"Ghetto Dude" Insult to Government Job Applicant

From the Greater Toronto, Saturday, December 29, 2007, Toronto Star, page A16, a racist email sent to a job applicant in error:

'GHETTO DUDE' SLUR STILL HAUNTS JOB APPLICANT
Evon Reid - now a Queen's Park media analyst - can't forget emailed insult from government office

Whatever Happened to ...
Catching Up With the Newsmakers

Linda Diebel
Staff Reporter

In the young life of Evon Reid, 2007 turned out to be the best of times and the worst of times.

The worst because, on an otherwise uneventful day in July, he opened his email to find the term "ghetto dude" in a note to him from the Queen's Park office where he'd applied for a job.

Reid, 22, interpreted the offensive term as meaning, "I'm black," as he told the Toronto Star at the time of the incident.

"It's very insulting."

But it was also the best of times because, the day after his story was published, Premier Dalton McGuinty called him at home to personally apologize.

Other government officials apologized privately, dealing quickly with a situation that broke in a provincial election year.

Now, five months later, Reid is working as a media analyst at Queen's Park in just the type of job he wanted.

A happy ending, right?

Not completely, Reid said in an interview from Jamaica, where he is celebrating Christmas week with his father.

"I still don't have it sorted out," he explained. "I don't think I've come to a final verdict about what happened."

Of course, he's happy with his new job and says he's learning a lot.

He works on contract as a U.S. media analyst for the ministry of intergovernmental affairs, flagging issues relevant to Ontario, such as events taking place in the border states.

"The people are great and I feel really close to the action," he said, adding he chose the option of working in a different office than the cabeinet office where the offensive email originated.

It's an ideal situation for him. His contract runs until the spring, shortly before he finishes his fourth and final year in honours political science at the University of Toronto.

He has a stellar resume, with study in Hong Kong and fellowships with the federal government and on Capital Hill, and hasn't yet decided whether he will go to graduate school.

He believes he will have choices.

The public reacted strongly to Reid's story last summer and he was flooded with job offers and letters of support.

Many people wrote or called to describe incidents of discrimination they experienced in their own lives and thanked him for having the courage to go public.

But it's the other part of the equation that gives Reid "a small amount of unease" because he still can't quite accept the rationale for the email.

He has no problem agreeing with senior cabinet officer Craig Sumi's conclusion last July the term was "totally inappropriate" and appreciates the government's prompt action.

He called McGuinty's phone call "thoughtful" and expressed his appreciation.

However, his unease lies with the suggestion made by a couple of senior officals that the unfortunate incident occurred only because a "low level" employee had been involved.

The employee involved, who left the cabinet office shortly after the story broke, told the Star she'd been "multi-tasking" when she sent Reid the email, and that the term hadn't referred to him.

But Reid argues the "low level" official was the government for him - or at least his only contact with Queen's Park, as is often the case for the public.

And, while he would like to believe he would have gotten the job without the rush of publicity, there's that twinge of unease about the answer.