Racist incident - protocol

[Wonderbug81]

I witnessed a racist incident today at work. The person involved is one of the most senior people in the company and they displayed racist behaviour towards someone more junior. The racism was also indirectly related to me as I'm the same race.

I was too shocked in the moment to say anything but want to raise a complaint with HR. I don't know how seriously they'll take it as the senior person oversees the HR team indirectly too! I'm also therefore concerned about being treated differently after I raise it.

Any advice on how I manage this e.g. I assume I should keep records, follow up conversations in writing over email etc? Feeling a bit of out of my depth.

There are no words for that story. Absolutely extraordinary.

Thank you, I've since spoken to my manager who has been very supportive.

Definitely why I'm treading carefully. But I also don't feel I can stay quiet.

I'm glad you've spoken to your manager, OP, and that she/he was supportive.

Another point about HR. While it's true they are batting for the employer, they are the guardians of organisational culture. If they are effective, they will see the risk to the organisation of not addressing racism and the negative impact on its credibility when DEI initiatives are live. Another point to bear in mind is that HR is the gathering point for employees experiencing prejudice from colleagues. The senior manager may already be the subject of complaints.

The world needs people who are brave enough to stand up and speak truth to power. Otherwise nothing will ever change.

Make sure you document everything very carefully.

Did your manager have any advice for you on how to take it forward?

That is true. This might not be the first incident.

I just have a slightly different angle.

You said, Quote " The question is why some posters might be so eager to cast doubt on the judgement of a POC who clearly believes that they have witnessed or experienced racism..

The OP did not say she was a POC. She said , Quote " The racism was also indirectly related to me as I'm the same race."

Same race does not mean POC.

She also never said if the person displaying racist behavior was the same race, or different.

I am not trying to cast doubt on what anyone says, I am trying to understand racism. And if someone says " someone was racist to me", my response is to ask, " in what way".

How else can we learn how people view what racism is ?

There was enough context there to make an assumption that the OP isn't white. I'm sure that the OP will correct me if that assumption was wrong.

I'm not sure why the race of the person making the comments would be relevant.

We can learn what people perceive racism to be by listening to their experiences when they want to discuss them, and by encouraging them to report incidents through appropriate channels so that they can be appropriately investigated. However, we should also respect the fact that it isn't the responsibility for people on receiving end of racism to educate the rest of us, and that it's reasonable for people to sometimes want to talk about their own responses to racism without having to justify those responses by providing a detailed account just so that others can stand in judgment.

The OP didn't start this thread to help you "understand racism". She came to get advice on how to protect herself when reporting the incident. She doesn't need to tell any stories.

I just have a slightly different angle.

The thread isn't about you. It is about how best to proceed for the OP. If you want to understand racism I suggest you research it. One Mnetter's experience of one racist incident in one place won't give anywhere near enough to achieve understanding of racism.

@Wonderbug81 is seeking advice. She's not here to educate you.

Ok I misunderstood. When you asked for advice on “how to handle this” I interpreted that to mean handling the event including where to report or not report.

if you are set on reporting then you report to your line manager/ via a hotline if your company has one.

once you’ve made the report there is very little you can do to mitigate the response of others, they will control process as they wish and you’ll be in the hands of the business.

in my experience the key defining factor in how the business reacts is how serious the incident is v how senior the person whom the complaint is made against.

I am a POC. The person at the receiving end was a POC. The senior person was white.

You are responding to a post about a very specific request for support with HR and leadership on a public forum, not someone asking you or anyone else here whether an incident was racist.

You are choosing to ignore what I'm saying and what others are telling you in order to advance your own agenda.

I'm sorry that you are getting so many irrelevant responses, OP. It must be very tedious.

Thank you. I will stop engaging at this point, just a waste of energy!

Good luck with reporting the incident, OP. I hope that they take it seriously.

Something similar happened at my work. It was reported by 2 others that had heard it to their line manager. Statements and meetings were had but it was handled badly. The person who said the comments really didn’t see the issue until they had time (a lot of time) to reflect.

I would report now. If people don’t know they can’t change their behaviour.

I work a corporate job and we have an anonymous HR suggestions box which was used for this exact scenario. You can choose to disclose your name or not. I am sorry that happened. Well done for pushing it forward.

You think she doesn’t know what racism is?

We have a super short staff survey once a week. Mainly to monitor wellbeing but there is a space to voice any concerns or even just minor niggles. It is anonymous unless you request some sort of follow up. Hopefully it gives people another avenue for highlighting issues of this nature without necessarily having to put themselves in a difficult position.

In my experience it will get brushed under the carpet. I know of someone that has had several complaints about him throughout the years for racism one as recent as this year but he’s still there and didn’t stop him getting promoted to director this year. I’m not saying you shouldn’t act on it you defo should but expect the least to be done about it.

I think it is worth considering whether some people might see it as "banter" or "not that bad" because that might help you frame the complaint - in that it might be necessary to say that X said XYZ and this is unacceptable because...

If there is a chance that the senior person isn't going to immediately see the error of their ways it can only help to have a clear explanation of why it was unacceptable (the power balance / the language used) - otherwise you could end up relying on HR to try and explain it in their words and the message might get a bit lost.

It is not OP’s job to educate you on racism.

you might want to read “ Why I Stopped Talking to White People About Race”.

if OP had heard a sexiet remark about women would you be begging to hear what it was so you can decide if it was offensive?

Maybe the OP doesn’t want you to know what race she is because you know… Racism.

Yes to be honest I think this is the likely outcome but I think I'd feel worse not even trying.

if OP had heard a sexist remark about women would you be begging to hear what it was so you can decide if it was offensive?

Yes I absolutely would, because how people in general perceive the comment is fundamental to how the OP can expect to be treated as a result of making the complaint.

that truth doesn’t negate the fact that the OP and others found the comment racist but it may materially impact the outcome of her complaint.

Neither is it right or fair, but it is the reality in the vast majority of organisations.

Racism is a very stupid thing practiced by very stupid people.

It's an illogical, irrational, nonsense belief system based on human melatonin levels.🤯

See also Sexism. An illogical, irrational belief based on the premise that 50% of all humans are doing it wrong.

I am not trying to cast doubt on what anyone says, I am trying to understand racism. And if someone says " someone was racist to me", my response is to ask, " in what way".

It doesn't really matter. The intent doesn't matter, it's how it's received that counts in harassment (partly to avoid a defence of, "can't you take a joke? It was just a bit of banter.") The OP and another witness thought it racist, and we can infer the recipient also did by their expression. So it doesn't matter if the rest of us would consider it racist or nor, as we weren't there. There will be a ton of other examples online you can use to learn about racism.

Yup.

I saw the post, and my thought was what is being considered racist here. That is, what do people consider racist enough to report. If the OP had stated what it was, and the majority said yup, that's racist, then that bits done.