(taken directly from The Star: http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/239069 )

Now everyone wants to hire man derided as 'ghetto dude'


Jul 24, 2007 04:30 AM

Want to talk to Evon Reid? Offer him a job?

It might be wise to take a number.

Perhaps that's an exaggeration, but since the Saturday Star reported that Reid, 22, received an email from Queen's Park using the term "ghetto dude," his dance card has filled up fast.

The University of Toronto honours political science student received job offers in the public and private sectors, Premier Dalton McGuinty telephoned to apologize and others have been swift to offer encouragement and support.

Reid has been a hit on Facebook, the media are lining up for interviews and he has been contacted by everybody from a Toronto lawyer who wants him to weigh his legal options to a woman who believes (mistakenly) she's his long-lost sister.

Arguably, it's the bright side of being stomach-punched on a Friday morning by the offensive email from a government employee, rather than a notice saying he would get an interview for the government media analyst job he was seeking at Queen's Park.

Now, even that has fallen into place. The coveted job interview is set for this week.

It's been a whirlwind for Reid a most bewildering one.

He doesn't know what he is going to do, and still feels "remarkably unsatisfied," as he put it, by the sense that senior government bureaucrats are "trying to minimize this incident" by referring to Aileen Siu, the employee involved, as inexperienced and a recent graduate.

Star readers have lauded him for his "dignity." That's not unusual for the soft-spoken Reid, who has a stellar academic record (study at the University of Hong Kong, stints on Capitol Hill and in Parliament) and has evident maturity in the face of an unfortunate situation.

He doesn't want to be seen as partisan. He said he turned down the weekend offer of a job in Ontario Conservative Leader John Tory's office because "it was campaign-related," adding, "I guess I've become unwittingly part of the (Ontario) election campaign but I hope people will take this issue seriously, and not just as an opportunity to point fingers."

Instead, Reid will be cautious in choosing a position to buttress course work at U of T and a previously secured part-time job as a Queen's Park usher, beginning in late October.

Reid also turned down a media analyst position in the Ontario energy sector.

"He's my guy," said federal Liberal MP Derek Lee, whose Scarborough-Rouge River riding includes Reid's Malvern-area home. "Whether unintentional or not, one of the highest government offices in the province put a pejorative stereotype on someone from my town, my university and my neighbourhood. It's not right."

Yesterday, Lee offered Reid a job in his constituency office, another idea to mull over.

Reid wishes the whole thing had never happened. Still, there's another illuminating aspect to his predicament: He's been able to touch people.

It may be unclear what Queen's Park is going to do.

While Tony Dean, head of the public service, yesterday told his 63,000 members in a memo that "We will be taking appropriate steps to address this conduct," he fell short of providing details.

And Craig Sumi, a cabinet office manager, declined to say whether sensitivity training is being considered, adding that it would be inappropriate to comment on what, if anything, will happen to Siu, who is on contract in his office.

Still, Reid knows he has hit a nerve with the general public and, if he can help, he's grateful.

There was an outpouring of responses from people who empathize with Reid. Oakville mother Kristeen Sopeju-Edwards, for example, saw his story as "an example of the fears that I have in raising two sons who are Black in this society."

Lekan, 6, was called "black as poo" in kindergarten recently. In another incident, her husband Walter, with 2-year-old Akin by the hand, heard kids saying at a gymnastics club: "They are not nice because they are black monsters."

Sopeju-Edwards said she doesn't "believe that the (children were) racist, but I do believe (they) heard this type of talk in the home."

There is one job offer Reid won't consider.

In any case, Howard Shrier suggested it only in jest.

"Evon Reid and Aileen Siu should trade places for a month," he wrote to the Star. "Reid can gain some needed experience and exposure to his chosen field, and Ms. Siu can attend political science classes where she can develop skills, apparently lacking thus far, in tact and diplomacy."