what would you do

[helenofcalifornia]

What struck me about the conversation is how open he was about his racism. Tells me that he gets away with this type of "joking" all the time and no one calls him on it. I would have told a supervisor about the conversation after telling the offended guy I was going to do so. Not in an official capacity, just so their is a trail if the racist strikes again so openly. Feeder driver?

[ajblakejr]

What struck me about the conversation is how open he was about his racism. Tells me that he gets away with this type of "joking" all the time and no one calls him on it. I would have told a supervisor about the conversation after telling the offended guy I was going to do so. Not in an official capacity, just so their is a trail if the racist strikes again so openly. Feeder driver?

Exactly!!!

[trplnkl]

What struck me about the conversation is how open he was about his racism. Tells me that he gets away with this type of "joking" all the time and no one calls him on it. I would have told a supervisor about the conversation after telling the offended guy I was going to do so. Not in an official capacity, just so their is a trail if the racist strikes again so openly. Feeder driver?

Freight driver.

[stevetheupsguy]

ok this is no joke.....i witnessed something VERY immature and stupid by a driver last week


i was washing my hands in the bathroom...a black driver walks in...then a white, lets just say good ol boy, whos never been to our terminal, walks in

black driver grabs paper towels, damps it and starts wiping his face

and billy bob said "you can wipe all you want that poopskin aint comin off"

black driver handled it the best way possible in my opinion.....at work atleast...something along the lines of "that is racist, that is harrasment, i have a witness here(me) and if you ever say something like that to me again ill make sure you dont have a job"

white guy walks out without saying anything else......i ask the black driver if he knew that guy and he said no....and the white guy had told me earlier in the day that it was his first time coming to our terminal

so im asking....would you of reported it? not from my standpoint, i mean if you were the black driver would you report it?

by the way before somebody says it, i dont think I should report it......its not my business but if the black guy was to report it and they did ask me if i heard what he said i would tell them exactly what the guy said

to me, the whole "dont snitch on your union brothers" thing goes out the window when they disrespect the hell out of 1 or more of their union brothers

From your post it looks as though you are the offended party. If you are that offended, report it. If not all that offended, I believe the gentleman defended his honor properly and it is time to move on.

ok i understand that but just because its a hot topic you automatically assumed i would go and report a middle eastern person when i already said i wont report the white guy who did this

you made a big assumption about me with absolutely no basis when you said "i bet you would report the middle eastern person for doing it"






that would make more sense but thats not what she said..she said the middle eastern person was the one making the remark

She made no assumption, but was just wondering where you stood. Take it easy. You ask a question and you'll get all sorts of answers, even those you don't agree with.

but it is what it is

Does this really mean anything? Why not just use some words and express yourself instead of some catch phrase?

first of all, we don't use the term "black" anymore. African American is the preferred term. I am deeply offended. Hello, moderators, do your jobs.

I'm not joking here, in my house we don't use the word black when referring to African American. We use the word brown. Black is a color that fades to gray, not brown. We don't use the word white when we describe a caucasian, either. Most of the time we don't use color description, as it's not needed.

When talking about your friend, do you actually say, my black friend Steve or my white friend Bob? Why is everyone so stuck on color differences, when we're all striving for pretty much the same things in life? JMHO, as always.

This is the problem with people now-a-days, it didn't happen to me so its not my problem. I would have reported this incident and mention to HR that IF the offending party wants to file a complaint then I would be available if any more information is needed.

Racial,sexual, or any kind of harassment will not be tolerated in today's working environment. I don't feel the need to advise the offended person I reported the incident. If he wants to report this person,HR can put two and two together.

Very well said, BB.

over9five detailed how I would have handled this situation...


This behavior is 100% unacceptable.

Behavior uncorrected is reinforced as acceptable. The "good 'ol boy" may have felt safe to make such a comment because you had "bonded" in an earlier brief conversation.

In a strange perverted way, the 'ol boy may think you are now "buds".

I am willing to bet the next time he sees you...he already feels a brotherhood with you. Let him come to you...be kind...say hello. Then explain to him that his behavior was unacceptable as a UPSer and as a human.

Good point, AJ.

AJ, Trp (and others) I think in the end you are right. Over, had the best response. I tend to dive headlong into things (especially things that tend to piss me off), like a bull in a china shop. I still would have reported it, and maybe wrongly so, but I still would have.

