Real-life examples of interpersonal racism
Sep. 5th, 2008 08:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dreamer_easyFor a number of reasons, it can be hard for White people to accept that People of Colour still experience direct, personal racism. So, further to my previous postings about racial discrimination and stress, I wanted to provide some concrete examples.
I've been reading recent Annual Reports from Australia's Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (just renamed the Australian Human Rights Commission), which includes case studies of some of the complaints which were upheld. (You can learn more about the complaints process itself at the site. The issue here is that there was sufficient evidence to confirm that each of these incidents really happened.)
If you're White and these incidents make your blood pressure rise, you can begin to imagine the effect they must have had on the stress levels of the POC on the receiving end. (Recall, also, that the highest risk for low birthweight amongst African American mothers was for women reporting at least three such incidents.)
- An Aboriginal labour constantly called called things like "half-caste" and "coon" by his co-workers.
- An man from an African background locked out of his flat and told "Go back to your country you black bastard" and "f*** off you black c***".
- Another African man sexually taunted by his coworkers, who told him women wanted his "big black c**k" and demonstrated by making one and leaving it in his toolbox.
- A receptionist from a Lebanese background who quit her job after being both sexually harassed and subjected to comments like "If it was up to me, I would not have hired you. I hate Arabs, I always have".
- Two African men subjected to comments from their factory supervisor such as "Black idiot", "Come here, you f****** African", "Hey you, black man, you’re rubbish", "You eat like a monkey" and "Go back to Africa".
- "Four Aboriginal men complained that when they went to get a drink at a local club with a non-Aboriginal friend, the barman told them that the club does not serve beer to Aboriginal people." (Discrimination complaints are generally resolved through conciliation, and this is a pleasing example: "The matter was resolved with the complainants agreeing to accept a verbal apology from the club owner and an offer to attend the club and have a drink with him.")
Let me quote a couple in more detail:
- "The complainant, who is of Chinese ethnic origin, alleged that when travelling with a group of students of the same ethnic background, a flight attendant acted in a rude and racist manner towards her and the students. The complainant claimed that when boarding the plane the flight attendant told her the group could not have their allocated seats near the exit and when she queried this, the flight attendant asked her if she could speak English. The complainant said that despite advising the flight attendant that she had lived in Australia for approximately 30 years, the group was told they could not sit in an exit row and were moved to the back of the plane."
- "The complainant, who is over 45 years of age and of Sri Lankan background, alleged discrimination on the basis of his race and age in his employment as a warehouse assistant with the respondent company. He claimed that another employee who was younger than him and of Anglo-Saxon background was given better hours and provided with more assistance than he was. The complainant also claimed that this employee of Anglo-Saxon background would stare at him and make comments such as Black bastards and Black arse holes whenever he walked by. Additionally, the complainant alleged that he had not been given promotions and salary increments due to him and had only been paid half of the bonuses paid to other staff."
It goes on and on, exhaustingly. But you get the idea: this stuff isn't just in people's minds, or in the past; it really is happening, right now.
I've been reading recent Annual Reports from Australia's Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (just renamed the Australian Human Rights Commission), which includes case studies of some of the complaints which were upheld. (You can learn more about the complaints process itself at the site. The issue here is that there was sufficient evidence to confirm that each of these incidents really happened.)
If you're White and these incidents make your blood pressure rise, you can begin to imagine the effect they must have had on the stress levels of the POC on the receiving end. (Recall, also, that the highest risk for low birthweight amongst African American mothers was for women reporting at least three such incidents.)
- An Aboriginal labour constantly called called things like "half-caste" and "coon" by his co-workers.
- An man from an African background locked out of his flat and told "Go back to your country you black bastard" and "f*** off you black c***".
- Another African man sexually taunted by his coworkers, who told him women wanted his "big black c**k" and demonstrated by making one and leaving it in his toolbox.
- A receptionist from a Lebanese background who quit her job after being both sexually harassed and subjected to comments like "If it was up to me, I would not have hired you. I hate Arabs, I always have".
- Two African men subjected to comments from their factory supervisor such as "Black idiot", "Come here, you f****** African", "Hey you, black man, you’re rubbish", "You eat like a monkey" and "Go back to Africa".
- "Four Aboriginal men complained that when they went to get a drink at a local club with a non-Aboriginal friend, the barman told them that the club does not serve beer to Aboriginal people." (Discrimination complaints are generally resolved through conciliation, and this is a pleasing example: "The matter was resolved with the complainants agreeing to accept a verbal apology from the club owner and an offer to attend the club and have a drink with him.")
Let me quote a couple in more detail:
- "The complainant, who is of Chinese ethnic origin, alleged that when travelling with a group of students of the same ethnic background, a flight attendant acted in a rude and racist manner towards her and the students. The complainant claimed that when boarding the plane the flight attendant told her the group could not have their allocated seats near the exit and when she queried this, the flight attendant asked her if she could speak English. The complainant said that despite advising the flight attendant that she had lived in Australia for approximately 30 years, the group was told they could not sit in an exit row and were moved to the back of the plane."
- "The complainant, who is over 45 years of age and of Sri Lankan background, alleged discrimination on the basis of his race and age in his employment as a warehouse assistant with the respondent company. He claimed that another employee who was younger than him and of Anglo-Saxon background was given better hours and provided with more assistance than he was. The complainant also claimed that this employee of Anglo-Saxon background would stare at him and make comments such as Black bastards and Black arse holes whenever he walked by. Additionally, the complainant alleged that he had not been given promotions and salary increments due to him and had only been paid half of the bonuses paid to other staff."
It goes on and on, exhaustingly. But you get the idea: this stuff isn't just in people's minds, or in the past; it really is happening, right now.
