AIBU to report racist comments made by a couple the GP waiting room?

[rhomb]

At the GP practice this morning. The practice has screens around the waiting areas which come up with name of patient, medical staff and room number when called up.

I was sitting behind a couple who did a running commentary between them. They used racist terms on the foreign sounding names. Then when a name came up such as John Pearson “ooh a proper name”.

I moved seats as I got fed up with the racism. They decided to move (unsure why) next to me. Then carried on. I was in two minds whether to report them. The couple would know it was me that reported them.

I am sick of racist people.

Did you mean to reply to me?

Excuse you? Nothing wilful about it. I wanted to know the OP's thought process. No need for you or dad to talk about me like I've just shit in your kettle.

Yes!

I would definitely report them to the practise manager. If your GP practice is anything like mine, there will be a reasonable proportion of not obviously English named staff. If they want the privilege of being treated or helped by those staff then perhaps they could be a bit more respectful in that environment.

I'm pretty sure my GP practice would send an email to them about it.

I reported a mum outside the school gate who was mocking an Asian parent in front of both sets of children to the deputy head. It was horrific to listen to.

There should be consequences for this sort of behaviour. 'Hate Incidents vs. Crimes: If an act is not a criminal offence but is perceived as racist, it is recorded as a "hate incident" by the police.'

Ok...

Well rather than getting yourself in a state, you could reflect on why you were asking those questions. I would have thought that in a GP practice that the OP would have been considering whether they felt able to report it to...someone at the GP practice. There is no control then over what they would or wouldn't do with that information.

I find all this so odd as I'm not ethnically British and spent the first 30 years of my life in Asia.

If you were in a GPs waiting room in Oman or Tokyo or Kuala Lumpur and everyone there was called Cheryl, Beverly, John or Blake... the locals would all be quite horrified and wonder why all these foreigners were taking over their country.

It wouldn't be racist, it would be completely natural. I find it so odd that British people think wanting Britain to be majority British is racist.

British people aren't generally at all racist. They were in the 60s when my Mum got here, but they're actually really welcoming to everyone and protect everyone under law as equal.

It sounds like you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about and you trying to conflate Asian countries with the UK is not the equivalence you think it is. You may not realise it but by coming on here and downplaying the real feelings of someone in this country, you are minimising the feelings of people who do actually experience racism in the UK.

Report them to Get A grip.Org. Immediately.

No, people in Asian countries do not generally think or talk like that. I’m rather surprised you’ve spent any time in Asia if that’s what you believe.

Unfortunately, Reception may not be able to do much except note their names down so that staff are aware that those two guttersnipes may be an issue for other HCPs.

I asked a hospital clinic to help when a blue badge was taken by someone without a blue badge and my mum needed the spot, but the staff said they couldn’t do anything.

It’s annoying, I agree.
I have a very common but easily misread surname, that I can quickly correct when it’s mispronounced. However, my full first name is clearly European and pronounced correctly has a lilt to it that most English people struggle with. Despite it being written exactly as it’s said, I often get a lot of dirty looks, huffs and people mutter “Polish” or “Lithuanian” under their breath. Until my natural English very specific accent comes out then they tend to go very red in the face.
I have learned to ignore them, assume no one in England can pronounce my name correctly and be pleasantly surprised when someone says it right.
Just ignore them, they’ll get bored of it soon enough and find something else to mutter about.

That’s not what happened in the OP, though. It was targeted at foreigners maliciously.

Tell me you know nothing about Asia..

Oman: a wealthy Gulf state where huge sections of the workforce are imported labourers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Africa who can spend decades there without any realistic route to citizenship or equal status. Until recently, many workers were effectively tied to employers through sponsorship systems that human rights groups repeatedly criticised for exploitation and lack of freedom.

Malaysia: has ethnicity-based advantages built directly into state policy. Malays receive preferential treatment in university admissions, housing, government contracts and parts of the economy.

Japan: extremely restrictive immigration and citizenship systems, weak anti-discrimination protections, and longstanding social exclusion of minorities such as Koreans born there for generations. “Japanese only” signs in businesses still occur. Refugee acceptance is tiny by international standards.

Meanwhile in Britain, every citizen has equal legal rights regardless of ethnicity. Anti-discrimination law is among the strongest in the world. People from every background vote, hold office, run major companies, become judges, MPs, police chiefs, cabinet ministers and prime ministers.

And yes, people are VERY openly racist in all these places.

Britain is not a perfect society. But it's a lot closer than where I'm from.

You’ve gone off on a tangent about countries like
Japan have who have a monoculture or Middle Eastern countries where migrant workers have a work-based residency permits and where there is no free healthcare.

In what scenario would people from these countries be sitting in a waiting room ‘and everyone there was called Cheryl, Beverly, John or Blake... the locals would all be quite horrified and wonder why all these foreigners were taking over their country.’?!

I'm sorry this happened to you.

When you are brown or black in the UK, it's likely that you will have gone through your whole life being told to "ignore them" (as a child), and then "rise above it" as an adult. It's very easy for someone who is not an ethnic minority to say that to someone who is. It's patronising at best and dismissive at worst. If we could just brush it off then we would, obviously.

Xenophobia is a massive issue in this country (another thing to thank Farage for) and it's totally wrong.

You obviously haven't been to a hospital/GP in southern Spain then?

What on earth has that got to do with this conversation? I don't understand the BUT BUT OTHER COUNTRIES...this happened in the UK. Are you not ok with that?

Just because racism and discrimination takes place in other countries, it doesn't make it right. Or as the saying goes 'two wrongs don't make a right' if person A makes a racist comment to person B, it doesn't give person B the right to make racist remark about person A. The problem here is that there is usually a 'zero tolerance to racism and abuse' policy in healthcare (NHS & private) but what's the point of having this, if there are no consequences for people who racially abuse others in GP practices, hospitals etc... Zero tolerance should mean zero tolerance plus consequences for those who fail to stop being abusive when asked.

Why what do you think happens in a hospital in southern Spain??

Reform voters.There's a lot of them about.

That’s true. Not sure why we are talking about other countries but since we are here - I used to live in Korea and found it much more pleasant to live than the UK. And yes I’m a POC. There was more ignorance as less diversity but I didn’t find it as racist as the UK which has a very sophisticated and insidious racism.

I was also recently hospitalised in southern Spain and had great medical treatment after years of facing misogyny and racism from doctors and nurses in the UK who gaslighted and laughed in my face.

I am not saying these other countries are perfect, but I wouldn’t be so quick to say the UK is better.

I very much doubt this happened. 12 pages in and the OP hasn't come back.

Brilliant! The most honest and totally refreshing post ever! Thank you.

If you had posted this, only to be immediately piled on, had it insinuated by some that you were lying whilst being told by others that you "should have done x" wouldn't you have left it?

I have no idea why the OP hasn't been back but I would hazard a guess that the hostile nature of the replies wouldn't exactly have them keen to rush back for the abuse and gaslighting.