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Kaisey Santiago

Professor Granillo

English 103

7 November 2018

Mixing the Melting Pot

Racism is a negative belief that affects all people and all cultures. Michael Scott is an

idiotic and self absorbed character that brings this prejudice into work by forcing his employees

to undergo a diversity seminar to learn about diversity. In the seminar, he has his workers put an

index card with a type of race to their head and have them converse with another worker in

which they guess what race they have by giving them stereotypical hints. According to

Ferdinand De Saussure, a swiss linguist and semiotician, semiotics is the study of the signifier

and the signified to help the study the language and communication (Silverman 14). At the same

time, according to Roland Barthes his philosophy states that with the signifier and signified

comes the denotation and connotation. Through the use of humor by the characters, the show

indicates that in society some individuals are being seen as inferior or different due to their race.

The discussion of diversity in the workplace is important because it demonstrates only a piece of

society that is offensive, which can make an individual feel inferior. In The Office episode

“Diversity Day”, semiotics can help analyze how the characters interpret race in their own

perspective. Semiotics also represents how some individuals in society act and think in a

negative manner which can be offensive through the concepts of the signified, signifier,

denotation, and connotation.

In “Diversity Day” Michael has the belief that the white race is the only one

considered normal. It can be seen when the staff members undergo his cultural seminar. For
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example, when Micheal hands out the the note cards with the race on it, they state Jamaican,

Italian, Black, Jewish, Asian, and Brazilian (“Diversity Day” 15:20). However none of the cards

says “White”. This can be a problem, because it implies that any other race but white is unusual.

In “Diversity Day” a signifier can be the notecards with different races and the signified can be

how the characters interpret the cards in a way of communication, in which they use stereotypes.

Talking to each other through the knowledge of stereotypes can be an issue, because according to

“Race Salience and Essentialist Thinking in Racial Stereotype Development” by Pauker, the

author states that “stereotypes are defined as cognitive structures build from beliefs,

expectations, and consensual knowledge about social groups. As a result this can lead to a

positive or negative associations for a single specific group”. Through this developmental

thinking, this can lead to the wrong mindset for cultural diversity. The denotation of the note

cards can be seen as simple cue in which helps guide them to treat the other person to their

specific race. While the connotation of the word “note card” signifies guidance and knowledge.

By utilizing the cards in “Diversity Day” it can help bring awareness and point out that Michael

believes that every race but White is normal

Not only does Michael see “White” as the only normal race, but Kevin as well see’s

others races to act in a particular manner. An example can be when Kevin negatively stereotypes

Jamicans. During the seminar, Kevin talks to Angela who happens to have the word Jamaican

on her card and states, “You wanna go to the beach? You wanna get high? I think you do mon”

(“Diversity Day” 17:56). After saying this, Angela told him to stop due to the fact that she was

not feeling comfortable. This this can show that Kevin had no knowledge of the Jamaican

heritage except through a negative stereotype. In this scene, the signifier is the word “Jamaican”

labeled on the card and the signified can be how Kevin interpreted “Jamaican” which represents
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how some members in society are clueless when it comes to having no real knowledge of another

race. The denotation of “Jamaican” is simply a race or individual from Jamaica and the

connotation can signify an ascribed status in which an individual is born in Jamaica or contains

Jamaican roots. This scene uses Kevin as representation of the individuals in society lacking

knowledge who are offensive without themselves realizing it.

Another character who lacks the knowledge of diversity is Michael. This can be seen

when he talks to an Indian character Kelly towards the end of the seminar. In this scene Michael

says with an Indian accent “Oh, welcome to my convenience store! Would you like some

gookie-gookie! I have some very delicious gookie-gookie! Only 99 cents, plus tax! Try my

gookie-gookie. Try me gookie-gookie...”(“Diversity Day” 18:18). After saying that, Kelly

feeling offended slapped Michael. Kelly slapping Michael indicates that she felt upset when he

was trying to talk to her in a stereotypical way. When he got slapped he was shocked and

confused because he thought he was polite towards her. The reason why Kelly slapped Michael

is that she felt offended that he was teasing her for stereotyping her culture in which she does not

follow. Although she was not upset about whether or not if she fits the stereotype, she was upset

that Michael was being disrespectful just by teasing her.

