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AIBU?

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Original poster

To report colleague for racist comments

193 replies

Redorangesblue · 17/02/2020 13:16

I don’t want to be classed as a tell tale as I know this never goes down well and I’ve already reported one other person for racist comments before. I feel like I take things too personally and maybe I should put up and shut up and stop rocking the boat.

We work in a healthcare setting and this person has made several racist comments about China and Chinese people and the corona virus and telling a very blatant personal story about how they’ve asked to be move away from Chinese people in a public place.

I feel it’s inappropriate to say these things in a work place. Whatever your personal thoughts about different people, they should not be shared when you’re at work. Just for context this person isn’t English/British. They’re Eastern European.

OP posts:
Brefugee · 17/02/2020 15:05

I wonder how many reports of racist incidents/ allegations etc are made by people who have no connection with the race being targetted, but are doing for the Cause?

Yeah. This is why i keep getting people complaining to me when i say that i think the UK has got a lot more racist. Because nobody cares about anything until it bites them.

OP if you feel safe to do so, and able, I'd say to your coworker that they're being racist.

You could escalate it without mentioning names and maybe try to get your management to point out that everyone is nervous about the virus but that not wanting to interact with people who "look Asian" is racist and there are very low chances of them being infected.

Or you could report them for being racist and mention names and see where it goes.

But we definitely should stand up to this knid of thing.

MummySharn · 17/02/2020 15:05

You definitely should report it OP

Jillyhilly · 17/02/2020 15:06

What was said to her?

MangoFeverDream · 17/02/2020 15:08

Chinese are no more carriers than an anglosaxon Brit or Australian

Umm, you’ll find that most carriers of the disease atm are Chinese. It’s distasteful, but I’d hesitate to call this racist.

I mean, is it racist to say heart disease/obesity/diabetes are Western diseases? Why, anyone can get them, but is very common in white Westerners.

That said, Eastern Europeans tend to be blunt and care less about appearing racist. How’s that for a generalisation OP?

mumwon · 17/02/2020 15:09

although you adding they are Eastern European was unnecessary & suggests something about you - as stated bigotry is an international disease with no single source & it is the only one where the person who has it should be ostracized & you have to be very careful that you don't have the signs of it yourself. (Looks mirror - does it count hating Trump???)

HeadachesByTheDozen · 17/02/2020 15:09

@LastTrainEast It's presupposing that people of a certain appearance might have a disease, based on the fact that most people with that appearance live in a country experiencing an epidemic.

That IS racism! I don't understand why you are trying to deny it. To any logical person's thinking, it IS racism.

Fantasiaa · 17/02/2020 15:10

Report it.

nibdedibble · 17/02/2020 15:12

LastTrainEast, your definition of racism describes a fraction of the reality.

Jillyhilly · 17/02/2020 15:13

There you go OP, better watch out or you’ll be reported for racism by the thought police!

HeadachesByTheDozen · 17/02/2020 15:13

I think this shows that in 2020, people still think a person asking to be moved away from a person of Chinese appearance 'isn't racist' when it ever so clearly is, it shows how people are so ignorant as to what racism is and we need an education campaign.

EBearhug · 17/02/2020 15:13

I reported someone to HR for using the N-word - English wasn't their first language, and I suggested HR could do some awareness training on acceptable language. Someone in HR had a chat with him, and the outcome, according to the person I reported was that he got a mild metaphorical slap on the wrist and was told not to do it again, but basically, they have a different culture there (Netherlands,) so it's okay. I disagree that being a little bit racist is okay just because your culture is different (and I don't think the Dutch are that different,) and nor does the global code of conduct, but I couldn't do anything else other than say he must not use it again with any of us. I would have had more respect if he'd apologised and said he hadn't realised it was so bad.

But anyway, I would report, and I would also have low expectations based on experience of HR doing anything useful... other organisations may differ.

Brefugee · 17/02/2020 15:16

I mean, is it racist to say heart disease/obesity/diabetes are Western diseases? Why, anyone can get them, but is very common in white Westerners.

No. But that's not the comparison. It would be racist to go up to every Westerner in China who had a doughnut in their hand and slap it away shouting "no, you might lose a leg! think of your diabetes"

My colleague is Chinese - i was in China more recently than her. (November, no panic here) but i am not the one people are moving away from whenever we're in a public space. That is racist.

