Racism at work

[MoiraNotRuby]

On a Teams call yesterday with my colleagues, conversation turned to moaning about people who don't social distance/wear masks. Two of my colleagues mentioned skin colour/nationality when talking about issues they had had. I said how is skin colour or nationality relevant, they instantly said 'oh its not I was just saying'. This has really made me pissed off. We are a small team, no one to 'report' this to. WwYD?

Is it relevant to say it's a man or a woman. Is that sexist?

‘While everyone could possibly suffer from Age , sexual, racial, sexual orientation and religion and belief discrimination; most of the white people did not tick race discrimination because ' hey we are just English'. Which would also indicate that they truly believe POC are much more likely to suffer discrimination due to their race.’

This is probably due to the introduction of American identity politics which teaches that white people can’t experience racism, which is then in conflict with U.K. equality act where many cases of racial discrimination are against white people.

It is still surprising given that most workplaces expect you to do equality and diversity training every year that a bunch of employers didn’t know that all ethnic groups can experience racial discrimination.

Employees not employers!

@BothLeftAndRightAreDelusional

Why is mentioning someone's ethnicity a bad thing if it isn't said negatively? Why is saying "I saw the Indian man from the shop" bad? Isn't he Indian? Where's the negative inference there? I thought everyone was supposed to SEE COLOUR, yet when people see colour, it's wrong.

Ethnic minorities point out white people's colour all the time. It's about what is your norm, that of the individual speaking. It's natural to point out those who're different. Everyone does it to an extent, even if not racially.

I am usually against the overuse of identity politics in contemporary discourse, but your view is totally misinformed. No we are absolutely not supposed to see colour ahead of everything else. Because it’s ignorant. If you see someone’s ethnicity or colour ahead of everything else about them, then you have narrow world view. Not you, but generally speaking. Do you think people appreciate being reduced to the colour of their skin ahead of everything else about them? So yes, referring to people’s skin colour as a default conversational habit is indicative small mindedness.

@Sst1234 I think the other poster refers to it when people say..... I don't see colour, I don't see you as black or white etc.... Because we all know that is a load of bollox... We all can see what colour a person is. My daughter who is 4 describes her school friends and mentions their colour, through no other reason that to describe them, just like if she tells me about hair style or colour, perfectly innocent.

I think a person's colour is a part of their identity, take that away and you take a part of their identity away.

I agree with a poster above liking it to describing them as a man or woman... Is that sexist too? Where do you draw the line on relevant descriptions?

I do also agree though that in the OPS example where they clarified the conversation, it does appear to have negative connotations.

That said, I for one have been learning a lot when it comes to racism, and things I didn't think were racist actually are etc.... And i am definitely open to being told I am wrong

You should probably report them for sexism too as one mentioned a male

@BothLeftAndRightAreDelusional

Why is mentioning someone's ethnicity a bad thing if it isn't said negatively? Why is saying "I saw the Indian man from the shop" bad? Isn't he Indian? Where's the negative inference there? I thought everyone was supposed to SEE COLOUR, yet when people see colour, it's wrong.

Ethnic minorities point out white people's colour all the time. It's about what is your norm, that of the individual speaking. It's natural to point out those who're different. Everyone does it to an extent, even if not racially.

Why are you referring to him As the Indian man though? For what reason?

Your making it sound like the girl with the red shoes which I quite liked and wondered where she got them as I would like some similar. That is different all together!

I don’t see one colour. But you need to be mindful of others. Your standards are poor if you feel it’s about “your norm”.

I wouldn’t report this OP. I think you have raised your point and that is sufficient at this point.

Good on you for challenging it.
Those who say you're looking for racism here are as bad as the ones who make excuses for men's locker room talk about women.

@PinkiOcelot

You’re so angry about this? I think some people just go looking for racism tbh. Yes I agree ethnicity wasn’t relevant in this scenario, but they were hardly baying for their blood and being aggressive about race. If you’d been a larger company, you would have reported them?! Jeez!!

No need to go looking for racism when it's right there in front of you. This was blatant, not exactly the type of thing it would be easy to ignore. What OP witnessed her was racism: people's race was being brought up in a negative sense when this was completely irrelevant to the material point.

OP, you did exactly the right thing in not letting this slide. You didn't just stand by and listen. If there is nothing more you can do, then this was still better than saying and doing nothing. Kudos.

@Hhusky

Good on you for challenging it. Those who say you're looking for racism here are as bad as the ones who make excuses for men's locker room talk about women.

@sst1234 @Bul21ia 🙄 Cba to explain further.

@BothLeftAndRightAreDelusional

Why is mentioning someone's ethnicity a bad thing if it isn't said negatively? Why is saying "I saw the Indian man from the shop" bad? Isn't he Indian? Where's the negative inference there? I thought everyone was supposed to SEE COLOUR, yet when people see colour, it's wrong.

Ethnic minorities point out white people's colour all the time. It's about what is your norm, that of the individual speaking. It's natural to point out those who're different. Everyone does it to an extent, even if not racially.

The issue is when you point out black and Asian people’s races, but not white people’s races, because you think white people are “normal”. It’s not cross-burning racism, but it is unconscious bias.

And yes, non-white people will have their own unconscious biases too, and should work on them. But there is a particular issue with white people’s unconscious biases, because we are the majority in the UK, and our unconscious biases tend to lead to discrimination against BAME people - assuming all black teenagers are in gangs, or all Indian kids are geeky and crap at sport unless it’s cricket, etc. It holds people back. A black woman thinking I’m a Karen, or whatever she thinks about me, doesn’t have much impact on the course of my life.

Somebody can point out a bias you’ve displayed, and ask you to think about it, without them meaning you’re a Nazi.

That is racism and it's fucking annoying. It's racism because it's a way of pushing the blame for Covid on to people of other races without addressing the fact that there are plenty of white people who are Covid-deniers and don't comply with the regulations and plenty of BAME people who are complying with Covid regulations. Looking at the anti-lockdown protests, you can see that it isn't just BAME people who are breaking Covid regulations. I think it is a sign of racism.

LMAO at posters seemingly assuming my race and explaining unconscious bias to me, an ignorant, narrow-world view, small-minded, possibly racist poor standard, fragile-white woman (in their head) because my posts don't come across like those of an "ethnic minority" or "BAME"
The irony!

Yes, bring on the denial of assumption. Like I said, cba 🙄 This thread was over for me days ago.

I describe people based on their ethnicity, just helps to paint the picture. Nothing malicious behind it. This includes describing someone as white .

Im mixed and my DH is black. He does the same.