Beyond O. J.: Examining Race Relations in the Workplace

Abstract

Public events frequently occur that raise issues about race relations in the workplace. This article describes a diversity exercise centered on a classroom skit about reactions to a highly publicized event, the O. J. Simpson murder trial. The skit may be adapted for future use to examine three issues: (a) how members of different races and cultures communicate in the workplace, (b) what needs to happen for these communications to have a positive rather than a negative affect on race relations, and (c) how critical public events may become tools for learning about workplace relationships between people of different races and cultures.