplace, a more pernicious and subtle form of racism the authors call new racism is alive and well (Brief et al. 60). This document will include a summary of the authors’ argument, an analysis of their argument, and a critical evaluation of that argument.
The authors begin their argument by admitting we have made progress against racism in the American workplace, particularly blatant racism. The authors review the literature and survey polls to affirm progress against blatant racism in the workplace (racial slurs, derogatory remarks, and blatantly racist actions). As Brief (et al. 59) note, “Just 50 years ago, public opinion polls showed widespread acceptance of segregation and discrimination based upon race; today, these polls demonstrate that blatant racist attitudes are no longer popular and racist expressions are socially unacceptable.” Despite such progress, the authors argue that the good intentions of employers and Civil Rights advances have not been enough to eliminate racism from the American workplace.
Instead of blatant racism; however, the authors argue that a new form of racism that is more subtle pervades the modern American workplace. Before discussing the subtle force for wrong-doing represented by this new racism, the authors demonstrate by the numbers that racism is alive and well in the American workplace. For instance, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commissio...