Challenging casual racism - not as easy as it might seem ?

[Thisisworsethananticpated]

For quite some time I’ve been reading about the history in the US , and how the UK despite our assertions we are ‘not as bad’ have our own issues .
Like many people (I’m white) I’ve been stuck in a real downer watching what’s happening in the US , and reading - a lot

And actually talking about it . With people
Back and white .

One thing that occurred to me is white people need to step up . And by that I
Mean rather than sighing , or rolling our eyes when we encounter racism - we need to be more direct .
And only a few days in , it’s depressing realisation that it’s actually not that easy .

For example , a white man being being verbally aggressive to a dark skinned worker in a shop . I rolled my eyes , I went to the shop worker after and apologised . But actually , should I have intervened and asked the white man to stop speaking ? Would that have ended in me getting abused ?

Secondly someone who has actually been very financially kind to me . Made
Some statements . I did reply , but honestly at 50% of the strength I could have. Leaving me with the honest and shameful realisation that my motive was fear of losing this relationship .

So there we are . 2 days in .

I’m not sure what the AIBU is , but i am
Curious if anyone feels the same , and is realising that to challenge this - we really do need to be open to taking some risks and being way way more courageous . And in doing so , incurring some risk .

I don't think we should set a goal of 'turn every racist into a non-racist'. That would be amazing but it is a really ambitious goal, unfortunately, so ambitious that it will discourage some people from doing anything.

It is more realistic to have a goal of 'stop racists from being able to inflict harm on other people'. This is everything from police reform to better non-discrimination initiatives to ordinary people challenging everyday racist speech.

This might help clarify how to react in certain situations. Can you confront that abusive customer in a way that will make them non-racist? Probably not. But there are things you can do to try to protect or help the shop worker.

thepeople I would suggest starting a file and writing down every single instance of discriminatory speech and behaviour that you come across. Write down everything you wrote here. Write down everything you see going forward. At the very least this could be useful evidence if this colleague or anyone else ever files a complaint or suit.

Is there a professional association or network for your industry that has any kind of diversity or anti-discrimination initiative? Either to give you guidance or for you to become involved in, to try to prevent similar things from occurring.

I guess what I would say is that even if you feel you cannot do the most impactful thing, that doesn't mean you can't do anything.

i would actually love to hear what others suggest

Well I am bame, so I might be the one getting fired.

But i have left jobs because of bigotry and sexist behaviour. While I was a single parent.

I told them at my exit interview and reported them to their parent company.

dreamingbohemian I've actually since left this company for unrelated reasons which were more connected to its treatment of women and I was very vocal on that front as its something I had direct experience of. I regret not having done more at the time.

There are industry bodies and mentoring groups for BAME people and a lot of lip service is paid to BAME recruitment and professional support but its still a strikingly white and male industry.

Just to add, if I observe this happening again in a workplace environment I will monitor it.

I saw this on Instagram and thought it might resonate here. I actually just joined Instagram last week because of all this as there are lots of great anti-racist activists and educators on there who can help with resources and how to take action. Some examples:

i_weigh
Rachel Cargle
Layla Saad
ckYourPrivilege
PrivtoProg

Some more US-focused, but the message is pretty universal.