Part 1 of 4 Parts
“They got little baby legs and they stand so low you got to pick’em up to say hello . . . don’t want no short people round here.” These lyrics making fun of short people appeared in Randy Newman’s song titled Short People—listed as Number 1 by U. S. Cash Box Top 100 in 1977.
In all societies, there is ample evidence of discrimination based on skin color, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, hair color, race, height, weight, physical features, freckles and other observable differences. Researchers Neuberg and Cottrell suggest that bias may be hard-wired in our brains. Survival of our ancestors depended on living in groups. Outsiders who looked and acted differently were seen as threats.
To combat bias and discrimination during the last two centuries, social pressure and litigation have birthed movements such as the right to vote, desegregation, civil rights, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), LGBTQ2S+, ageism, lookism and others.
As the labels and acronyms for fairness continue to evolve, I use the term “inclusivity”—make everyone feel equally supported and involved in the workplace regardless of who they are—to represent all elements of the movements.
The second blog in the series deals with the case for inclusivity.