In this scene the signifier is the word “gookie” and the signified is how Kelly interpreted

the word, which she felt upset for being teased. This can represent the anger of a lot members in

society when they are being targeted for their race. The denotation of “gookie” is a cookie.

Gookie is a word that some Indians like to say instead of cookie. Also the connotation for gookie

is delicious or sweet.

Michael can represent the individuals in society who believe in positive stereotypes,

however positive stereotypes do not exist. According to “The Development of Math-race

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stereotypes: “They Say Chinese People Are the Best at the Math” Cvencek states that “Even

such seemingly positive stereotypes can have deleterious effects. For example one pervasive

American stereotype is that Asians are a “model minority” dilligent, hardworking, and excellent

in school.” Although these are positive descriptions, it can still be negative for an individual who

does not meet the requirements of the stereotype. As a result this can lead to negative feeling of

not achieving a certain characteristics.

In another scene Michael has a conversation with Oscar asking him where his from.

When Oscar responds that he was born in the United States and that his parents are from Mexico.

Michael trying to be respectful ask Oscar if there's more of polite term than being called Mexican

(“Diversity Day” 14:40). Although Michael is trying to polite, he is being idiotic for asking a

question that does not make sense. This demonstrates that he is close minded and does not have

real knowledge towards different ethnic cultures.

With the two examples of teasing Kelly and asking an idiotic question to Oscar, the third

signifier in the episode can be the personality of Michael and the signified can be Michael’s

understanding and knowledge of different ethnic cultures. The signified can be how just like

Kevin, represents how some members in society have no real knowledge towards characters in

which he is offensive. Many individuals in society believe that it's ok to use positive stereotypes

or simply tease another individual with a joke based on their race, however this is unacceptable.

The denotation of Michael can be seen as typical person of society and the connotation of

Michael can signify closemindess and foolishness. The Office being a comedy based show,

utilizes Michael rude humor in a way in which the audience will find funny and at the same time

learn that race is topic that should not be joked.

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Moving forward, the environment setting of “Diversity Day” is also an important factor

of the show which helped deliver its message. The location of the show of the show was located

at Dunder Mifflin Paper Scranton, which is a small office located in Pennsylvania. The office

can be described as a typical office setting, containing a manager, workers, computers, tables,

etc. The office of Dunder Mifflin filled with its idiotic characters can be the signifier and the

signified can represent the racism that is involved in the office. This can say a lot about society

because, the show is implementing the racism taking place in office. This can be problem

because racism is can be seen worldwide. The denotation of the office can be seen as a building

or a room which is a place for employees to come together and work. Normally the connotation

for a proper office would be organized and well structured, however for “Diversity Day” the

connotation of the office would be disrespectful and childlike. Overall, the office can also be

seen as a sample representing a population.

In “Diversity Day”, semiotics and its concepts of the signifier, signified,denotation, and

connotation helps the characters interpret race in their own perspective which represents some

individuals in society. It can be seen that stereotypes are bad, due to the fact that there offensive

which can make an individual feel interior or as an outcast. Individuals should not be judged by

the race and should be treated with respect,equality and keep an a open mind. Therefore, “race”

can be a sensitive topic to many people and should be more informed so that he or she won't be

offensive such as the characters in the show.

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Work Cited

Cvencek, Dario, et al. “The Development of Math-Race Stereotypes: ‘They Say Chinese People

Are the Best at Math.’” Journal of Research on Adolescence (Wiley-Blackwell), vol. 25,

no. 4, Dec. 2015, pp. 630–637. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/jora.12151.

“Diversity Day.” “The Office”, season 1, episode 2, Fox, 29 March. 2005, “Netflix”, 70069628

Pauker, Kristin, et al. “Race Salience and Essentialist Thinking in Racial Stereotype
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Development.” Child Development, vol. 81, no. 6, Jan. 2010, pp. 1799–1813.

EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ905460&site=ehost-live.

Silverman, Jonathan and Dean, Rader. “Semiotics: The Study Of Signs (And Texts)” The

World is a Text, Compact Edition. 25 June 2018, pp.35-39