Running Head: RACE AND COLOR DISCRIMINATION

Ashley Villanueva

University of Texas at El Paso

Mr. Vierra

Wednesday 7:30 A.M.

RACE AND COLOR DISCRIMINATION

Race and Color Discrimination in Employment

Color and race discrimination in employment is being described by two genres, one being
oral and the other typography. The oral genre is a podcast interview where an individual of color
by the name of Rebecca Carol provides her time in mainstream media as a journalist in a white
male dominated field. The typography genre is a government document from the Office of the
Statewide Equal Employment Opportunity Coordinator in Maryland (OSEEOC), informing on
discrimination and how to take action if faced with the situation. This genre analysis is intended
to recognize the features that make the genres different from each other and could show which
one is the proved better than the other. The government document and podcast provide plenty of
information to find its audience, purpose, and rhetorical issues to identify each product. Color
and race discrimination in employment has become and can be described as a serious issue in
both genres to make everyone aware of the damage an individual gets and solutions to prevent
the situation.

Throughout the years in the United States, people fought for equality, whether it be in
schools, public, voting rights and much more but there is one topic people may not have put
much attention too. Some employees may not notice that it is happening in their own work
environment, but there have been many cases of race and color discrimination in employment.
Obtaining low pay than those in the same position, different verbal communication, and different
treatment by ethnicity is what discrimination in employment is. Two genres, a previously
recorded podcast and government document address the issue of race and color discrimination.
Rebecca Carol spoke on her position of the matter where she felt she had to get out of being a
journalist, when in a podcast interview named, Suppressing Myself to get Along with White

RACE AND COLOR DISCRIMINATION

People. While the brochure, Race/Color Discrimination, provides information when faced
with a case of discrimination in Maryland. Being the 21st century it would be predicted that
discrimination of race or color or of any kind would have been demolished, though it seems that
in the work environment is hostile to any place that discrimination may still take place. Rebecca
Carol explains, unlike the government document, how puzzling it is to observe how people have
come to accept the behavior of acts that seem superior than fellow comrades; that the most
effective solution is to simply get out (Renegade, 2015). This only supports the issue of color
discrimination, being that Rebecca is of colored race and she, herself, has been discriminated
against in her field of work.

Audience and Purpose

The issue of discrimination is has quickly being brought to the peoples attention with the
help of social media, radios, and television all which have raised awareness on the issue of race
and color discrimination now more than ever. As for the first genre, on January 26, 2015, Gus
Renegade from Black Talk Radio Network interviewed Rebecca Carol who was from a
newsroom studio in New York. Rebecca Carols purpose in the podcast was on the matter of
how diversity and racism were handled at her former job where she was the only woman of color
in a white male dominated field. The brochure as the second genre was made to inform
Marylands employees about its legal background on race in the work environment and how safe
it is to file a claim if being discriminated at work.

The audience that the podcast reaches out to is more likely for colored and any who are
employed and concerned about discrimination. The intended audience for the podcast informs
them that discrimination still exists in ways that others may not notice it happening and how it

RACE AND COLOR DISCRIMINATION

can affect that person. In the Race/Color Discrimination government document from
Maryland, people who would most likely be interested are individuals who are being denied a
job due to their race/color, have felt excluded, are feeling harassed from certain comments, or
those who witness it. These individuals who are in a situation where they do not feel accepted are
able to take a stand and file a claim to prevent it from happening again in the work environment.
Black Talk Radio Networks podcast provides more of Rebeccas point of view towards her
emotions and opinions, and serves as an example of a real life situation when being treated
differently. On the other hand, the brochure provides more facts and background information that
could be proven true based on Marylands discrimination law.

The major difference between the genres is the fact that one provides the opinions of a
colored women through oral representation, while the other provides quick facts through text. In
total time it will take the audience six minutes to listen to Rebecca Carol as she gets her point
across with several simple questions. The brochure in fact can have people spend almost as much
time as the podcast to go over the information given by the government document, but it actually
does not require the whole time. The less information given the more audience will be lost due to
a lack of interest on the subject. The government document will have people grasp the purpose of
it to help any situation where discrimination in employment is taking place.

Race and color discrimination could be best supported in the two genres, yet both offer
very different perspectives in the workplace. In the podcast, Rebeccas purpose is to persuade
those in employment to leave an environment where they are treated differently for racial
inequality. Marylands informational brochure provides employees with information on how to
file a claim, who to contact, and signs of what discrimination in the workplace may be. As each

RACE AND COLOR DISCRIMINATION

genre provides different outlooks in discrimination, each also comes in a different tone of
language to fit the format of the purpose. Because the podcast is based on opinions and different
topics every day, Black Talk Radio Network is informal because Rebecca and Gus are having a
casual conversation based on emotions and are not limited on what and what not to say. For the
brochure, the language is more formal because it provides accurate information based on
research and legal information such as the one of the laws of Maryland.

When looking at both genres, there seems to be a lot of specialized vocabulary that are
based on the topic of race and color discrimination in the workplace. For example, Rebecca was
able to express her feelings using the terms, diversity, racism, post racial racism, inequality, and
emotional feelings. (Renegade, 2015). Specialized vocabulary in the brochure is to be taken
seriously as it provides Marylands Anti-Discrimination law and information in a formal
structure. Most of the words used in the text are filing a claim, safe and confidential,
investigation, and equal opportunity (Foster, OMalley, & Watford, n.d).