GinDaddy · 17/02/2020 15:17

My god, so @EBearhug you not only want to report to an authority that someone was racist, but you want to set the tariff of punishment also?

I think there's a lot of folk on here who secretly hope that reporting someone for racism, means they lose their job for it. Anything else is considered a "soft punishment".

YourVagesty · 17/02/2020 15:17

Depends on the comments tbh. I've got a friend who works in a university with a high Chinese population. He admitted to being a bit nervous when they came back from their New Year celebrations.

I don't classify that as racism, just natural concern about a virus that has emerged from, and is concentrated in, one particular region of the world.

LonginesPrime · 17/02/2020 15:18

It would be racist to go up to every Westerner in China who had a doughnut in their hand and slap it away shouting "no, you might lose a leg! think of your diabetes"

Would it?

I mean, it would be batshit, certainly. But would that really be racist?

WorraLiberty · 17/02/2020 15:19

See I may be overthinking this OP, but why did you say...

Whatever your personal thoughts about different people, they should not be shared when you’re at work. Just for context this person isn’t English/British. They’re Eastern European.

Why would that change the context? Are you saying Eastern Europeans are more racist than English/British people?

Genuine question btw because I can't think what else you might have meant?

MintySpud · 17/02/2020 15:20

An "anti-racist" who has to mention in her OP that the villain is "Eastern European."

Disgusting.

MangoFeverDream · 17/02/2020 15:23

It would be racist to go up to every Westerner in China who had a doughnut in their hand and slap it away shouting "no, you might lose a leg! think of your diabetes

And my Chinese colleagues in HK used to criticise my eating habits by saying white people don’t care about getting fat (and I am not fat fwiw). I didn’t think it racist but I did think it was rude and stupid.

Jillyhilly · 17/02/2020 15:26

As per PP, I also work in a university where there is a very high percentage of Chinese students. Some of them will have gone home for reading week and will be coming back next week. Is it racist of me to feel a nervous about my health? Am I allowed that thought, or is that racist thought-crime - and does the fact that I’m immuno-suppressed offer mitigating circumstances? Am I allowed to voice my thought, as colleagues are doing, quietly to each other? If I am indeed racist - if we all are - maybe EBearhug could suggest a suitable punishment?

Morgan12 · 17/02/2020 15:27

Hmmm. Your OP seems a bit racist.

JingsMahBucket · 17/02/2020 15:30

YANBU. Report the colleague(s) for being racist. This situation with the corona virus is the thin end of the wedge. If this is publicly accepted in your team, they’ll be yammering on about Jews and Muslims next. Report it and squash it.

I also can’t stand people being deliberately obtuse or mealy mouthed about calling racism what it is: racism. There are lots of posters on MN, this thread, and life in general who try to squirm their way around it. They’re either doing it deliberately to feign ignorance for more insidious reasons or are useless people pleasers who don’t want to rock the boat. For the latter kind, guess what? By not rocking the boat, the racists win. You’re not helping the victims at all and are making their lives worse by condoning racism so as to avoid confrontation for yourself. Grow a spine. (I don’t mean you @Redorangesblue BTW, but rather the under reactive types.)

JingsMahBucket · 17/02/2020 15:36

@EBearhug
... he got a mild metaphorical slap on the wrist and was told not to do it again, but basically, they have a different culture there (Netherlands,) so it's okay.

That’s bullshit!! The Dutch are notorious for being racist and knowingly using the N word. Fuck that. They still have racist Santa Claus helpers for crying out loud and the entire country is in turmoil over it. He was trying to feign ignorance and get away with it. Bastard.

HeadachesByTheDozen · 17/02/2020 15:37

I also can’t stand people being deliberately obtuse or mealy mouthed about calling racism what it is: racism. There are lots of posters on MN, this thread, and life in general who try to squirm their way around it. They’re either doing it deliberately to feign ignorance for more insidious reasons or are useless people pleasers who don’t want to rock the boat.

Well said JingsMahBucket Sadly I think it is the former.

SonjaMorgan · 17/02/2020 15:38

Yes report them and make it clear from now on that you won't stand for that behaviour. Racism against Asians seems to be seen differently than against other POC.

Gilead · 17/02/2020 15:39

and out come the mumsnet racists...

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