To think my colleagues are toxic and ask for pointers on how to manage it?

[Toxiccollegues]

One of people I work with is racist. Think along the lines of ‘too many foreigners in this country now’ and using racial slurs like ‘paki’ type of person. I’ve been trying to ignore her as I am not a very confrontational person but last week she said something that really turned my stomach. She said her other workplace (she has two jobs) has a head lice infestation and it’s because they’ve had a lot of black agency workers wearing big weaves or something. 😖 The worst part is people just passively agree or nod their head and continue working. It’s like I’m the only person in the world who takes offence.

"too many foreigners in this country now" is xenophobic not racist, but I take your point about the other comments.

You can either ignore the comments and not engage in the conversation like your other colleagues, call her out when she says something racist, or report her to HR. It's your call.

I'd report her to HR. Language like that is completely unacceptable in any normal workplace, and I wouldn't want to work with such a thick nasty piece of shit.

Absolutely. If this is real, because I cannot understand how anyone could not think to do this in real life

Why are you trying to downplay the racist language? The OP includes clear racist slurs.

I'm so tired of people minimising racism.

No HR as not big enough. I assure you, it’s real. We are rural and it seems people are less offended in these parts.

They're not "less offended", they're thick racists as well! Is there a manager you could speak to, or is the manager yet another thick racist?

Just using the word 'P*ki' alone would be an instant sacking offence where I work.

In terms of how to deal with this, I think it would help to know what kind of workplace it is. Is it a large organisation, or is it a smaller place? And what kind of environment do you work in? Is it office work, or something like hospitality or retail, or care work, or what?

@ManateeFair In wary of being too outing. Let’s just say it’s a very small team of less than ten people in a care setting.

if there is no one more senior you can raise this with, who would address it, then your options are:
1 - speak up
2 - ignore it
3 - leave

If you want to speak up (which personally I would) without being too confrontational you could try techniques like asking her to repeat what she’s just said (this can work if they are the “ooh only joking didn’t mean to be racist” kind of racist). Or if they are brazen, just quite a simple statement delivered in a neutral tone such as “I find language like that quite offensive”, or maybe a softer “some people would find language like that a bit offensive”, or “I think that’s an over generalisation” (if it’s an offensive stereotype like the hair)

You might want to try googling some advice on how to be anti-racist. There will probably be better suggestions for not too confrontational ways you can speak up in these situations.

Why are you trying to downplay the racist language? The OP includes clear racist slurs.

I didn't. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Is this a care home for the elderly? If so, and there is no-one to report to, then I'd make an anonymous complaint to social services.