Labor in The Office - Diversity Day

The second episode of The Office, “Diversity Day,” takes on a very serious workplace issue which would continue to be confronted throughout all nine seasons – racism. While the manager, Michael’s, racism is evident in the pilot episode, Diversity Day is devoted to the response to his insensitive recitation of a Chris Rock routine.

I like this episode, in part, because it actually addresses two problems – the way corporations try to handle serious problems – training seminars – as well as racism. Not only are training seminars viewed as a joke by most employees and considered wasteful by experts, they are often seen as an easy one-time quick fix by management. While they have provided employment for some, training seminars really don’t change the behavior of individuals outside of a narrow window of time. Eventually, troublemakers return to their old ways when they lack adequate consequences or a sense of solidarity with their fellow workers.

To make matters worse, organizations now choose to use cheaper, computer-based, often generic (I don’t want to think about how many online sessions I’ve suffered through for [in generic actor-voice] “your organization”), training which further diminishes whatever effectiveness the session may have had. Mind-numbing web-based tedium further isolate coworkers from one another. Some of these online courses can be informative and/or accidentally hilarious once they leak, however, as the Target anti-union video and the classic, "Surviving Edged Weapons," prove.

Having offended the staff with his racist antics, the Dunder Mifflin corporate headquarters decided to bring in a corporate trainer. To avoid singling Michael out, the office is required to take the mandatory diversity training together. Detecting a threat to his authority and, possibly sensitive to his own misbehavior, Michael repeatedly talks over the instructor, Mr. Brown, and attempts to take over the meeting. Much like his behavior towards Jan in the pilot, Mr. Brown, an African American, is outside the typical, white male, power structure. After some quick de-escalation by Mr. Brown, Michael take his seat but remains combative and dismissive throughout the show. It becomes clear he never took the message seriously – at one point claiming the office was “very advanced” compared to what Mr. Brown had previously experienced. How he would have known that is anybody’s guess...or he was talking out the wrong end.

After Michael forces everyone to participate in a racist “diversity training” of his own devising, it’s as obvious as chartreuse cargo shorts at a Goth club night the corporate training did not work.

While humorous, versions of the training in the episode (or online versions) occur every day in the modern workplace. Like the show, they have little or no effect on the “Michaels” of the real world. Worse, there are people even more intolerant and callous than Michael who have never been told or shown their behavior is unacceptable. Worse still, many of those “Michaels” abuse their authority over their subordinates.

Are corporate training seminars the answer to this asymmetric abuse of power? It didn’t work on the show and it doesn’t work in real workplaces. What does? Worker Solidarity. Through unions, workers can force consequences on the racist, bullying bosses. For example, workers at a Target walked off the job in protest of a bad manager. Labor contracts are most commonly utilized by unions and they can institute grievance or discipline procedure to protect the workers and promote a more fair, equal workplace. Had Michael been forced to confront the staff refusing to work with him, restorative justice, or permanent and impactful discipline, don’t you think he would be more likely to correct his behavior? Wouldn’t that make things better for everyone – including him? While that doesn’t make a funny television show, it does make a happier workplace.

Did I miss something you think is important? Have ideas you'd like to share about the show? You can contact me on Twitter at @unionlegion, on Mastodon at @I_Will_Wobble, or email me at union.legion (at) hush.com.

Previously: Pilot
Up next: Health Care