Complicity in Oppression & Optimistic Futures
Shrimp Pulao, Systemic Racism at Harvard Business School, & Principles by Ray Dalio
Shrimp Pulao
Serves four people, from chopping onions to eating = 45 minutes
Ingredients -
One medium cooking onion, finely chopped
30-45 peeled, tail-off raw shrimp
1/3 cup of oil
1 1/2 cups of rice
1 teaspoon of ginger garlic paste
1 1/2 teaspoon of cumin
4 black cardamoms
1 inch cinnamon stick
2 1/2 measuring teaspoon of salt
Steps -
Clean and soak the rice and leave it for at least 20 minutes beforehand. For every one cup of rice there should be 1 cups of water.
Start saute mode on the Instant Pot and put the chopped onion and oil until the onions are almost brown
Put in the cumin for under a minute to fry
Now put the ginger garlic paste, cardamom, cinnamon stick, salt, and shrimp in and saute until the shrimp are pink (don’t overcook!)
Put in the rice and water now
Put the instant pot in manual pressure mode for six minutes and natural release for 10 minutes
Release the nob after the ten minutes and Enjoy!
Side note- never buy sweet onions for cooking South Asian cuisine!
Harvard Business School - A systemically racist institution led by South Asians
I came across this quote by bell hooks recently, and it plays exactly into the situation South Asian men exist in this country -
“White women and black men have it both ways.They can act as oppressor or be oppressed [emphasis added].Black men may be victimized by racism, but sexism allows them to act as exploiters and oppressors of women. White women may be victimized by sexism, but racism enables them to act as exploiters and oppressors of black people. Both groups have led liberation movements that favor their interests and support the continued oppression of other groups. Black male sexism has undermined struggles to eradicate racism just as white female racism undermines feminist struggle. As long as these two groups or any group defines liberation as gaining social equality with ruling class white men, they have a vested interest in the continued exploitation and oppression of others.”
Reflecting on this quote cleared up the conundrum South Asian men in this country face. There are countless ways in which racism affects us, from police brutality causing an Indian grandfather’s spine being snapped to being shot and killed by racists saying “Get out of my country!”. I purposefully picked two examples of non-Muslim Indian Americans to show that for racists, it doesn’t matter. In the first case, the man was visiting his son from India and celebrating the birth of a grandchild. His son was an engineer and doing graduate studies at the University of Alabama. In the second case, both were engineers at Garmin. It doesn’t matter how much socio-economic capital we achieve. Becoming a doctor is prized in our community, but it won’t help if you’re bleeding out with a racist standing over your body.
However, we aren’t just oppressed. We are oppressors too. This thought takes me to Harvard Business School. Dean Nitin Nohria has led the school for the past ten years, and he has created many positive changes at the school. In particular, he has focused on improving the experience of women at the business school, and there is much to be commended about his record there. Unfortunately his record of race is much more mixed.
A recent article in the Harvard Crimson stunned but didn’t shock me. It stated that “In another email to affiliates on June 7, Nohria apologized for a lack of previous anti-racist work at the Business School, which has tenured just four Black professors in over a century.” In addition, articles in Poets & Quants further elucidate this problem. There has been no meaningful progress for Black participation in the business school, from admission of African American students to promoting professors under his leadership. As the P&Q article states,
“Only one of the 28 members of the school’s senior leadership team is black, a CIO recruited less than two years ago from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. None of the 13 faculty senior leaders are African-American. The percentage of African-American MBA students enrolled at the school is roughly the same, as are the number of tenured African-American professors.”
None of what I’ve posted here is original, so why am I talking about this? It’s because as a South Asian man who graduated from Harvard, I’ve benefited from this system. Dean Rakesh Khurana got his PhD from the business school and maintains his professorship there. He has been an incredible mentor to me and the rest of the Cabot House community. Seeing someone who looked like me (literally as his family is also Punjabi) made me feel included on campus. I knew there were people at Harvard that I could look up to and laid a successful path out before me. However, under Dean Nitin Nohria’s leadership, that hasn’t been the case for African Americans. It pains me to say this but his recent letter about #blacklivesmatter rings hollow. By my count of the faculty page, there are at least 20+ current professors with ties to South Asia (either born or second generation). The vast majority are male. This includes assistant, associate, and full tenured professors. If lecturers/guest professors are included, the total is closer to 30. Again, Harvard Business School has only tenured four black professors in the past century! While I understand the need for Harvard to be a global institution and that there are over 1.5 billion South Asians around the world, it’s clear that representation and promotion of South Asians to top leadership positions and broader admittance to the school has been accomplished. It appears to be the case that we have taken more than we deserve, particularly at the expense of Latinx and African Americans. South Asians have a unique voice in this country. We know what it means to not be accepted for what our skin color, yet we can also perpetuate the same systems onto others, as has been done at Harvard Business School. While I am cautiously optimistic about Dean Nohria’s letter, it’s true that change in Academia occurs at a glacial pace. My own call is those reading this newsletter - in what way are the systems you grew up in biased, particularly in your own favor? How are you helping ameliorate these conditions?
Principles - Ray Dalio
Worth Reading? Yes.
Worth Rereading? Yes, but not all of it.
What Chapters would I focus on re-reading/skimming?
Chapters 5 onwards of Part One (Where I’m coming from)
Chapters 1, 3, and 5 of Part Two (Life Principles)
The strength of this book lies in sections of the Life Principles section. While seeming trite, Ray Dalio’s commentary about evolution, feedback, being open-minded has already changed my life irrevocably. Among the many gold nuggets from this book, two major points - being open-minded (at the expense of one’s ego and blindspots) and using the maxim “pain + reflection = progress” have resulted in significant progress. Simply following these two maxims have led to radical changes in my personal life, family relations, and more. I have requested feedback constantly and don’t take it personally anymore. I know that feedback truly is a gift, and nothing is fatal. Being transparent with co-workers, parents, etc. has led to significant progress in my relationships, particularly in reducing friction as well as improving my teamwork skills. Simply reading the Life Principles section of this book would be worth the price of this book.
The weakness of this book revolves around three points. First, I don’t trust his assessment of neuroscience and his belief in the Myers Briggs test, which he opines on significantly in the Life Principles section. He synthesizes research from various leading scientists but I believe much of what he says (Left brain/right brain distinctions, personality assessments, etc.) will be disproven with the advent of more studies in psychology/neuroscience in the coming decades. Second, I believe his five step method for success, described in chapter 2 of Life Principles, is too high-level and simply not useful. I read Getting Things Done at the beginning of the Quarantine, and my review of that book will show how by focusing on the nitty gritty one can truly accomplish their goals.
Third, multiple people who I personally consider have a high “believablity score” (a term Dalio uses in his book) have stated that Bridgewater is a nightmare for anyone who isn’t a white man. If you look at the senior leadership, it’s clear even minorities and women who had been given chances either left due to their own accord or were pushed out. I’d be hesitant to trust his impulse regarding management due to this track record. His work principles detail his leadership style and lessons, yet the results from Bridgewater aren’t reassuring.