Rhetorical Issues
The Race/Color Discrimination brochure by OSEEOC and Suppressing Myself to get
Along with White People from Black Talk Radio Network provide sufficient rhetorical issues
that provide ethos, pathos, and logos.

Ethos

The first genre being the podcast is able to be found in the Black Talk Radio Network
website that provides more than audio files that can be downloaded and listened to, being blogs,
press release, and radio servers. Gus Renegade is the speaker who interviewed Rebecca Carol

RACE AND COLOR DISCRIMINATION

knowing that he had to do some research to learn about what she had been going through at
work. Rebecca has been a journalist for many years who mentioned she felt she would tell stories
about blacks and society in America to become more thoughtful in our lives. The reason as to
why the Race/Color Discrimination brochure is credible is because it provides information that
is based on research such that it states examples of people in those situations, definition, and
instructions to file a claim. It also provides local agencies that are able to be contacted whenever
in order to file a claim or for any additional information and help. The local agencies listed are
Office of the Statewide EEO Coordinator (OSEEOC), Maryland Commission on Civil Rights
(MCCR), and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) all located in Maryland
(Foster et al., n.d.).

Pathos

Gus Renegade had kept a calm tone while in the interview with Rebecca Carol, but as she
went more into depth of her experience in the tone of voice had grown with concern. Carol was
puzzled on the fact that her staffed behaved when an actor came to the newsroom and how she
volunteered to produce the set but was denied automatically for her skin color (Renegade, 2015).
Her work was interrupted and her effort effectively decreased since she felt judged for her
attitude as a colored person, which should not have been a problem from the beginning. Taking a
more serious approach, the brochure contains information that demonstrates how people can
protect themselves when in the work environment. Anyone who feels are being treated
differently should file a claim as a precaution to not feeling safe. The statement is to help
encourage this, as the government documents credibility to make employees feel protected, No

RACE AND COLOR DISCRIMINATION

matter what race or color you consider yourself, youre fully protected from employment
discrimination (Foster, OMalley, & Watford, 2015).

Logos

When identifying logos in each genre, both the podcast and brochure were able to identify
its evidence as one was given as an interview and the other delivered its facts enough for a
brochure. The podcast can be proved as Rebecca Carol mentioned in the interview that she is an
experienced journalist for 15 years. She was able to describe discrimination at her workplace
when she was denied a job request and was told Dont try to use your race because Im gonna
use it first by a white man (Renegade, 2015). While the brochure is based more on facts through
text, it includes valid evidence as employees are able to contact agencies listed with their
location and phone number. All of the agencies could be contacted in Maryland because the
brochure is written specifically for those living there as it also states their legal background.

Structure and Delivery

Both podcast and government document both contain examples, definitions, and the
purpose of delivering awareness of discrimination of race and color in the working
environment. Rebecca was asked a question to begin a conversation held with Gus on how she
felt to begin working in the mainstream media, her response was this, I was so excited I had
this great opportunity and I was very ambitious (Renegade, 2015). At first she sounded
enthusiastic to have begun her career as a journalist but gradually her feeling changed because
she felt it was a demoralizing time to be a colored person, better yet a colored women, in
American media (Renegade, 2015). Her expressions and body language shows how strongly she

RACE AND COLOR DISCRIMINATION

feels on the matter, being a radio talk show it limits the audience ability to see the situation.
Having blues music in the background gave a rather disappointing energy as it say the way they
do my life, make me want to holler (Renegade, 2015). For the brochure, a person could focus
on font, size, and colors in the brochure as well as no misspellings because it is meant to look
clean and professional coming from the Office of the Statewide Equal Employment Opportunity
Coordinator (OSEEOC). The government documents colors are more black and white with two
images to keep it neutral and inform the audience how serious they are in making a change in the
work environment. They have also provided contact information and headings to keep the
audience organized. As one genre is oral and the other typography, they each must present their
information differently to grasp their audiences attention.

Conclusion

Though the United States has developed in bettering itself throughout the years, it is clear
that discrimination has not diminished, especially in employment where the work environment is
hostile. Due to the brochure people can identify the government document more lawful since it is
based off of Marylands discrimination law, as for the podcast gives informal interpretation of
race and color in the work environment. Being the scholarly source, the podcast is more effective
than the government document, since it puts into perspective for the audience how Rebecca
managed to keep calm and make the audience realize that discrimination can damage an
individual. Racial inequality and discrimination of all are an issue that people in America should
be more considerate and thought about and try to evolve from the issue.

RACE AND COLOR DISCRIMINATION

References
Foster, T. E., OMalley, M., Watford, G. (n.d.) Race/Color Discrimination [Brochure].
Maryland: Office of the Statewide Equal Employment Opportunity Coordinator
(OSEEOC).

Renegade, G. (Producer). (2015, January 26). Suppressing myself to get along with white people
[Audio Podcast]. Podcast retrieved from
http://www.blacktalkradionetwork.com/2015/01/26/the-c-o-w-s-suppressing-myself-toget-along-with-white-people/