[Ohio-talk] [Employment-Committee] Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: a Shining Example of the Value of Diversity in Employment

[Suzanne Turner]

Dick davis wrote something on Facebook that I read last night.  I requested him to send it out and here it is below

 

Suzanne

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Dear List Members and Friends, 

This is an expanded version of something I posted on Facebook.  One of our list members urged me to post it.  Have a great holiday season.

Dick Davis, Chairperson

NFB Employment Committee

 

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: a Shining Example of the Value of Diversity in Employment

By Dick Davis, Chairperson

National Federation of the Blind Employment Committee

 

>From the author: Over the holidays, as I was reading the Little Golden Book “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” to my grandson Lucas, it struck me that I could use Rudolph’s story  in my talks because it has everything to do with discrimination and the value of diversity in employment.  So here it is, slightly rewritten to serve that purpose.  

 

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was a differently-abled individual who faced discrimination and social ostracism because of his red nose.  As we all know, deer  have beautiful shiny black noses.  Rudolph’s was shiny too, but it was red - so red that it actually glowed!  While this characteristic might have been regarded as beautiful in some societies, it was a visible, ugly deformity in reindeer society.  Because of it, Rudolph was mocked, humiliated, and disqualified from participating in reindeer games.     

 

To make things worse, Rudolph fell prey to this discrimination, internalized it, and took responsibility for his misfortune instead of realizing it was a problem of the larger society.  Since he was isolated at the North Pole Manufacturing Zone, there  was no organization of disabled reindeer to explain this to him.  So when Santa sought applications from reindeer to pull his sleigh, Rudolph hid himself out of shame until all the candidates for the job had been selected.  

 

On Christmas Eve, a sudden fog, no doubt caused by global warming, arose, impeding the progress of Santa and his team.  But when Rudolph came out of hiding, Santa immediately realized the practical value of his “disability”, and hired him as lead worker for the sleigh team.  The other reindeer, realizing that they had foolishly overlooked an individual with the exact skill set to enable them to achieve their mission, welcomed him to the team.  

 

Were it not for Rudolph, the team would have failed to achieve their all-important Christmas objective, resulting in global disappointment to all the good little girls and boys.  But because of Santa’s wisdom in understanding that difference could be an asset rather than a limitation, they succeeded.  And they memorialized this organizational achievement by creating a song which continues to be sung by children today.  

 

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