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Week 2

Experiences with Discrimination

If a favorite company of mine was found to be discriminating against a certain group of people, my views on that company would change. I don’t know if I would go to the extent of “cancelling” them or not purchasing their products/use their services, but I would consider it if the population discriminated against was one I identified closely with. Honestly, I would mostly feel betrayed. Take any one of the top retail brands that we all have in our closets. I’ve got Nike shoes and Adidas shorts (never mix and match), H&M shirts, Levi’s jeans, the list goes on. I love what I wear and I make a concentrated effort to buy clothes or any other product for that matter that I enjoy and are of quality.

If any one of these large brands in this example were to do such a thing as discriminate against individuals of my race or culture, I would definitely question my priorities. There are tons of alternate providers for shoes and jeans and most other basic products. I don’t think I’d want to support a company that did not support me or people like me.

In terms of this affecting possible future employment, I wouldn’t want to work for the company either. Right now, I’m excited about the products I use and the companies behind them. I don’t think I could put an issue like discrimination aside to work for a company like that because I know the culture would negatively affect me and I would be opening myself up to being discriminated against personally.

4 replies on “Experiences with Discrimination”

Donovan,

I enjoyed reading your comparison on discrimination with the large retail companies such as Nike and Adidas and if they were to be discriminating against certain classes. I too would be very disappointed if I found out a company like Nike was engaging in discriminatory activities because I wear their clothing on a daily basis and don’t want to stop, but I would if I knew they were hurting others they employed and different groups of people. Like you said, why would I want to support someone if they don’t support the entirety of others, myself, or people I care about?

Although, I do think that I would potentially want to work for a company with these issues, only if they had already come to light and they were in need of help to make things right (and wanted to), would I then potentially desire to be hired on to such a company to make a positive change and turn their negative actions around. That way I could make sure that myself or other groups of people were never discriminated against ever again.

Hi Donovan!
Great blog, I have to agree with what you said. If a company I highly support and buy their products were to discriminate some with the same ethnicity, culture or beliefs it would change my view for them. I also wouldn’t cancel them right away, I would wait and see if the company stopped these type of incidents to even occur. If it continues to happen then I would stop giving support for this company and change my mind in buying their products. Like you mentioned there are other alternatives in their products, it wouldn’t hurt me losing them because I would question why do I have to spend my money on a company that doesn’t like me. Overall, great post I enjoyed reading you view of discrimination.
Patty Genaro

You mentioned that you would not like to support a company if they slandered something you valued. What is your opinion on when a company discriminates against others? Do you feel like that is okay? I only ask this because company’s like Nike may not discriminate but they have been known to take advantage of different countries and their employees pay. Is that something that would get you to stop supporting them? I have a hard time with this because I have brands that I love and do not know if I would stop supporting them unless it was really bad. These are all good things to think about for when the time comes for us to decide what companies we know align with our values.

If one of the companies I support now was to face charges, I’d also feel betrayed. I hadn’t thought of it like that before but it’s a great point. As of now, the things in my closet are still brand doing good things, so hopefully it stays that way!

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