The CEO who finds the topic of racism boring
Recently I wrote an open letter to Meghan Markle titled ‘The UK is racist’ (Link to article at the end).
My article was shared on Linkedin, and Calvin Craig- CEO of a company called BiBox in Hong Kong commented:
“ The whole RACIST label is getting boring”
I responded to his boring comment, and we engaged in a yawn-worthy tennis match, only for the entire exchange to send us both to sleep. You can view the exchange here:
https://www.dhirubhai.net/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6622378033569456128/
However, his comment did get me thinking. Has this guy ever experienced racial hatred or come into close contact with it?
Whether this CEO is an ethnic minority or not, his skin colour is not as important as his flippant remark on a public forum.
Side note, I don’t reckon it was boring for my mum when she found condoms in the frozen food section of our shop, back in the UK where I grew up. This was just one of the many tricks our racist locale would taunt us with. The link to the condom episode is below.
What if racism is boring?
Anyhow, Calvin Craig’s comment got me thinking. What if the topic of racism IS BORING?
I mean who am I to argue with someone who confesses to find something boring? If the chap feels bored about racism, then the chap feels bored about it.
Of course with the millions and million of different stories around racial tensions, discrimination, inequality etc pouring in from around the world, it may be ENTIRELY PLAUSIBLE for one to feel overwhelmed and thus tune out. It’s a noisy world we live in.
For example, I sometimes find pictures of food postings on social media a bit boring. So I tend to scroll past those posts. In fact I don’t recall seeing a food post for a while now. Perhaps my filters and senses have well and truly blocked that them out.
Perhaps this CEO also blocks the racism related news out. Perhaps it’s too much to listen to, too much to read, too much to hear about whilst he runs his empire in Hong Kong.
Perhaps he feels it’s not of interest to him, since it doesn’t impact him?
Boring beef
I’m a vegetarian, I wouldn’t bother reading, listening, actively noticing recipes on how to make beef wellington.
Since I don’t find beef topics interesting, I have nothing to do with beef-related news. I’d go as far as to say:
“That the whole beef thing is getting boring”
So on some level, I can understand why Calvin the CEO may have found the topic of racism sleep-worthy.
Except, something disturbs me. Well it must do, since it’s 2.56am and I’m tip tapping away at this article.
Disturbance
A few things disturb me about this CEO’s response. Namely:
1) Who exactly finds racism boring? the victim, the perpetrators, the spectators or the by-standers?
This question is critical because who should the victims reach out to? If people are bored over their cause, then hope diminishes to slay the ugly thing called racism.
2) If people find racism boring and tune the topic out, then who is listening to the plight of the victims of racism? If people are passively listening or actively calling the topic of racism ‘boring’, then how will it ever be minimised?
3) If a CEO can openly call racism a boring topic, what does that say about him? his ethics? his code of morals? What’s the psychological perception of such a comment? I just can’t see Mark Zucherberg or Jeff Bezos coming coming out with such a flippant comment.
Fairly or unfairly, I’d hate to work for a CEO that makes insensitive arrogant remarks, even if there is something loosely interesting about it. There is no sense of compassion, or wanting to understand the marginalised point of view.
It’s all just one big bore.
I wonder if Calvin Craig employs an ethnic minority? What if they have faced struggles in the past? Would this CEO even care? Or is it all about the bottom line, over human connection and human suffering?
Now I’m not suggesting that as CEO’s we must get teary-eyed over all tear-jerker human suffering stories. However perception matters in this digital age.
I wonder how many people would read his remarks and find him an incredibly amazing compassionate boss to work for, based on that single comment alone?
He ‘could’ be amazing, but we are talking about perception here.
Or perhaps people would respect him for speaking his truth. But is his truth more valid than the millions who suffer from racial hatred? Personally I don’t think so.
In gratitude always
Regardless, I must thank this chap for opening my eyes to an angle I hadn’t considered.
I hadn’t considered that some people may genuinely find the topic boring. So what are we to do with those who find it all such a bore?
Well if you’re bored, you seek excitement, if you seek excitement, then you need to WAKE UP.
Exciting things happen whilst you are wide awake and present to the situation. So my advice to this CEO is for him to get up from his beauty sleep and open his eyes and ears.
I’m also of the opinion that he could do with a dose of compassion and mindfulness (or perhaps just some tact).
Then perhaps he could spark up real conversations with real people who have been hated upon for the colour of their skin.
It is my hope that during these enlightening conversations, he would stay awake and not find the whole thing one giant big bore
Written by Dee Allan-The Gritty Girl, International Speaker, Writer and Entrepreneur. Dee is CEO-Founder of Career Queenz www.careerqueenz.com a membership site for Mama-Entrepreneurs. She also runs an employment agency, blogs on the Medium platform, and lives in Singapore with her husband and non-racist cheeky kids.
Further reading:
Open letter to Meghan Markle:
Condoms don’t belong in freezers article: