Racism in the Workplace

[IdreamofClooney]

I've recently moved to a new job where I am supervising another member of staff.

We are working in a postgraduate office in a university.

The woman I supervise is close to retirement and the woman I took over from retired and I get the impression that what I consider to be racist were considered to be prefectly acceptable comments before I came.

We deal with a lot of international students and the woman I work with makes what I consider to be racist comments.

How should I handle this? At the moment I don't say anything but it makes me uncomfortable, and I feel that as I am in charge I should deal with the situation as I feel that it is unacceptable for staff in a university to make such comments

Examples of the comments:

Referring to Chinese students as "chinkies"

Saying things like "I don;t like touching the docuements pakistani and Indians send in as they are so dirty yuk", "I just have to get Indians out of the office as they smell so disgusting of curry and things Indians eat"

There have been other comments too. Am I over reacting?

Any ideas?

Blardy hell. Of course you're not overreacting! Furthermore, if you don't do anything about it you might get in trouble yourself. What if one of the students (or someone else) overhears and decides to report it?

Ask your superior whether there's a workplace policy on discrimination. I'd guess there would be in a university.

Have you sen that little britain sketch where the tudent is in the office and the woman rings up one of the students tutor and is describing the student and then ends upeing really offensive? I didnt think there werepeople like it but obviously there are!

that is just awful. this is what it says on the government webiste, so you really need to take some action and enforce whatver policy your employers have.

There are four main kinds of discrimination:

direct discrimination - deliberate discrimination (eg where a particular job is only open to people of a specific racial group)
indirect discrimination - working practices, provisions or criteria that disadvantage members of any group (like introducing a dress code without good reason, which might discriminate against some ethnic groups)
harassment - participating in, allowing or encouraging behaviour that offends someone or creates a hostile atmosphere (eg making racist jokes at work)
victimisation - treating someone less favourably because they've complained or been involved in a complaint about racial discrimination (eg taking disciplinary action against someone for complaining about discrimination against themselves or another person)
Employers who don't stop discrimination, harassment and bullying by their employees may be breaking the law.

I would speak either to your manager or to the HR dept, and ask for advice. Tell them that you are not comfortable with what is going on, and think that they should be aware of it, and ask for thier support in whatever way forward you mutually agree. Maybe suggest some diversity training etc, during which the depts obligations under the law can be made clear as well as the importance of treating your students with respect.

I wouldn't deal with this all by yourself and in isolation, given the nature of her bahaviour and also the fact that she may then see you as bullying her or something.

I think Blu's tactics for handling this are good. Go to HR and find out about diversity awareness training. Most public sector bodies correctly make a day or so of awareness training compulsory for all staff IME
How can you be sure she is handling important paperwork correctly if she clearly despises some of the students purely on the basis of their ethnicity?
And does she not realise that without these allegedly smelly and dirty students applying to your university she, and everyone else, would be out of a job?
You are not overreacting at all!

I think that I need to say something to her myself really, which I am DREADING as we already fell out when I suggested I move my lunch hour but I digress.

She usually only says it when there are just the two of us in the office. I deliberately do not agree in any way, but feel if I even go "mmm" I am condoning her comments when actually they make my skin crawl.

I am used to dealing with International students and I just don't even think about them as "international students" I think of them as "students" but in this office there is a very clear "them and us" mentality which I find most disconcerting.

I find comments like "the Chinese students are a pain" to be racist, whereas she just thinks she is making an observation.

God I hate confrontation but I do need to say something, perhaps next time she makes a comment I will say "Oh I know you don;t mean anything by it but I have noticed that you make comments like that and I woudl rather that you didn't"

You are her line manager. You have to do something.
I do sympathise, but you are responsible for her conduct and for ensuring she either has training so that she understands that whatever she thinks, she can't say it, to you or anyone else (I put it like this because tbh you're not going to get her to actually stop having these racist thoughts, are you, sadly ), or, you put her through a disciplinary procedure if she continues in this fashion.

Just to be clear, the comments are racist (undeniably so) - there's no question of interpretation or different contexts, this woman is foully racist!

I'd keep a record of these comments (times and dates) so that there's no question of bullying if she reacts badly when confronted (which seems likely).

As you have only just moved into this role and this woman is obviously going to react badly to you telling her you find her offensive, I would ignore it for now and see if the comments die down. If the comments carry on then you will have to bring it up with your manager. Even if you just warn your manager about it and the if someone does report it your manager will know you had nothing to do with it.

i'd seriously check your policy documents regarding this becuase if someone makes a formal complaint you yourself could be int he firing line for not stopping the situation.

the comments are gross and not doubt let down the reputation of the university and its staff. you need to put a stop to this immediatley

oh btw its not an age thing. its just abhorrent

I really think if you ignore it it might come back to haunt you. By saying nothing at the time she obviously thinks you either agree with her, or dont find it offensive, or she wouldnt keep saying it. If someone else overheard and it all kicked off you might well find yourself dragged into it as some sort of defence for her.

