Dunk
23rd June 2012, 06:27
This evening at work I walked back behind the Grille Room bar to grab some water to drink like I do at the beginning of every shift.
Anyway, I'm kind of zoned out to what's going on around me. I'm vaguely aware that two of my coworkers are talking to one another. Until I catch the words "...minorities," which make me turn my head toward my coworkers and I ask "What?" Then my coworker turns to me and says "Joe is saying all this racist shit to me." As I'm filling up my cup of water he continues for the next few moments saying something along the lines of "...it's true! I'm not a racist, I'm a racial realist." So just as I'm internally going into full RED ALERT and shoot this guy a look, my coworker tells this dude "I don't want to continue this conversation." So he leaves the bar and heads back into the kitchen.
I ask her what that was all about. She told me he was going on basically some kind of irrational racist diatribe about "how minorities are destroying white people, that white people won't exist in 50 years, and how minorities and immigrants are bankrupting the country." As she's telling me this, she's looking increasingly distraught, like on the brink of tears. As soon as she was done telling me what he said, I told her I thought she should file an EEO complaint immediately. She said no, that she didn't want to, but if he does it again, she will. She then started telling me "You know, my kids are mixed - and they're really good kids. Lots of people don't know my husband is white. [One of our managers] does, and she looks out for me because her kids are mixed, too." I thought it only made sense she immediately mentioned her kids because he must have talked about "race mixing" or implied it or some shit, and like I said, she was obviously upset. I told her that Joe is a fucking racist piece of shit, and that I'm sure her kids are wonderful because she's great, and that I know things are probably no picnic for them, because racism can cause identity issues with mixed kids. She agreed and then told me some stories about work from before I worked there, basically instances of racism she's run into over the years. Then I told her if she wanted to report it I'd have her back.
That was the last I saw her this past shift.
The whole time I kept thinking that I should have said something else, should have done something else, but I legitimately do not know what I should have done. As far as I'm aware, I don't think I can make the EEO complaint myself, and I also wouldn't do it if I could because she said she didn't want to and I respect my coworker.
Anyway, I'm kind of zoned out to what's going on around me. I'm vaguely aware that two of my coworkers are talking to one another. Until I catch the words "...minorities," which make me turn my head toward my coworkers and I ask "What?" Then my coworker turns to me and says "Joe is saying all this racist shit to me." As I'm filling up my cup of water he continues for the next few moments saying something along the lines of "...it's true! I'm not a racist, I'm a racial realist." So just as I'm internally going into full RED ALERT and shoot this guy a look, my coworker tells this dude "I don't want to continue this conversation." So he leaves the bar and heads back into the kitchen.
I ask her what that was all about. She told me he was going on basically some kind of irrational racist diatribe about "how minorities are destroying white people, that white people won't exist in 50 years, and how minorities and immigrants are bankrupting the country." As she's telling me this, she's looking increasingly distraught, like on the brink of tears. As soon as she was done telling me what he said, I told her I thought she should file an EEO complaint immediately. She said no, that she didn't want to, but if he does it again, she will. She then started telling me "You know, my kids are mixed - and they're really good kids. Lots of people don't know my husband is white. [One of our managers] does, and she looks out for me because her kids are mixed, too." I thought it only made sense she immediately mentioned her kids because he must have talked about "race mixing" or implied it or some shit, and like I said, she was obviously upset. I told her that Joe is a fucking racist piece of shit, and that I'm sure her kids are wonderful because she's great, and that I know things are probably no picnic for them, because racism can cause identity issues with mixed kids. She agreed and then told me some stories about work from before I worked there, basically instances of racism she's run into over the years. Then I told her if she wanted to report it I'd have her back.
That was the last I saw her this past shift.
The whole time I kept thinking that I should have said something else, should have done something else, but I legitimately do not know what I should have done. As far as I'm aware, I don't think I can make the EEO complaint myself, and I also wouldn't do it if I could because she said she didn't want to and I respect my coworker.