MLK DAY Guest Post by Tyrone Davis

NOTE TO READER: The viewpoints of my guest writers are not necessarily my viewpoints.

Your blog post on MLK Day had an interesting perspective…However, let's talk about the true social prejudices that many "light-skinned” brown Hispanics face from their Caucasian friends and their "black" friends in a society based on an Irish name that has been tainted by Hollywood since the Blaxploitation film era of the mid-60s to this date. I am of course talking about the name, "Tyrone" which is that Hollywood's portrayal of brown-skinned people has been associated synchronously with ignorance, criminal behavior, drug addiction, rape, murder, theft, abuse, gang violence, drug dealing, domestic violence, and almost any kind of negative criminal psychological pathology you could think of in American society.

So much so, there is a new colloquial term being used in the urban areas known as, "Being TYRONE'D!" Defined as when no matter how much evidence or education the person has he is often looked at as less educated and less focused than ANYONE around. The fact that the name is actually Irish (how much more non-minority can you be) and was made famous in this country by a Spanish Actor that portrayed the vigilant hero, "Zorro" on Hollywood's big screen has little to no bearing on the matter.

Being "Asian" is almost an advantage when it comes to what minority people would rather deal with in this society. Think about it, people may take issues with East Indian/Asian refugees but as you stated no one will suspect criminal behavior, addiction, or any other negative stereotype outside of perhaps the extreme far right-wing racists that will only see "terrorists" in their minds and refuse to see anything else thanks to media propaganda. Can you imagine having more qualifications and better education and experience than 90% of applicants for a position and getting the usual, "Thank you for Applying" email? This is our social structure thanks in part to mass media and stereotypes.

So, once again I just recall a ‘thank you for applying’ email from a company for an intro video editor position. They reasoned that they felt I'd not have enough “experience” in the area for the position after reviewing my 6-page resume with over 20 years of experience in the field working in Hollywood for Disney Pixar Studios as an Animator/editor, working as a Visual Effects artist for Universal Studios, working for two Michigan Governors for a combined 16 years as a videographer video editor.

This is what I meant by “Tyrone’d” in my earlier statement. However, my ex, whose name is “Lauren” was able to get a job as a freelance editor for a national Sports network while we were together. This turned into a nice gig on the ESPN Game Day program, all the while I'm standing over her shoulder teaching her how to edit. Coincidence? I note that when I applied to the same company with my resume they suddenly weren't hiring editors anymore. This position was remote and the interviews were over the phone, not Zoom.

To say this is frustrating is an understatement. Looking on social media and seeing racist keyboard warriors making their statements on how minorities do not want to work has gotten me heated more times than I can count. My response now is, “Why not tell your supervisor to hire them?...problem solved.” And of course, there is no response after this statement. Back in the late 80s, I read an article in Ebony Magazine that followed up on an ABC Nightline special about companies not hiring Minorities based on names alone.

The article went even deeper and spoke of speech, clothing, and gender. This sociological study showed it was safer for a company to hire minority women than men because the men were “too aggressive!” THEY would more than likely try to get a push for career advancement and even hire or push for the hire of more minority men to diversify the workforce. Meanwhile, the ‘Study’ revealed that hiring minority women was safer as they were more passive and tended the be single mothers that would accept raises and more benefits rather than push for career advancement.

I witnessed this when my older sister got divorced. She worked in government for 38 years and only moved laterally afraid to push for career advances but often complained about her positions and smaller salary as she obtained her Masters's degree. With three kids at home, she didn't want to be brisk losing what she had.

This translates into why so many healthcare workers are minority women in my viewpoint. They work so hard for what is just above poverty wages with full-time benefits which allows them bigger tax returns based on their number of dependents. Almost like a setup from early beginnings. Is this a fair case study when you consider that most minority women that pursue careers successfully often have children later in life or not at all? If we look at this through the lens of history we see that minority women were encouraged to have large families because in truth they were “replenishing the low-wage workforce!”

Now, that we are in the age of technology this scheme doesn't seem to work as well. Yes, we still have modern slavery in the form of “Home Healthcare workers” or “hospital housekeepers” who clean rooms but what of the minority men? Most end up incarcerated because of the inability to make child support payments, many of which are ridiculously high on purpose and others are stuck in either manufacturing jobs or medium-wage jobs far below their earning potential. So, what is the solution in the “land of opportunity” which honestly doesn't offer the opportunity to everyone under the mythology that “all men are created equal?”

Well, unwelcome readers to come up with one on either the liberal or conservative side because honestly as long as there are both liberal and conservative parties nothing will be solved or changed.

Tyrone Davis