Johannesburg - Never judge a book by its cover.
That’s one thing Charlie Masala and Gail Vermueulen’s book is likely to teach you.
By looking at Black Son, White Mother, one would think it follows the tale of a white woman adopting a young black boy and both navigating their lives at the height of apartheid. You couldn’t be more wrong.
This 132-paged book explores the importance of managing cultural diversity in the workplace.
Layered in simple, easy-to-read 22 chapters, the book puts a spotlight on diversity in the workplace, which already is an issue in South Africa.
Masala (Black Son) and Vermeulen (White Mother) met in 1997 when he walked into an interview room full of white panellists at the Auditor General’s office for a position he had applied for but did not get.
Masala, a young graduate from a disadvantaged village in Venda, was rejected for a position at the offices of the Auditor-General.
Vermeulen, who had just been appointed Human Resources and Transformation Manager at the same office, was so impressed by Masala that she created a position for him to assist him with transformation issues. That led to a lifetime journey that saw them becoming more than just colleagues but established a mother and son relationship that had them criss-crossing the country and travelling globally, conducting workshops on issues of diversity, transformation and leadership.
“I could not get this young black man out of my mind due to the positive impression he had made on me during the interview. I took him under my wings and showed him the ropes of a working place, which was predominantly white”, Vermeulen said.
The relationship grew so much that Vermeulen recruited Masala to every company she worked for after leaving the Auditor General’s office.
The book touches on several subjects, including politics, religion, social and corporate dynamics, and narrates a unique, diverse South African story. It is structured in an unusual way.
The tone of the book speaks at the reader, as opposed to drawing the reader in. It easily positions itself as a preachy book with no new lessons to learn. This body of work waters down a very complex issue of transformation, inclusion and diversity.
It is a book that shied away from going as far as it could in its various aspects. Topics around diversity are crunched down to single pages, leaving the reader wanting more. An example of this can be seen in the fifth chapter, where the authors attempt to explore The Challenge of Diversity in the Workplace. They do this in one page, simply saying “many leaders and managers can be biased, stereotype and even discriminate against those people in the workplace,” among other things.
Chapters six, seven, nine and ten are also single-paged sections which water down aspects such as prejudice and the dangers of stereotype.
While it tries to be a thought-provoking offering of how two South Africans from different backgrounds, with different educational experiences, were able to forge a life-long friendship through their professional journeys, it undoubtedly falls short on research and providing a solution at the end of reading it.
Black Son, White Mother focuses heavily on what tears us apart, more than what brings us together.
Is this a book offering an overall solution or ways to better embrace our diversity in the South African workplace? It could’ve done a little more.
Sunday Independent