#UsToo - The unheard victims of harassment in the #MeToo era

In 2017, the #MeToo movement ushered in one of the most significant revolts against gender-related workplace harassment. Until then, many ineffective (and unsuccessful) campaigns geared towards combatting harassment and subjugation of women in corporate organizations finally got a boost, which resulted in significant and far-reaching changes in many organizations. While the #MeToo revolution highlights the collapse of several years of gender inequality and unfair domination of women in the workplace, an unintended but growing consequence is the plight of other minority groups (i.e., race/ethnicity, disabilities, age, religious, LGBTQ related) that is being overshadowed by this renewed focus on gender inequality and harassment.

Harassment can be described as a wide range of behaviors of an offensive nature that demeans, humiliates, or embarrasses a person. Characteristically, it can be identified as social and moral unreasonable behavior that is disturbing, upsetting, or threatening to the recipient. They evolve from discriminatory grounds and have an effect of nullifying or impairing individuals from benefiting their rights. When experienced repetitively, they are defined as bullying. In several academic and healthcare (learning) environments, people of color, for example, like women, face explicit and implicit forms of harassment on a regular, if not daily basis. Unlike gender harassment, however, racial harassment affects both sexes with relatively more predominance among men. Like gender harassment, the effect of racial harassment does not just impact performance and self-confidence but also influences ethnic minorities access to opportunities to grow their academic and professional careers.  

In the academic and healthcare industries, the issue of how to tackle different forms of harassment such as unfair practices and implicit bias is not clear-cut. While the subjugated feel the impact of bias, the perpetrators of the actions either lack the ability to address it or are unwilling to acknowledge these biases. Furthermore, the complexities inherent to the different contexts of these behaviors make it problematic if not impossible, to call out harassment related to race, disability, or sexual orientation. Now, while there is an awareness of racism and other forms of harassment in many organizations, the actions being taken to bridge the divide in terms of opportunities for growth and participation are still insufficient. Unfortunately, many leaders in academic and healthcare organizations fail to see the blind spots in their institution's strategy concerning the diversity and inclusivity agenda. A simple example is an erroneous assumption held by many, that the achievement of gender equality in academia and healthcare equates the successful implementation of a "diversity and inclusivity" agenda for their workforce.

#UsToo

With the achievements of the #MeToo movement to date and the ongoing gender equality dialogue in many workplaces, it is important for us to focus our attention on the plight of other minority groups experiencing similar if not worse forms of harassment in the academic or healthcare workplace. As a black male academic and healthcare practitioner, the challenges described above are familiar. Many individuals in comparable situations will admit that the experiences described above can be challenging, especially in competitive work environments. So, in addition to the focus on improving the position of women in leadership, academia and healthcare, the plight of the female Muslim nurse, the black male physician, the gay trainee, and the physically or mentally disabled employee should not be forgotten or ignored.

Therefore, we have to extend the #MeToo conversation to include the harassment of all minority groups within the workplace, and not just to that of women alone - #UsToo

With respect to this new conversation, i.e. #UsToo, the focus of discussion should not be on the harm caused by harassment, because we already know this. Instead, we should continue to explore how to improve the (career) opportunities of the disadvantaged individuals who belong to these groups. An excellent way to start, therefore, would be to:

1. Embrace the lessons learned from the way women in academia and healthcare have tackled the gender imbalance in the workplace and apply these strategies to improve the situation of members of the #UsToo community
2. Recruit the experiences and champions from the #MeToo movement to support the plight of other minority groups (#UsToo) who are aspiring for promotion or leadership roles through coaching.
3. Strive to create a “just” community of practice, where unbiased meritocracy forms the motor that drives the selection of candidates for academic promotion and job appointments.  

A way forward

With the current knowledge of workplace harassment that we have and the impact it has on minority groups, we can identify specific lessons that can be used to create healthy work environments. These lessons can also be of potential value to minority professionals who are aspiring to grow and excel in their professional endeavors. Below is a list of ten things minority employees should hang on to if they wish to excel and be successful in challenging work environments.

Ten things to remember

1. Set clear, achievable, and challenging goals: Successful people set clearly defined short and long term goals for themselves. They set goals that would stretch them, soaking and reviewing them daily. They keep their targets alive!
2. Have a clear purpose in life: Determine your True North. If you know your "why," then you can survive any "how."
3. No matter your circumstance, demonstrate strong work ethics: Hard work beats talent all the time. If you are a cleaner, receptionist, or department head, show the world you are the best in what you do and chosen field.
4. Whatever you do, be consistent: If you don’t work on things consistently, the chances are that you would lose it someday. If you are consistent in what you, you won't need to convince anybody, your work will do the talking for you.
5. Be disciplined: All successful individuals are disciplined. They have the discipline to say no to temptation, to say no to short-term benefits and to say no to cutting corners!
6. Have the will to sacrifice: Be prepared to sacrifice your time now, to enjoy the rewards later.
7. Demonstrate a continuous pursuit of knowledge: The more you learn, the more you earn. Read a lot, listen to podcasts, engage in stimulating conversations both within and outside your field of expertise
8. Develop the ability to listen: Listen to those who have succeeded and failed before. Learn from them and their experiences. Be humble to accept defeat and strong enough to achieve your goals
9. Do not be afraid to take risks!: Successful people are willing to take risks. As the soccer legend Johan Cruyff stated: "You have to shoot; otherwise you can't score."
10. Finally, this one is my favorite. Have a never quit attitude! : Develop a great and strong determination to keep going, no matter what. As Martin Luther King stated, "if you cannot fly, then run. If you cannot run, then walk. If you cannot walk, then crawl. But by all means, keep moving"!

Moving forward, we need to establish a global culture of meritocracy and inclusiveness to ensure just and fair practices in our corporate systems. We have to eradicate corrupt systems in organizations that perpetuate harassment and implicit bias. Lastly, we must continue to confront unfair and discriminatory practices in our organizations and actively reject social and morally unacceptable behavior that is disturbing, upsetting, or threatening to others.