Denver diversity-training video said to 'hammer the white guy'

Since 11-25-07

By Daniel Chacon

November 23, 2007

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2007/nov/23/citys-diversity-training-video-labeled-racist-agai/

The city of Denver is showing its employees a diversity training video that portrays a white man as a narrow-minded buffoon — triggering allegations of "institutional racism" against Anglos.

"Right now, their diversity program is racially motivated against white males," said Dennis Supple, a heating, ventilating and air-conditioning mechanic who has worked for the city 1 1/2 years.

The video, titled "Laughing Matters — Think About It," is meant to show employees how humor at the expense of others diminishes respect in the workplace.

The character who breaks all the rules is Billy, a white, blue-collar worker who's a racist, sexist goofball.

In one scene Billy is told that another employee named Carlos can't do anything because he's waiting for supplies.

"What's his problem?" Billy asks. "He can't sell breakfast burritos without the supplies or he takes a siesta?"

Supple said the video violates his civil rights and that he's considering taking the equity in his house to file a lawsuit to stop the city from showing it.

"Diversity, to me, doesn't mean hammer the white guy," Supple said. "Diversity means you have respect for everyone, regardless of their race, their gender, their religion, their sexual orientation."

Councilman Charlie Brown, who is white, took offense by the video, too.

"To just target the white race, I don't think that's fair," he said.

Brown said he wrote a letter to Mayor John Hickenlooper and the city's diversity manager, Susan Maxfield, after Supple, who lives in his southeast Denver district, called and complained.

"How can city employees have meaningful discussion after seeing only a Caucasian male making insensitive comments?" Brown wrote. "All ethnic groups have a role in changing behavior across the board."

Brown said Friday that the video perpetuates a stereotype.

"The only thing left out was the white plumber's crack when (the actor) bends over to work," he said.

Maxfield, who is on vacation, was unavailable for comment.

Kathy Maloney, spokeswoman for the Career Service Authority, said the video is part of a one- to three-hour facilitated discussion.

"The video itself is scheduled for updating in either 2008 or 2009, so (Supple's) input would certainly be taken into consideration for the next video," she said.

Maloney noted the last thing to appear on the 8-minute video is this phrase: "Remember, Billy could be anyone."

She also said the teaching guide tells facilitators to "ensure participants recognize this video does not highlight or target any particular individual or group."

"It's meant to represent anyone who could (use) inappropriate humor in the workplace," she said.

Supple said he raised concerns about the video during his diversity-training class, but that they were brushed off. When he met with Maxfield, Supple said she told him it was "no big deal."

"If you portrayed a black woman (or a Hispanic or a homosexual) in that manner, there'd be hell to pay," Supple said. "But it's OK for them to portray a white man in this manner because you put down one little (disclaimer) at the end of the (video) that says, 'Remember, anybody could be Billy.' That's a bunch of bull."

The video, developed by the city's Diversity Advisory Committee in collaboration with Channel 8, the city's television channel, won second place in 2005 for Instruction/Training from the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors.

"Congratulations," Brown said sarcastically, "but it didn't win any awards in my book."

chacond@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5099