When Cavemen Learn to Use The Computer...They Usually Send Sexist Emails

I have written several posts about emails that can leave stains on a city, an institution, an organization and a person’s character. An email sent without regards to the consequences usually reveals much about the ignorance of the sender. Emails with contents immersed in racism or sexism can be the most damaging to a sender’s reputation.

Past emails bursting with racism sent by individuals in the Nashville area have all made national headlines. Where one form of “ism” exists, there are others, simmering in the same pot of shame. Recently, a Metro Nashville Public School (MNPS) male supervisor sent an email to female subordinates that has gone viral. In the food service department, the female to male ratio is 9 to 1. An email with a cartoon depicting a caveman telling another caveman that he has decided to teach the woman to talk and asking “what harm can it do?” is not funny. Period. With the caption above the cartoon titled, “The Original Sin”, one wonders will folks ever learn.

I contacted several MNPS food service staff members at area schools to ask them about their work environment which the email made me question right away. No one wanted to go on record for fear of losing their jobs but all agreed that email that I read was a glimpse behind the drawn shades of a school system that has become synonymous with devaluing its support staff like the janitors and bus drivers.

Hopefully, this post will encourage Dr. Register, director of Metro Schools, to round up all the cavemen at MNPS and teach them what actual harm an “ism” email can cause when the send button is hit without regards to consequences.