Racist References/Remarks or Just Opinions?

[Deactivated] on 25/08/2017 - 08:29
Last edited 25/08/2017 - 08:55 by 1 other user

Hi all,

So I got this job at a concierge at one of the Government Departments. I have a manager along with two other staff working at the same place.

I am not an Australian but I am Muslim from a Muslim country, another workmate is an Indian. This lady at work, sits next to the manager who is also an Australian and is her friend too, discusses things with us and ends up with saying bad things about Asian countries, people, faiths and the cultures they follow. She also says she is not a racist but even during talks about travelling, cultures, work, education, health etc she says she brings up a negativity and tells us.

I agree that the country we are from are still struggling with basic necessities and people are not literate however, they those are educated they know office ethics very well, I have worked with both Christians and Hindus and we never made feel they are minority.

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  ninetyNineCents on 26/08/2017 - 20:31

  +1

  i dont understand the comments being made by our friend in the post. THey talk about not being racist and yet the only way they identify people is via religion and ethnicity.

  Is our friend trying to say somebody at their work is racist ? It seems strange that their entire commentary is filled with religious judgement,a nd a completely disrespect for people who are not religious in anyway. In fact most people in australia are not religious, they rarely goto any church or religious building and so on.

  If you arent racist, then stop labelling people based on race, religion or any other broad label.

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  guo-au on 26/08/2017 - 21:50

  +2

  Expressing negativity towards a race or religion doesn't necessary mean racism. It's not unusual that an ethnic or religious group of people share a negative common. It's PC not to admit it. As a migrant, I feel main stream society are too sensitive in this area. The pure hatred towards an ethnic group is definitely racism. But I don't think expressing objective negative opinions is racism. So it comes down to whether it's objective.

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  Tuftsdude on 26/08/2017 - 23:18

  I haven't had a lot of time to read other comments - but a lot of Aussies are lazy racists*. I've always had trouble at first because people might see me as different, but I get along well with everyone as soon as they get to know me. Some people at one of my work sites, including bosses, never liked me, and it was obvious. You might run into workplace bullying, don't let others take advantage of you. Do your job to the best of your abilities, be kind to everyone, the bigger man, take criticism well and go home at the end of the day. But don't let others take advantage of you. That was my mistake, I learnt to stand up for myself.

  *An English guy, who deals with a lot of people for a living told me this and I agreed. But nevertheless, many are kind hearted, whereever you go there is good and bad. I love all my Aussie friends.

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  Jabberwocky on 26/08/2017 - 23:24

  -1

  Grow up she is not being racist.
  She is just talking about negative things she finds in certain cultures…SO WHAT ?
  Have you never discussed negative things in other cultures, especially for hindus from India (whom you despise & wanna kill as they are infidels according to your society) given you are Pakistani ?

  She is sharing her perspective, your complaint will also not go far as she is not shooting any racist comment but discussing negative practices.

  If you cannot have an open mind you better change your line of work and restrict yourself to a job/business where you have minimal contact with Aussies.

  THIS IS AUSTRALIA, not Pakistan.

  And fortunately for us neither do you have the comfort and ease of Blasphemy law of Pakistan that you can report a non muslim to authorities to be sent to gallows just on a complaint as she cited negative things in your culture

  Suck it up and keep working or find something else where you can adjust freely !!

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    [Deactivated] on 27/08/2017 - 03:07

    -3

    "Have you never discussed negative things in other cultures, especially for hindus from India (whom you despise & wanna kill as they are infidels according to your society) given you are Pakistani ?"

    Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahaha. Lol. Never lauged so hard mate. Lol. Pakistans population is 196m and i am just thinking if we (pakistanis) want to kill hindus because they are "infidels" and shouldn't live then we could have killed millions of them by now. Or finished all hindu minorities who live in Pk (including my best uni friend) But what you are saying is complete BS and define what a BS person you are.

    Nah, I am not going to change my work because of one person being unreasonable. So better keep your worthless suggestions to yourself but i loved to read your comment it seriously made me laugh. You got a unique bogan way of answering things. Keep it up!

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      Jabberwocky on 27/08/2017 - 08:32

      +1

      "Unique Bogan way of answering things"

      The line you have just used is exactly why you have written the post. Should I now scream RACISM!!?
      But I can't coz m white, Australian , sensible. U do, coz ur not..PERFECT privilege for people like you.
      If we say, it's Racism, if you do it's a comment.

      And….
      Do not claim greatness for your kind. A simple Google will tell all of us what have you done to Hindus in Pakistan, raped killed forced conversion of their daughters to bear Muslim children. You should feel lucky that 1bn Hindus across your border don't want to finish $196Mn Muslim else life would have been less stressful on this planet for all of us, if Indians did.

      We all know your world famous Blasphemy case against poor old Christian lady whom your govt wants to kill.

      Stop acting special and get on with your work!
      Feel lucky that you are here else you can go back to killing Christians and Hindus in Pakistan

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        [Deactivated] on 27/08/2017 - 09:05

        -1

        They never crossed the line and they dont want to kill each other because they are not an idiot and keyboard junky like you are. So yeah stop proving yourself a bogan. Take chill pill.

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  demiurge on 26/08/2017 - 23:25

  She also says she is not a racist

  LOL that's the telling sign of a racist. Those who aren't never feel the need to say that. But honestly OP if you disagree with things she says then you should just say you disagree first, instead of calling her a racist on an internet forum, which won't solve anything. In fact I suggest you buy her some eneloops or voss water to improve relationship.

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    [Deactivated] on 27/08/2017 - 09:35

    Um. I dont remember mentioning her a racist. Instead I asked the forum what they think.

