Made a complaint of racism at work

[greyandwindy]

As the above, I've made a complaint of racism in my workplace.
I dont know why but I now have conflicting feelings in my head about whether I did the right thing even though I know I did.

I have witnessed and heard behaviour that makes me uncomfortable and I think is racist, I have called it out at the time but it is played down. I've brought it to my managers attention before and it wasn't dealt with so I have now complained higher up. I've received a reply and have been assured it will be taken seriously and have an initial phone call scheduled to discuss further.

I feel conflicted in that I work well with these people, can have a cup of tea and a joke with them but inside I know they are racist and I hate them for it.

I know that this will cause waves but I know that this behaviour must be challenged.
I'm not worried in that I have made the right decision but selfishly am worried how this may play out in the work atmosphere.
Has anyone made a complaint like this?

You should ALWAYS call out racism

Using "white saviour" as an attempt to stall a white person calling out actual racism in her workplace is curious. OP's putting herself at risk by doing so, not presenting herself for awards nor presuming to speak on behalf of black or brown people.

Are people questioning whether what OP witnessed is actually racist? Or is there a belief that only the people towards whom the racism is directed should report (and risk their jobs)?

I wonder who benefits if people in the OP's position feel they shouldn't report racist working environments?

As a woman, I welcome any male who speaks out against misogyny in my workplace. I welcome males using their acknowledged position of power to do so, too. It only becomes a problem when males speak for me or over me or appropriate my words and rights movement for their own gains. There's no suggestion OP is doing anything comparable to that.

Good grief OP. Of course you have done the right thing. That’s horrendous. Yes you do need to work on your wishy washy language.

I think your company will be a much better place to work when this is dealt with and the culprits are fired.

Well done for doing the right thing.

Disgusting!!!!

I think you will find that most people will admire you for reporting it!

My children have come across so much racism at school and the school don't log it despite the fact their policies say they will (I know this for a fact). The school don't want to be seen as having racism there.

I've actually reported the worst cases to the police as it's hate crime.

The police contacted a parent who was furious with me for reporting it, but not furious with their son for being racist in the first place!

Well done OP. You have done the right thing and we need more people like you in the workplace. You are not being a white saviour, but rather a decent human being. 🌟

Also to be clear in my wording, as above I'm working on my wishy washy language but a point of "I THINK it's racist" was also in the context of I have seem some things that I personally think are racist however they could be played down but then the blatant racism of which I've exampled above and cant be excused as they are clearly racist.

I’m wishy washy with my language too OP. Always doubting myself. I just thought that the examples you were going to give were along the lines of asking say a new colleague if they were a good cook or something. I’m totally flabbergasted by your examples.

You are definitely doing the right thing.

Wow that is awful. Good for you for taking a stand. Why should they get away with it. I'm not brave enough like you though so I don't think I'd have raised it

Well done for complaining. If you don't want it to be awkward, as it seems it's a wider department issue I wonder whether those you've complained to can keep it confidential and then have a meeting with everyone individually saying there had been a complaint.

They call you in for a meeting too, so it looks like you're being investigated too and you can then justifiably say "well I told them that you had said those things, but that I hadn't. I'm not going to lie for you". Yes, it might still be awkward, but not as awkward as it is if they know you're the one that reported them.

Even knowing they think those things though would be enough for me to not want to work there though, so I'm pleased you're making steps towards leaving.

Then tell them on the way out the door "by the way, it was me that reported you for being racists t**ts!"

I have done similar and management’s answer was to transfer me to a different department. My orientation included a baffling talk on how my new line manager didn’t care about the reputation I was coming to him with, I had a clean slate as far as he was concerned and that he hoped I’d put my nose to the grindstone and be a good worker.

The OP has done the right thing but the company will surely close ranks as no-one likes a troublemaker. All that will happen is the "culprits" will get sent on a "diversity" "training course" and they will moan about it forever and associate the "experience" with the OP telling on them. The problem is there is so much racism around when groups of the same people get together. You even see it on MumsNet

That's blatant racism, and the fact they feel perfectly free to not even disguise it, and to actively make these comments unwarranted (ie it's not just a normal conversation where prejudices were exposed) suggests the whole culture is shitty and disrespectful.

Keep on documenting it.

That's unrelated to my comment so why have you quoted it?

Systematic racism in a whole department doesn't disappear after everyone gets sent on an online training course.

I haven't had this when I was still working but I have a longterm friend who has been a great support to me over many years and I love her dearly
But she often comes out with racist comments about immigrants which I find appalling
I don't know why she does this when I make no secret of my politics and my views
I was too gobsmacked to reply the first time but now I challenge her very strongly on her evidence for the nonsense she spouts which clearly comes from right wing propaganda
She does listen but I don't know how much it will actually change her horrible views but she has been interested in the facts and figures I have given so I hope this will allow her to rethink
I feel very much conflicted but I know how enormously kind she has been to me but of course racism is abhorrent
Well done for speaking up. It is not easy

Thank you! I've seen this more and more recently and read an article about it this week - but at the same time my (very woke) workplace is still pushing the idea of being "allies" and speaking up even if the discrimination isnt something that directly affects/relates to you, so the onus isn't on the discriminated groups to always have to be the ones to stand up, and so they feel supported.

