Restaurants, Resumes and Racial Profiling

I have been working in hospitality for nearly 20 years, starting as dishwasher at a nearby restaurant, eventually moving through roles in both back-of-house and front-of-house, and have loved my time throughout. I have followed my passion through each step of my career, learning and adding on to my experience as I grew from a cook, to a chef, sommelier and an operations director. Reflecting on my growth in this industry, I have come to realize we exist in a false belief of a meritocracy - that the best skills, talent, and knowledge will be rewarded.

Consider the current framework: We assume that the best talent will rise to the top by virtue of skill and talent. However, in the same framework we have created a culture where “skill and talent” is inherently tied to whiteness and eurocentric foods, and those individuals who “fit in” to this image. As an industry, we have not created space for BIPOC individuals to feel the same sense of achievement or value within our dining spaces, as a worker or guest.

How it is entrenched in our everyday practices

Early in my career, I knew I was more likely to get the job if I applied in person. This gave me an opportunity to highlight my less obvious Italian/Polish heritage over my Middle Eastern ethnicity, which has been an important factor to many of the locations I’ve worked. Being Italian meant I brought authenticity to the food and culture, but came with an underscored meaning of being more white, regardless of my last name. Some of that authenticity came from years of travelling and working abroad; including living in Italy, learning the food, culture and language from the “source”. This reinforced the narrative of my Italian heritage.

I experienced something very different working in Marseille, France. The lack of reaction that people had to my last name was noticeable and not what I had come to anticipate. Hijazi has often been mispronounced and met with nicknames and jokes, but in Marseille it was not unfamiliar to those around me and attracted no reaction. I did not feel the need to point out my other heritage. Marseille is an extremely diverse city and has a large Middle Eastern and North African population (approximately  40% of the population of Marseille is represented by these cultures). This left an impression on me as it still sits in my mind a decade later.

As both an applicant and a hiring manager in this industry, I have seen the flash of emotion that comes across someone’s face when I meet them and they have seen my last name on paper first – as opposed to meeting me in person first. There is a reaction that people have to something that is unfamiliar. A quick look of shock goes over their face as they process the thought  “you don’t look like what I was expecting.” This was a regular occurrence, and over time became something I would chuckle at in my head.

Now I should be clear, as I tell the story of my experience with diversity and discrimination – I have also participated in and contributed to this system. I have hired people based on a profile that suited the business – they came from the same culture/ethnic background as the restaurant; they fit the “look”; they had the “x factor”. These were all carefully coded ways to select people through racial bias, as informed by the companies hiring policies. In some cases, it was far less discreet. As an example, I have been directly and clearly instructed to terminate more than one person because they did not fit the profile; with no inquiry into skills they may have, why they were hired or what they might bring to the team. In these instances, it was not about best talent, but rather about best ‘fit’, which often was another way of saying more ‘white’ or culturally accepted. We perpetuate the idea that the best talent will naturally rise to the top, but have created a culture where value perception of quality is placed in whiteness, in both food and people.

Addressing these issues of discrimination is often met with the need to ‘diversify’ the workspace by hiring more BIPOC workers. Although a good starting point, this does nothing to address the people in leadership positions, who have often been taught these racially biased practices over time. We learn through observation, and following those that came before us. Our industry is notorious for shifting hourly employees into management positions and only considering the technical training needed while ignoring or skimming over the leadership, strategic and interpersonal skills needed to manage a business and team. 

Without people in leadership taking time to participate in anti-racism and anti-discrimination practices, we have not created meaningful change in this industry, only changed who we have hired on the front-end. To support staff best, leadership needs to participate actively in anti-discriminatory work, and reflect on their internal power structures. 

A step in the right direction would be doing away with those racially biased hiring ideals. To be concrete about making change in this industry, we can start there. Someone’s ethnicity does not define their technical or interpersonal skills as it relates to their work. The results of long needed changes to our industry and the pandemic that began in 2020 have produced new organizations and resources to help us learn about this. I opted to take a seminar from The Full Plate last year, on anti-racism in hospitality directed at those in management positions. Other groups such as VinEquity, Focus on Health, Not9to5, and Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation provide resources to those in hospitality that are looking to create a more inclusive and equitable workspace. 

A final thought

We are in a time of change and the effects of 2020 to the hospitality industry are still immeasurable. This is a chance for us to reflect on how systems of hiring, promotion and management work; how we contributed to them; and how we can make them better for the next generation of hospitality workers. These challenges have existed for a long time and many of our colleagues, peers and friends criticize the environment we have learned in. Let’s make it a better place to work for those who come after us. Looking forward to more conversations about how we can make this happen.

Adam Hijazi is a foodpreneur and hospitality business consultant. His insights come from years of extensive practical experience leading organizational culture change in the hospitality industry. As a business transformation leader with a track record of delivering results, Adam’s commitment to, and passion about, building inclusive teams, motivated to deliver excellence, shines through in all that he does.