An upcoming event at Washington University in St Louis caught the attention of Marc Cox this week. The online seminar on February 1, asks the question "Is Professionalism a Racist Construct?"
Per the school's website post promoting the event: "The term “professionalism” has at times been used to silence and marginalize people of color, when attributes of appearance, language or interactions that have nothing to do with job knowledge or constructive collegial relationships are labeled as “unprofessional”. In this context, so-called professionalism is coded language, a construct that upholds institutional racist policies and excluding practices."
"In this context, professionalism therefore upholds white supremacy," says Cox. "If you are a professional, which means you, I don't know, what does professionalism mean to you? That you use, I don't know, professional language? You don't curse in the workplace, you follow office rules, you come to work ontime, you show up for appointments that you've booked ontime. You do your job, you dress appropriately, you do those sorts of things, and people have taken that to mean you're what?"
"Talk about the dumbing down of society," says Cox. "They're poisoning the minds again of our college students right up the street here at the $60-thousand a year campus of Washington University in St Louis."
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