Yet then you see comments about being a white saviour and how if you haven't got direct experience of something you don't have the right to criticise or comment on it.

Most people want to be "nice" and do the right thing but you can see why people just say nothing if they are worried they'll be criticised for it.

Like you, if a straight man someone called out discrimination that was relevant to me (sexist/relating to my sexuality) I'd appreciate it so I assumed the same would apply for racism....

Surely the idea of "head down, say nothing unless it directly affects you" is just going backwards?

OP, you did the right thing.

They are obviously far too comfortable if they think they can be that open about it.

Do not let them push you out. Leave when it suits you. Know your rights.

They will not name you in any HR investigation without your permission, so they may not even know its you. And if they do, if they had any sense, they would not dare to put a toe out of line around you. If you feel like you start to also experience shitty behaviour, keep a diary,

Do not let these shitbags win.

Sounds to me Op like you’ve done the right thing and I honestly highly doubt you’ll be in trouble for it at all. I say this also coming from big companies.

You are not being a white saviour. You have done the right thing in this case. I hope it is effective.

You say the racism was directed at some colleagues (not at you because you are white). Have you had any conversations with those colleagues about it? Or supported them to make complaints if they felt it was appropriate?

I have worked for a large organisation where we received a similar complaint. The person raising the complaint was concerned about repercussions. An informal call is the best way to handle this initially. They will want to inderstand what exactly is happening and how OP would like it handled.

Often the best way is not to go in all guns blazing. We pulled the team together (including the whistle blower) and told them that we had received complaints. We then took them through the Code of Conduct and specifically focused on diversity. The issue raised to us was unacceptable language relating to disability. One member of the team genuinely didn't seem to realise that a term they were using was offensive! We also took the opportunity to address 'banter' and made it clear that serious disciplinary action would be taken if the behaviour continued.

The whistle blower was never identified by the team (like OP they were not in the group that the 'banter' was aimed at) but things did improve. One person felt that they were above the rules and a complaint was then received from someone else in the team & supported by other team members who witnessed the behaviour and they left the business before disciplinary action could be concluded.

Long way of saying OP did the right thing and that there are ways this can be handled without the OP being handled out of their job.

this sounds really hard, but firstly, i commend you for being so brave.

i think it's always a hard feeling, but i honestly believe you did the right thing. i just wanted to check who did you make the complaint to? HR? Or a higher manager? just wondering.

it can feel daunting because it suddenly feels very serious, but you are the catalyst for change. they will of course ask you directly what you heard and the incident in a phone call/face to face or whatever. always be professional. they may ask you what you want to happen as a result, but they should really figure that out themselves (tell them that) but also give your opinion e.g. disciplinary action, company diversity training, speaking to the people who behaved like this etc)

you may notice that they will try to avoid writing to you for anything, this is usually how a company protects itself - keep no paper trail/evidence.. i think whenever you have a call with them or anyone about inc with HR at work, then always email that person after the call summarising the call politely and what you both talked about and agreed. always be professional.

this is really to protect yourself and keep your own paper-trail of events. they probably hope you won't do this, but it'll show that they can't mess around wth you either, just in case you have a poor HR team dealing with this. if you suspect anything that might affect you (i'm sure nothing will happen to you though :) ) then make sure you keep a copy of all these emails in your own private space that the company can't access. screenshots, forward it to your personal email etc.

i really believe in karma and something positive will happen to you for this act of bravery. take care

I used DSAR evidence at my tribunal. The company came up with every excuse to avoid handing it over so there was roughly a 5 month delay.

You would be surprised how much stupidity arrogant people commit to email.

If it's directed at customers and other colleagues, why haven't they complained?

OP doesnt know they havent? HR would not disclose that.

The comments I've exampled above are said about customers to colleagues, not in ear shot of customers.
Aimed at colleagues is descriptions of them not to their face so they aren't aware and also I see some colleagues being treated differently and unfavourably and I believe this to be a race issue as the only difference in those colleagues and the rest is that they aren't white.
I understand in those scenarios its my opinion/perception that its due to racism but whats led me to believe this is definite racism ive seen/heard coming from the colleague doing it.
The blatant comments I have heard myself.
One of the colleagues has made a complaint regarding the poor treatment of him.

I'm not imagining this behaviour and after reading the comments on here I'm more convinced I've done the right thing by reporting. It's out of my hands how it proceeds but at least I know I have done the morally right thing.
This behaviour has been bothering me and I would be just as bad if I let it go as it didn't affect me and wasn't aimed at me.