    Eneloop and voss water :D

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  Findo on 26/08/2017 - 23:48

  +1

  What you need to do is drink another watermelon cruiser and chill out

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    [Deactivated] on 27/08/2017 - 02:52

    And drive.

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  Findo on 27/08/2017 - 00:04

  +3

  Seriously OP, if you don't consider yourself Australian despite claiming to have citizenship, we could do with better immigrants who are grateful in this country. First and foremost you are Australian before your religion if you hold citizenship. You're also a really good troll btw, 10/10 effort.

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    [Deactivated] on 27/08/2017 - 02:50

    I said i am not an aust born. Lol dude you seriously need focus classes.

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    [Deactivated] on 27/08/2017 - 02:51

    • for you.
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    [Deactivated] on 27/08/2017 - 03:09

    First and foremost you are Australian before your religion if you hold citizenship…

    I didn't know there was a priority order.
    Is that written on the lining of your mother's underwear?

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      Jabberwocky on 27/08/2017 - 08:38

      @Angrychicken

      Yes there is a priority order, not sure about the complete sequence..

      But definitely know, and confident that it starts with
      COUNTRY FIRST, I'm our case AUSTRALIA FIRST

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      [Deactivated] on 27/08/2017 - 09:20

      Lmao.

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    lookatthesizeofthat on 27/08/2017 - 05:01

    +1

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  [Deactivated] on 27/08/2017 - 03:06

  I'm not racist - i hate all races equally.

  Here's the definition of racial discrimination under the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) just to confuse everybody…

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    [Deactivated] on 27/08/2017 - 03:08

    Damn it. :D

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      [Deactivated] on 27/08/2017 - 03:17

      This is my serious face.

      You should poke around here to help understand what is lawful and what is unlawful when it comes to racial discrimination.

      Once you understand where the boundaries are, you'll be in a better position to respond when folk conduct themselves inappropriately in a work environment. This is Astwaya, and you shouldn't have to take shit from anyone, unless that anyone is me.

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        [Deactivated] on 27/08/2017 - 03:24

        Thanks mate. I think I got my answer from some of the comments above. But its interesting to know how some people accused me for portraying her as a racist. But i clearly asked if her comments are just opinions or racist remarks.

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        [Deactivated] on 27/08/2017 - 03:29

        @twoperspectives:

        I haven't read the comments above.

        Where i've pointed you is the right place to go, as it's not a straight forward area. For example you'll see in the definition of racial discrimination that it refers to "race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin", so unlawful discrimination can arise beyond any narrow conception of 'race'.

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        [Deactivated] on 27/08/2017 - 03:56

        @AngryChicken: sure. I'll have a look.

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        lookatthesizeofthat on 27/08/2017 - 04:53

        @twoperspectives: I think her comments are opinions.

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  [Deactivated] on 27/08/2017 - 06:35

  what is religion other than organized brain washing ? have some balls and have a God personal to you :) I don't share my deity with anyone :) or try and get anyone to believe in mine and I see this mass hysteria about mass religion's and wonder why they cant think for themselves that they have to just follow blindly makes me sad.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptzrY7JuG_4

  

  [Deactivated] on 27/08/2017 - 06:35 (Collapsed - Offtopic. Show)
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    [Deactivated] on 27/08/2017 - 09:11

    Religion is not the topic here. Read the topic.

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      [Deactivated] on 27/08/2017 - 09:51

      all racism is based on religion sad but true.

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  greatlamp on 27/08/2017 - 09:15

  +1

  Your coworkers comments seem to be insensitive, but the fact that they are made publicly and in front of all the other coworkers means that they don't intend or realise that they are insulting you.

  I'm sure you can work out if someone is making an insult againt you.

  I would suggest next time they cross the line by making a statement that insults you, point it out (in a non aggressive way) by continuing the conversation

  … "thats not fair I have family from that country and those stereotypes don't apply to them"

  This makes them have to address if their comments are directed at you. If you do this a few times they will think about what they say in future.

  Everyone here saying that all racists say "I'm not racist".
  No, actual racists don't care if they offend the people they don't like. They won't say I'm not racist.

  Someone who is ignorant, and holds many negative stereotypes, but still treats you like everyone else, is not discriminating against you, they are just a rude person.

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  LustStarrr on 27/08/2017 - 11:42

  I recently came across this video in which Neil Degrasse Tyson appeared on Q&A several years ago & was asked about racism in Australia in relation to the Adam Goodes racial slurs in AFL that were in the news at the time. His perspective was quite enlightening on the tendency in Australia that I notice is quite commonplace, where race is used as a classification to differentiate people from the 'norm', which is why it can lead to negative attitudes & behaviour. The act of classifying people as 'other' to what is viewed as normal, or as not belonging, is the root of many of the problems we see played out here, & overseas. Without the ability to look beyond classifications & view humanity as equal, I fear that this classification your co-worker is demonstrating, linked with the negative connotations she has about certain races, etc. may impact on her ability to act in a non-discriminatory manner if it goes unchecked. I agree with the above suggestion to discuss it with HR if you feel comfortable in doing so, or even pointing out the biases gently to her when she raises them, if it won't sully your working relationship. Perhaps she's unaware of her inherent racial biases to some degree.

  Oh, & of course there's also the other possibility that she's completely aware of her biases, & thus is another example of someone precluding racism by stating, 'I'm not racist, but…' - that is quite often the case.

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  AustriaBargain on 27/08/2017 - 11:58

  Older people are set in their ways. They grew up in a different time and their minds often solidify in that time. You need to be patient when educating them. Usually they are good people at heart they just aren’t woke to the real world.

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  yellowrain on 27/08/2017 - 12:25

  OP, what did the Indian say ?

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