...because I'm American

I recently read an article about how our current president is working extra hard to reduce joblessness among African Americans. The top of the article reads: "President Barack Obama isn't shying away these days from saying that many of his policies were designed with African-Americans in mind."

First I want to say that from this point forward I will no longer be calling anyone African Americans. I'd like for anyone in this country to name 10 black people, of the tops of their heads, who are Americans from Africa. We are simply Americans and if color must be stressed then I'm a white American with black, brown, yellow, red, and cream-colored American cousins.

I wonder how the country would have handled it if former white presidents had said something along the lines of "I'm just trying to make more laws to benefit our white Americans."

I do agree that the unemployment rate among black Americans is way too high, but it's also way too high among all other Americans too. The problem I have is that we know the exact percentage of unemployed black Americans. Why are we still checking off what race we are when we fill out our census, job and school applications, or anything else that asks. Why are we still asking? Why does race still matter?

April of 2009, in New Haven, Connecticut, firefighters we denied a promotion because none of the top test takers were black Americans. Apparently in order to be promoted these guys have to take a test that only comes around once a decade. The top 15 get the chance to be promoted, and because none of the top 15 were black guys the city threw out all the tests scores and no one got promoted!  That's racist!

When Martin Luther King Jr. preached freedom and equality among all Americans, I don't think he was really looking to make sure all the dark skinned people got extra special treatment.  When we see a United Caucasian College Fund, or a Caucasian Entertainment Television Channel or a president who creates his laws in order to better all Americans regardless of race!

Instead of saying things like "...because I'm black." or "...because I'm white." Why can't we just say "...because I'm American."?

Work Bullies

Earlier this week a few of the guys I work with decided to play a prank on another guy. It was supposed to be a fun joke. In my honest opinion, it wasn't a huge deal. It was a simple prank and should have been laughed at in the end. However, the person being pranked wasn't happy about it. He was annoyed at the fact that these guys were trying to play a joke on him. He retaliated by pretending to quit and attempted to blow the thing up a little. The next day he posted signs saying "Stop at Work Bullying". When I saw this I had to call him and ask him if he really felt as though he'd been bullied.

I must say, a prank or a joke just to have a little fun every now and then is NOT being bullied (Unless it's all the time, every day, or causes harm of some sort). If prank calls were a form of bullying then radio shows and reality tv would be a form of bullying! Was Ashton Kutcher bullying all the people he played a joke on that almost everyone in America, at some point, has laughed at? Or how about when Elvis Duran calls people for his phone taps every day? Right now with bullying being the height of every uproar it's easy to scream "I'm being bullied!!" It almost scares people to the point of having no jokes, no opinions, and no comments.

A work bully would be the boss I had at my previous Job that I blogged about last year. I had a boss that made me and a couple other employees feel like less of a person. As a matter of fact she made us feel as though we weren't even whole people at all. When I would complain or vent through my status on Facebook people who didn't truly understand would say things like "be grateful you have a job!" which of course made it harder and made it way worse. It made me feel like I was being attacked from every angle!

I have since quit that job. I couldn't take it any longer. One of the two girls who was bullied with me is still there feeling like less of a person each day, as she drags herself in. With our economy the way it is, what else is she going to do? The other girl I worked with died last summer. It was ruled a suicidal death.

That my dear friend I now work with, is REAL work bullying... There are programs in effect to try and help those truly being bullied at work. False accusations of "pranks" being called "bullying" are a big part of what is to blame for the fact that there are no laws to protect people from bullies at work. It's almost like crying wolf when there is no wolf to be found!

If you are being bullied at work, don't quit. You have the right to fight it. It may seem too hard or pointless, but I promise it's not. No one deserves to feel like less of a person and good jobs don't grow on trees. Check out this website www.kickbully.com for help on how to deal with your work bully.