How to deal with racists?

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  • paigemarie93
    paigemarie93 Posts: 778 Member
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    Example: Some guy told me in a few choice words about stereotypes of a race, so i told him since hes white he must play his banjo in his trailor white the cousin he married is in the kitchen making possum suprise..so yeah, i need a WAY more tactful way of handeling the situation.

    That's not the greatest reply to tackle racism when it's derogatory in itself.

    I think she was being sarcastic!!!

    Hard to tell when she said it as an example in the context that she had actually said it.
    It's still extremely insulting to someone who is from the background that the "banjo playing, cousin marrying" stereotypical nonsense belongs to.
  • MattGetsMad
    MattGetsMad Posts: 429 Member
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    Know what happens to me? People come in my store and I guess I look like a racist, because it doesn't take them very long to start getting into so of the most racist stuff. I mean, I'm talking grandfatherly looking guys, dropping N-bombs left and right. These are customers that I cannot afford to lose! I can't agree with them, but I cannot afford to throw them out of the store or chastise them. I just get put in this strange situation. Happens at least 2x a week.
  • paigemarie93
    paigemarie93 Posts: 778 Member
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    I live in a redneck town where if you are brown you are automatically mexican, and if you are "yellow" you are autimatically chinese. It's full of extreme conservatives who feel like since they are white and christian, they can say anything about anyone they feel is beneath them,
    so i told him since hes white he must play his banjo in his trailor white the cousin he married is in the kitchen making possum suprise..so yeah, i need a WAY more tactful way of handeling the situation.

    IRONY! Get yours while it's hot and fresh! That is not how to do it.

    ^ +1 :]
  • soniaa777
    soniaa777 Posts: 126 Member
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    why would god create people to hate? Maybe tell them to have empathy for other people. How would they feel if those thing were said about them?
  • Chagama
    Chagama Posts: 543 Member
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    If your co-workers are saying those things, you should definitely bring it up with HR. You have a legal right to work in a non-threatening environment. And if it's bothering you, it's probably bothering other people who are just keeping quiet. By speaking up, you are helping those people.

    If it's customers, and you are in customer service, you need to approach your manager and/or HR and ask for direction on how to handle those situations. You probably can't start lecturing the customers without jeopardizing your job, but again, you don't have to listen to racist comments. Your company needs to have a policy on what you do, probably pass them along to a manager.
  • dumb_blondes_rock
    dumb_blondes_rock Posts: 1,568 Member
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    I come from a background of banjo playing cousin marrying...my family is full of uneducated people and musically talented people....and i'm white..most my family have southern accents, and for peepsake, my grandmas name is FREDLEE...doesn't get much more hillbilly that that lol
  • dumb_blondes_rock
    dumb_blondes_rock Posts: 1,568 Member
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    If your co-workers are saying those things, you should definitely bring it up with HR. You have a legal right to work in a non-threatening environment. And if it's bothering you, it's probably bothering other people who are just keeping quiet. By speaking up, you are helping those people.

    If it's customers, and you are in customer service, you need to approach your manager and/or HR and ask for direction on how to handle those situations. You probably can't start lecturing the customers without jeopardizing your job, but again, you don't have to listen to racist comments. Your company needs to have a policy on what you do, probably pass them along to a manager.

    Well my co-workers rent their booth space....so we don't really have a "BOSS" perse, but the bosses husband IS a racist....and its easy to say find another job, but i do love the people i work with, just hate that every once in a blue moon they voice their opinions on such sensetive matters....
  • AmberMagdalena
    AmberMagdalena Posts: 461 Member
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    I live in a redneck town where if you are brown you are automatically mexican, and if you are "yellow" you are autimatically chinese. It's full of extreme conservatives who feel like since they are white and christian, they can say anything about anyone they feel is beneath them,
    so i told him since hes white he must play his banjo in his trailor white the cousin he married is in the kitchen making possum suprise..so yeah, i need a WAY more tactful way of handeling the situation.

    IRONY! Get yours while it's hot and fresh! That is not how to do it.

    ^ +1 :]

    She was trying to show him how silly he sounded saying racial slurs about someone...anyone!. DUH!


    Some people...thick as s***!
  • k8blujay2
    k8blujay2 Posts: 4,941 Member
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    If your co-workers are saying those things, you should definitely bring it up with HR. You have a legal right to work in a non-threatening environment. And if it's bothering you, it's probably bothering other people who are just keeping quiet. By speaking up, you are helping those people.

    If it's customers, and you are in customer service, you need to approach your manager and/or HR and ask for direction on how to handle those situations. You probably can't start lecturing the customers without jeopardizing your job, but again, you don't have to listen to racist comments. Your company needs to have a policy on what you do, probably pass them along to a manager.

    ^^^ This.
  • paigemarie93
    paigemarie93 Posts: 778 Member
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    I come from a background of banjo playing cousin marrying...my family is full of uneducated people and musically talented people....and i'm white..most my family have southern accents, and for peepsake, my grandmas name is FREDLEE...doesn't get much more hillbilly that that lol

    If you're so against racism, I don't get why you'd poke fun at your own "cultural" background.
    Smells a little hypocritical to me.
  • MattGetsMad
    MattGetsMad Posts: 429 Member
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    If your co-workers are saying those things, you should definitely bring it up with HR. You have a legal right to work in a non-threatening environment. And if it's bothering you, it's probably bothering other people who are just keeping quiet. By speaking up, you are helping those people.

