I’m not racist, but I had to speak out
I am a white, British, male MBA student at US business school. When we had our class picture taken for the school’s brochure all the women and the ethnic minorities were arranged at the front, and the white males were barely visible. Soon afterwards we had a class on diversity, and I mentioned that the photograph was not representative and was immediately attacked by everyone. I am a meritocrat, but now I have the acquired the undeserved reputation of a racist and sexist. Should I have kept quiet?
MBA student, male, 29
LUCY KELLAWAY: THE ANSWER
First, the picture. No, it is not representative, but then it is not meant to be. Your business school is doing what most organisations have been doing for years: marketing themselves as they would like to be seen, that is, peopled with women and ethnic minorities, usually laughing uproariously.
I doubt if this is particularly effective in making them seem any more diverse, but I don’t see it as damaging either.
Indeed I have benefited from such a photographic bias myself, as my picture appears on the masthead of the FT rather more often than the faces of my white male colleagues. If I were them I’d be grinding my teeth, as I doubtless would be were I you.
But this is not about teeth grinding. It is about whether you should have spoken up about it.
Of course you should. There are difficult issues here. What is the point of diversity? How is it best achieved? Is it ever appropriate to give minorities a helping hand? How does one deal with the white male who has been passed over? And what is prejudice, and what is legitimate grievance? The ivory tower of the business schools