I dont envy you, but if you can get a copy of your racism procedure and HR/manangement backing you can present her with the facts and leave no room for personal opinions on the matter. She needs to know what she says is racist and will not be tolerated end of.

I do feel that it is my duty to do something but I am going to find it very difficult! I am going to sound out HR first. I am concerned that she will feel that I am bullying her so I need to be very careful.

I'm finding it pretty hard to settle into this job - the woman I took over from retired after 40 years in the department and the woman I am supervising has been here for 38 years. A lot of the other admin staff have been here for decades. When I arrived I felt like the enemy as I had a degree and all of the other admin staff I was introduced to pointed this out to me.

When I suggested that I would like to take my lunch from 12.45 - 1.45, rather than from 1 - 2 once a week to fit in a swim at the uni pool this caused total uproar and the reverberations can still be felt a month later so change is not a good thing around here....

With someone like that the comments won't die down and to say nothing is to tolerate it.

That's how I feel - that if I say nothing that means that I am not only tolerating it but that I agree.

I thought it was bad enough in my old department where one of the girls I shared an office with referred to going to the "paki" shop or having a "Chinkie" for tea (in fact both of them said that)

I would never ever use those terms - I say the corner shop and a chinese take away, but they are considered to be accpetable by a lot of people.

I feel that this is much worse as it is directed at the students who as someone else said if it wasn;t for them (especially the overseas ones who pay much higher fees) we would not have a job!

I realise it's easy for us to sit here at our computers advising you to cause havoc at work - of course it's not that easy to actually do what we're advising. However, your superiors hired you: possibly because they recognise that your department is full of people with very dodgy attitudes, and they wanted a kick-arse type who would start to sort it out. If this woman has been there for 30+years, they'll need a cast-iron case for dismissing her. That's what you can provide (if you want to).

I do feel for you, it is horrible to think you have to work with people who resent you but you dont seem to have a lot of choice.

An old manager of mine once advised me only to expect a grudging respect from employees, and anything else was a bonus. They have to listen to you as you are the boss. If you are worried about them turning the tables and calling you a bully ask HR to sit in on the meetings with you and make sure that you document every conversation you have with her and any agreed outcomes.

Well I would advise you to do the same thing I advised Dh when his colleague accused a (very comeptent though thats not the point) bloke of being 'a useless Pole'-

if you don't stand up against it who will?

I agre with Custy btw, I think saying mmmmm (which could be taken as agreement) or ignoring this puts you in the firing line.

There are charities- maybe the commission for racial equality?- who will chat you through how to best approach this, but I really think you need to say something. Otherwise you become an accessory really. Which isn't to say I don't realise its difficult, I do and I know it requires some bravery.

I really am amazed that the line manager of your post has been unaware of the issue or did not tackle the previous postholder about this.
I am trying to imagine whereabouts in the UK this university is, tbh (not asking you to say )
We're in London and all our administrators have degrees - support staff and managers alike. We have all also been required to attend health and safety, disability awareness, equal opps and diversity awareness training days, plus compulsory customer care workshops for everyone dealing with the punters. Some whinge about it but it is non-negotiable.
I really feel for you, the whole situation sounds deeply unpleasant.
It's all well and good to take on a role knowing you will be expected to deal with a stressful situation like this, but to just be appointed without briefing/support/warning from your line manager is a low trick by your employers IMO

I do feel pretty isolated at work to be honest and am not inclined to "rock the boat" any further but I feel that I have a duty to do so.

We are in Scotland in a city that is not very ethnically diverse so the attitude I am talking about is widespread. The department I am in attracts a huge proportion of International students, so much so that one of the programmes is almost entirely non UK students.

Most of the admin staff here are not university educated and seem to see me as the "enemy" as I am. I have never mentioned that I have a degree as it is not actually particularly relevant to my job but obviously when they announced my appointment it must have been mentioned. So from the outset I have felt like an outsider.

Sorry I have totally digressed from my original point. I will consult HR and the websites suggested.

I confess that I called someone a racist in a meeting once - in front of about 20 other people! I had found his comments unsettling for a while but no-one ever stood up to him. One day I couldn't take it any more. He certainly watched his step after that!!!

BTW IDreamofClooney you are not over reacting and some of the comments on here will hopefully help you deal with it. I would agree that you shouldn't ignore it (you don't want to do what I did!).

Good luck - let us know what happens.

Yes, good luck and do let us know how you get on. The university should back you all the way in either re-training this woman or dismissing her if she refuses to modify her behaviour.

By not saying anything, you give the impression that you agree with her comments. You need to stand up to her. She says these comments because you have not challenged her and so in her mind, you agree with her.

If one of the students hears her comments and reports it, you may find yourself in the firing line also.