    If it's customers, and you are in customer service, you need to approach your manager and/or HR and ask for direction on how to handle those situations. You probably can't start lecturing the customers without jeopardizing your job, but again, you don't have to listen to racist comments. Your company needs to have a policy on what you do, probably pass them along to a manager.

    Dude, I run a storage facility. I am the darn manager!!! These customers are also tenants! Small corporation, our HR/Office Cleaner resigned and was not replaced! I also have a bonus structure based on occupancy. I quite literally cannot afford to lose these ignorant racists! Really is a strange situation. Storage people are a funky bunch.
  • luvnthenewme
    luvnthenewme Posts: 121 Member
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    I hate to say this, but white people do not hold a monopoly on racism.....nor do rednecks, Christians, college professors, prostitutes, Native Americans, communists, Chinese, McDonald's employees, Nascar drivers, lesbians, cookie monsters, or anyone else!!! Racism comes in all shapes and sizes.... and it affects us ALL.


    ::trips:: Careful with that soapbox!!

    No worries.... It is a little soapbox, and most people have no trouble walking by and ignoring it.
  • paigemarie93
    paigemarie93 Posts: 778 Member
    Options
    I live in a redneck town where if you are brown you are automatically mexican, and if you are "yellow" you are autimatically chinese. It's full of extreme conservatives who feel like since they are white and christian, they can say anything about anyone they feel is beneath them,
    so i told him since hes white he must play his banjo in his trailor white the cousin he married is in the kitchen making possum suprise..so yeah, i need a WAY more tactful way of handeling the situation.

    IRONY! Get yours while it's hot and fresh! That is not how to do it.

    ^ +1 :]

    She was trying to show him how silly he sounded saying racial slurs about someone...anyone!. DUH!


    Some people...thick as s***!

    No need for that! Now waddle off & untwist your knickers, dear.
  • dumb_blondes_rock
    dumb_blondes_rock Posts: 1,568 Member
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    Know what happens to me? People come in my store and I guess I look like a racist, because it doesn't take them very long to start getting into so of the most racist stuff. I mean, I'm talking grandfatherly looking guys, dropping N-bombs left and right. These are customers that I cannot afford to lose! I can't agree with them, but I cannot afford to throw them out of the store or chastise them. I just get put in this strange situation. Happens at least 2x a week.

    THATS ME TOO! I have blonde hair and blue eyes, i guess that means i'm a racist for some reason...but i feel awful and that i'm not standing up for the people if i don't say anything at all....usually i just akwardly try to change the situation, but still....
  • MattGetsMad
    MattGetsMad Posts: 429 Member
    Options
    If your co-workers are saying those things, you should definitely bring it up with HR. You have a legal right to work in a non-threatening environment. And if it's bothering you, it's probably bothering other people who are just keeping quiet. By speaking up, you are helping those people.

    If it's customers, and you are in customer service, you need to approach your manager and/or HR and ask for direction on how to handle those situations. You probably can't start lecturing the customers without jeopardizing your job, but again, you don't have to listen to racist comments. Your company needs to have a policy on what you do, probably pass them along to a manager.

    This is a one man operation, I do not have any employees that I have to worry about being subjected to this stuff.

    Dude, I run a storage facility. I am the darn manager!!! These customers are also tenants! Small corporation, our HR/Office Cleaner resigned and was not replaced! I also have a bonus structure based on occupancy. I quite literally cannot afford to lose these ignorant racists! Really is a strange situation. Storage people are a funky bunch.
  • dumb_blondes_rock
    dumb_blondes_rock Posts: 1,568 Member
    Options
    If your co-workers are saying those things, you should definitely bring it up with HR. You have a legal right to work in a non-threatening environment. And if it's bothering you, it's probably bothering other people who are just keeping quiet. By speaking up, you are helping those people.

    If it's customers, and you are in customer service, you need to approach your manager and/or HR and ask for direction on how to handle those situations. You probably can't start lecturing the customers without jeopardizing your job, but again, you don't have to listen to racist comments. Your company needs to have a policy on what you do, probably pass them along to a manager.

    Dude, I run a storage facility. I am the darn manager!!! These customers are also tenants! Small corporation, our HR/Office Cleaner resigned and was not replaced! I also have a bonus structure based on occupancy. I quite literally cannot afford to lose these ignorant racists! Really is a strange situation. Storage people are a funky bunch.

    You're telling me. i can't watch enough of that storage wars because the characters on there are so quirky
  • becoming_a_new_me
    becoming_a_new_me Posts: 1,860 Member
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    I too have worked in customer service and have dealt with the occasional racist. I have a bi-racial daughter who is half Hatian, so I have no tolerance with customers being prejudice. I have politely said "You know, the thing I love about talking to you over the phone is you can't see what color I really am, can you?" The usually stammer and shut up.

    I now work for a conservative Christian company doing nutritional counseling. 99% of our members are very religious, so when I get the occasional comment, I just say "That's not very Christian of you" and they shut up.
  • SofaKingRad
    SofaKingRad Posts: 1,592 Member
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    *sighs*
  • SwannySez
    SwannySez Posts: 5,864 Member
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    How to deal wioth racists?

    Simple:

    Nail them to a cross and light it on fire. They seem to like burning crosses, so it's win/win really.
  • bobie1978
    bobie1978 Posts: 204 Member
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    I hate to say this, but white people do not hold a monopoly on racism.....nor do rednecks, Christians, college professors, prostitutes, Native Americans, communists, Chinese, McDonald's employees, Nascar drivers, lesbians, cookie monsters, or anyone else!!! Racism comes in all shapes and sizes.... and it affects us ALL.

    Agreed!
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