Racist 'Banter'

[catch22]

I witnessed racist 'banter' recently. I felt shocked and uncomfortable but the recipient just laughed and genuinely seemed to enjoy the comment. Totally threw me.

I doubt they enjoyed it, more they didnt know how to react, and treated it as banter and shrugged it off.... what else could they do... because any other reaction would have caused a problem....
Behaviour like this is unacceptable. you need to say something.

[TeeferTiger]

There's no such thing as racist banter. There's disgusting racial slurs and witty back and forths between staff members.

[somerset]

I was once asked by a fellow postman where so and so was ? I said " Just two doors down from the Paki shop. " He said you can't say that . Okay then " Patels "

[unhappy union member]

i am often the butt of racist banter it does not bother me in the slightest if i know the person who use it as i often say stuff about them if is banter between friends i don't think it an issue. maybe you should speak to the person it was aimed at before you do anything.

[Tman]

Dead on. If the "victim" appears upset by the exchange then you must do something about it, but getting all "oh I'm so upset for you hearing this dreadful racist comments" if the recipient was happily playing along with it just smacks of the same old touchy-feely crap infesting society these days.

{Cue the "but how do you know he was happy with it...?" type comments here}

Clearly it depends on the "relationship" between the two parties involved; what's acceptable between long-standing work-mates who can appreciate the fine line between humour and abuse would be very different to how a complete stranger would be spoken to.
Squinnying to the boss over how (say) Jock, Taff and Brummie take the rise from each other won't make anyone too popular though, and only further debases the long-standing efforts to combat abuse.

[chickenwittle]

is john terry a postie now then

[Budfrog]

This is such a tricky subject believe me and you really need to be there and know the characters involved to determine the exact situation. My view is to steer well clear of any comments around race/religion etc but there are times when it all becomes a little too PC and people feel like they are treading on eggshells. I am not condoning racist comments in any way but there are so many levels and some groups are more sensitive than others to any type of comment - I think overly so. Being of Irish decent I have taken on board the fact that from time to time jokes/comments will be made and 99% of the time it is totally innocent and my only qualms have been that I have heard them all before and it just gets tedious. In the workplace I would avoid any comments of this nature as even the most innocent comment can be mis-construed and before you know it things have escalated and got out of hand.

As a footnote by far the worst racist comments I have heard in RM was from a group of Asian Managers (Indian) to a group of Asian members of the public who happened to be Pakistani.

[fishtank]

The argument that two people may be such close friends that racist comments are acceptable is a bogus one.
What happens when a third person who isn't a close friend hears the comment and repeats it thinking it acceptable?
Does he deserve to get sacked because he's not a "friend"?
Do other people of the same race as the target have to listen to these comments just because the racist and target are allegedly close friends?
They might not be friends with either of them.
If you feel the need to make racist comments to show your love save it for home time not the workplace..

Apart from anything else it's very likely to be viewed as gross misconduct if reported so why would anyone try to find a justifiable level for something that your employer won't recognise...that's just bad advice.
Is there a justifiable level of theft,wilful delay,violence etc..?

[demon]

so we can see how racist or offensive it was then we could tell you what we would do

[Tman]

="fishtank"]
What happens when a third person who isn't a close friend hears the comment and repeats it thinking it acceptable?

No idea, but trying to out-think the dumb-arses of the world has occupied Mankind for centuries. We ought to be way above "monkey see monkey do" in the 21st century.

Is there a justifiable level of theft,wilful delay,violence etc..?

Here we go again, off into the world of "ah yeah buts...." totally unrelated to the point.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

so we can see how racist or offensive it was then we could tell you what we would do

That would be difficult without any context, and if he provided context that might damage his anonymity. The OP considered it to be racist that's all the context we need really.

I have been called a "Gwielo" and even a "Chi Sin Gwielo" in the past, one I considered racist, the other was banter with a respected colleague, but both can be considered either without context.

[fishtank]

Is there a justifiable level of theft,wilful delay,violence etc..?

Here we go again, off into the world of "ah yeah buts...." totally unrelated to the point.

Your inability to see the connection doesn't mean there isn't one.
The connection and the reason i separated this point from the rest is that they,along with racism are offences which could lead to dismissal and as far as the employer is concerned have no justifiable level so the question was why are we trying to find one?
I'm sorry i didn't simplify that enough for you to understand.

[hampshireman]

Dead on. If the "victim" appears upset by the exchange then you must do something about it, but getting all "oh I'm so upset for you hearing this dreadful racist comments" if the recipient was happily playing along with it just smacks of the same old touchy-feely crap infesting society these days.

{Cue the "but how do you know he was happy with it...?" type comments here}

Clearly it depends on the "relationship" between the two parties involved; what's acceptable between long-standing work-mates who can appreciate the fine line between humour and abuse would be very different to how a complete stranger would be spoken to.
Squinnying to the boss over how (say) Jock, Taff and Brummie take the rise from each other won't make anyone too popular though, and only further debases the long-standing efforts to combat abuse.

Patronising.

Surely it's about what is appropriate to say. Whether the recipient of the comment hears or not ; is happy or not.

[Tman]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Go down half way and there's a piece titled "Big Jock" about Jock Stein. I'm so offended at this clearly racist comment, and from the BBC too. You really must be so devastated at this blatant racism, so keep arguing the toss Fishy if it makes you feel all liberal and warm inside. I'd rather keep a sense of perspective than look for problems, but there you go....

[hampshireman]

so we can see how racist or offensive it was then we could tell you what we would do

Have said before that I dont need to repeat what was said. I do know what is racist and what is not.