to be annoyed by this co workers email bit long sorry

[asteri]

I know I should just delete it but this kind of thing really annoys me. Also maybe Im just an over sensitive (half) greek but why is Greeks in capitals.....She sent this this morning:

The writer of this piece emigrated to UK just over 40 years ago - On the ship there were , Italians, Yugoslavs and GREEKS, (Note - All European people!!) all looking forward to starting a new life in ENGLAND . I arrived with £20 in my pocket and that's all I had to my name. Did I put my hand out?? Of course not - I got a job and paid my way just like everyone else who came to this country back then.
Now, it's my taxes that subsidize these people who think they have a God given right (read Allah) to come here and criticise those of us who have worked for the country we now call home.

If I didn't like what I saw when I got here I would have gone home - they have the same option. If they don't want to become BRITISH , they can................GO BACK TO WHERE THEY CAME FROM - WE DON'T NEED THEM HERE!!! DO WE NO NO NO

OUR BRITAIN!!!!!
When will this stop?
They want 2 of their own public holidays, because Christians have Christmas, Easter & Good Friday,
They force our children to eat Halal Meat Pies and Sausage Rolls from the school canteens, so the Muslim kids can feel more BRITISH, we were not consulted about this change, they went ahead and just did it.
Our foods are slowly all becoming Halal foods, our cheeses, chocolates even good old sanitarium foods
Our Government is ALLOWING this to happen, it has to stop now, while we still have some power to be able to stop it.

Regarding Our National Anthem
I am sorry, but after hearing they want to sing the National Anthem in Arabic- enough is enough. No where or at no other time in our nation's history, did they sing it in Italian, Japanese, Polish, Irish (Celtic), German, Portuguese, Greek, or any other language because of immigration. It was written in English, and should be sung word for word the way it was written.
The news broadcasts even gave the translation -- not even close.
I am not sorry if this offends anyone, this is MY COUNTRY - IF IT IS YOUR COUNTRY SPEAK UP -- please pass this along I am not against immigration just come through like everyone else. Get a sponsor; have a place to lay your head; have a job; pay your taxes, live by the rules AND LEARN THE LANGUAGE as all other immigrants have in the past -- and LONG LIVE GREAT BRITAIN !

PART OF THE PROBLEM. Think about this: If you don't want to forward this for fear of offending someone -YOU'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM !!!!

Will we still be the Country of Choice and still be BRITAIN if we continue to make the changes forced on us by the people from other countries who have come to live in BRITAIN because it is the Country of Choice??
Think about it!
IMMIGRANTS, NOT BRITONS , MUST ADAPT.
It is Time for THE BRITS to Speak up.

thanks webdude

I'm the child of immigrants (very visibly so, so no chance that anyone could miss that) and regularly get emails like this sent to me by a post-natal group acquaintance. Eventually I had to ask her to stop sending them because I found them inappropriate and offensive. She was somewhat bewildered by why I would be offended

It seems like she took a piece of shit that was towards muslims and tried to adapt it (by writing Greeks-in capitals!).

Therefore it is not only sickening and racist but to me seems like personal attack and a try to provoke you and hurt your feelings.

I would go straight to management. I would NOT engaged with her.

Whatever you choose to do make sure you keep a copy.

P.S. £20 that time was a lot. My il's came with 20 drahmas and few years later employed 30 people in their business. Sorry i couldn't resist this , just for the history.

I´d report it without hesitation.

Does your company have an IT policy?

Because you really need to look it up and see what it says.

Depending how right-on your workplace is, you may be under some sort of obligation to report it...

(and let's face it, which of us has actually read their work's IT policy? )

Just noticed - halal sausage rolls? That's a new one...

Oh, and if she is a friend (I can't see where you say that she is) ... dump her forthwith.

TheHeathen has a good point.

I've just checked our email policy (yes, I am that bored ) and it's clear that you should not use work email to send racially offensive messages and if you receive one from an employee, you must report it to your line manager.

Why is the e mail so offensive. Bits of it seem a bit barmy. Is anyone really suggesting singing the British anthem in arabic, or forcing people to eat Halal pies?! Personally I doubt it. However barmy is not offensive per se. I am not sure I see it as racist. What race is it perjorative towards?

As to the general principle of immigrants adapting to the mores of the country into which they immigrate, it makes perfect sense to me. I do have a problem with people coming to this country, collecting benefits, and then using their free time to spread anti British propaganda. Let's turn this around. If I emigrated to Kenya and started saying that whites were superior and that Kenyans should adapt to my beliefs, I would (rightly) expect pretty short shrift.

I am aware that balancing personal freedoms and the need to have a cohesive society is not a simple equation to solve. However, particularly with regard to certain issues concerning Islam (right to conceal one's identity, different marriage and corporal punishment norms etc) maybe we have gone a little too far towards tolerance of individual freedom?

larrygrylls, clearly it's offensive.

gets chair and popcorn

Did she definitely send it from her work email address on company time? If so, report it to HR (unless she is a mate, in which case tell her you will shop her if she does it again and to stop being such a dick).
IF it was sent on her own time from her personal email, tell her to stop being a dick and ignore any further nonsens.

