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

[Dick Davis]

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.