I'll get you some band aids, but please, don't ever stop being YOU.

[dilligaf]

Steve, I doubt there is any possibility of me not being me. Of course the bandaids would come in handy. Thanks.

[toonertoo]

Pretty sad in 2009. It does not would not happen here. Its a respect thing. I probably wouldnt need to report it, I woulda tore the guy a new a-hole. And he would be reporting me. Now if they knew each other that would be different, this seems to me a form or intimidation. Not saying its right, but it is different. Guys where I work joke about their own race and thats Ok. so while I think the race thing is generally overplayed, its a-holes like that that keep it alive.

[dannyboy]

i didnt really take offense to the joke cuz im not black.......if i was black i would of took offense

Let me see if I understand what you just said.

The guy makes a statement that would offend you if you were black, but since you are not, you didnt see anything wrong with what was said.

That, sir, is the definition of a racist.

As long as you personally are not the subject of the slur, it does not bother you in the slightest. But let them make you the object of the slur, and all of a sudden, it becomes offensive?

Wrong is wrong, regardless.

Now, while I find it hard to believe that someone would say something like this, I do know some people that I would not put it past.

d

[stevetheupsguy]

I made a C.O.D delivery recently where the guy made a crude joke about Brown people. He said, do you know the difference between Brown people and dog crap? Before I could stop him, he sprang the punchline on me.

There were two things that bothered me most about this. #1 the guy himself was Brown. #2 I didn't even know this guy and he just blasts out with this silly joke. I collected the C.O.D. and left with a puzzled expression.

[NEFARIOUS]

All I can say is wow. I think in this case I would at least talk with the driver and let him know if he wants to press the issue I would be there to be a witness and support his side.

Richie

[dillweed]

What struck me about the conversation is how open he was about his racism. Tells me that he gets away with this type of "joking" all the time and no one calls him on it. I would have told a supervisor about the conversation after telling the offended guy I was going to do so. Not in an official capacity, just so their is a trail if the racist strikes again so openly. Feeder driver?

Helen - my heart is with you on what would be a good plan of action.

However, I feel that this would be a good way to get bit in the butt. The perception of the injured is what should be important here. If the man didn't perceive it as a slur it's no one else's place to put it in that catagory.

Telling the man you are going to report it could offend him, as if he were not capable of handling his own affairs or it could really piss him off if the remark was a common joke between them.

Reporting to management an issue we are not personally involved in could result in a er... target.

There are many, including myself, who would be offended just hearing the remark, no matter who it was directed at but I'd still hesitate before saying anything to management. They have a way of making mountains of molehills, twisting spoken words and screwing things up in general.

[speeddemon]

first of all, we don't use the term "black" anymore. African American is the preferred term. I am deeply offended. Hello, moderators, do your jobs.

Then I don't want to be called white, Caucasian, or European. From now on, I want to be addressed as the Irish American that I am.

[moreluck]

Slovak-American ?? No, I like American-White much better. And, my black girlfriend doesn't mind being called black and uses the term herself.....

[dannyboy]

first of all, we don't use the term "black" anymore. African American is the preferred term. I am deeply offended. Hello, moderators, do your jobs

Thats interesting. We have someone that once again is speaking on the behalf of several million people about preferences.

I have many "African Americans" that I work around and with, that refer to each other by terms that would get a white person in trouble or arrested should they use the same terms.

The very fact that you feel like you have to clarify "American" to me is racist. More than likely, you were born here, not Africa. So that makes you American 100%. Now me on the other hand, I was not born here, so that would make me "fill in the blank American" and the term would be proper.

So by the very fact you feel like you need to call yourself something else besides American just because of the color of your skin, in my view makes you a racist. Any person that wants to segment a population because of skin color, or highlight it or other differences is a racist.

So that would make your statement a racist statement.

But it seems like we have different rules that apply to different people, once again, dependent on skin color.

d

[dannyboy]

City

The more times I read your posts on this thread, the more I am convinced you are making the whole story up to see what responses you elicit.

And other things in your posts point to an indication that you are more than a bit racist, you just dont see it.

d

[City Driver]

thats ridiculous, i didnt make this up at all

and you just accused me and another guy of being racist when we said nothing to make u think that

im racist cuz im not reporting a racial slur used against a race other then my own? i dont agree with that

im also not gay, so when i hear gay jokes i dont cry about it

no they are not appropriate but they dont offend me cuz im not gay, or black