Dueling...the only way in which it offends me is that it is a chain e mail. I hate all e mail of that kind.

It is screechy, factually incorrect and distinctly odd, but does make a fair point. En passant, and answering the OP's question, I am assuming "GREEKS" is in capital letters as the writer originally hailed from Greece...I could be wrong though.

Horrible stuff.

I didn't even know what sanitarium foods were, so googled and apparently it's an Australian company.

The whole thing is stupid as well as nasty!

larrygrylls - some Kenyans are white.

larry read the OP again. OP is half greek. So her colegue has adapted this e-mail and wrote GREEKS (probably instead of muslims, Arabs, Asians) in order to personally insult her.
At least that's how i read it.

"Let's turn this around. If I emigrated to Kenya and started saying that whites were superior and that Kenyans should adapt to my beliefs, I would (rightly) expect pretty short shrift. "

Quite accept that argument, but the 'go back ...' aspect is where it gets too strong to be acceptable.

Loony, yes, quite agree, but it is so close to an attack on any immigrant (which seems odd, considering this starts off as one who came by ship to live in the UK) that it looks like something put about by the National Front of days gone by, and clearly if sent to work e-mail addresses or from a work e-mail address is unacceptable.

If there's a policy requiring e-mail to be reported it risks other people's careers, too, for pity's sake.

larrygrylls - and it is offensive in it's stupidity, as it has clearly been forwarded by someone who hasn't done any basic fact checking, and as the reference to an Australian company reveals, a c&p of an email originally about somewhere else entirely.

Oh dear. If it needs to be spelled out why the email is offensive there's probably little point trying to explain.

But I applaud the patience of those who try.

I think it's hilarious. I would tell her (not write) you fervently agree and egg her on no end.

Reality - I love your friend's statuses. I am going to get some now.

Oojmaflip, my Father was (now deceased) a white Kenyan and I have spent time there. That was why I chose it as an example. White Kenyans are now sensitive to the fact they live in a black country and have to adapt to local customs (and quite rightly so). If stupidity is, in itself, offensive, then I have to agree that it is offensive. However, I do not think that was what the OP meant.

Laquitar, it is possible to take your interpretation and possible to take mine. In any event, the e mail says that they adapted to their new country and did not expect their new country to adapt to them.

Webdude, the "Go back" bit is conditional on them not accepting the UK culture. It is not denying immigrants the right to live here. It is merely making it conditional on them integrating into their newly chosen society, something broadly in line with government policy these days (in the citizenship test).

I think the tone is hectoring and badgering but the content itself is inoffensive (aside from being very stupid!).

"They force our children to eat Halal Meat Pies and Sausage Rolls from the school canteens, so the Muslim kids can feel more BRITISH, we were not consulted about this change, they went ahead and just did it.
Our foods are slowly all becoming Halal foods, our cheeses, chocolates even good old sanitarium foods"

Have your DC ever been forced to eat Halal Meat Pies? And if they were offered a Halal meat pie, would they notice? Would they become ill?

Of course it is racist. And stupid.

It has been doing the rounds for years

larrygrylls - seeing something like this: "Now, it's my taxes that subsidize these people who think they have a God given right (read Allah) to come here and criticise those of us who have worked for the country we now call home."

Clearly makes it an attack on a particular group. While there are many issues about integration being necessary for a proper multicultural Britain, when someone comes out on the attack against any specific group, they (a) get defensive and (b) react {eg putting up candidates for local elections}.

It's easy to feel that "interested parties" are undermining British life, by moving into positions of power, but suggesting immigrants "go home" isn't the way to combat any worries. Getting involved and being a legally supported representative (eg councillor, or MP) is a stronger way to maintain British values and 'fair play'.

That's where there's a problem - integration, yes, concern about "other" traditions being accepted as alternative to UK Law, yes, worries about languages causing "ghetto" style situations, yes, I'd say all could be legitimate concerns. Integration, by learning English not only means we would have less need for translations into a lot of other languages, but would improve many employment prospects, as well as gaining better education because fundamentals of English would be understood and built on.

Once the message ridicules someone's faith, or God, or suggests "go home" or "go away" it crosses the boundary of tolerance, and could even become unlawful depending on what else is written.

I'm probably as cross as the next person that some Imman's and others may have been trying to encourage militant, anti-British views, and where suspects are under house arrest (or whatever the terrorism restrictions are called) it seems daft to be paying housing and other costs, rather than prosecuting if there is good reason, or telling them to get on with finding a job and not wasting resources on 24x7 surveillance, but I would not put anything in writing, as one is leaving oneself open to criticism or even life-threatening action.

I very much want a Halal Meat Pie. I also want a Yom Kippur deep fried Mars bar and a Voodoo strawberry milkshake.