Interpersonal Skills Stack Exchange
Interpersonal Skills Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [racial-issues]

For questions regarding race, ethnicity, and origin. This tag is not uniquely applied to racism or discrimination, it applies to any questions with the aforementioned criteria.

31 questions
71
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14 answers

How do I respond to racist remarks from a coworker?

Recently, I've had a couple short conversations with a coworker that have taken a racist turn, and I'm not really sure how to respond. We don't work directly together, but often see each other in passing and say "hello". For example, today he asked…
lucasvw
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69
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10 answers

How to politely deal with white people wanting to talk to me about racism/race issues

Now this is a sensitive topic, and I do not wish to offend anyone's sensibilities - but at the same time, I want to know of an effective way of dealing with the disproportionate emotional work required of me, as a black male living in a white…
user16607
38
votes
6 answers

How to react when someone makes a racially charged joke about their own heritage

I have a friend who is a research scientist of Mexican descent. Before a work meeting, as he was wiping off the whiteboards to begin a presentation, he joked "This is the part that my people are best at!" What's an appropriate reaction when someone…
Thomas Johnson
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11 answers

How can I effectively tell people that their defensiveness over me bringing up an issue is part of the issue?

Seems like it would be kind of self evident, but it's something that I encounter fairly often when talking to some folks about issues of discrimination and bias that drives me crazy... When someone from a minority group says "that's…
apaul
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3 answers

How can I respond to "It's because I'm " as a rebuttal to a request?

Occasionally I hear or encounter "it's because I'm " as a response to an objectionable request to the claimant. The claimant is usually a minor who in my experience is 1.) Not very respectful in general and 2.) Not…
Sidney
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19
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8 answers

What is the right way to refer to someone with dark brown skin who is not African American?

I had a conversation recently where someone was deathly afraid of referring to a person by their skin color. It went something like this: Coworker: One of the people on the other team came by and said he wanted talk with you. Me: What was his…
Thunderforge
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2 answers

How do I support a friend on Social Media who contacted me directly about something I don't want to be involved in?

This has to do with the events going on regarding racism and discrimination. A good friend of mine is black. He recently posted something on social media saying "if you say 'all lives matter' please unfriend me". He messaged me sending me a picture…
user29833
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4 answers

How can I recover from an accusation of racism at work?

The context In February last year I started a new job. I started the same day and in the same position as another person we'll call Ed. Our offices are across the hall from one another. I'm a white woman, he's a black male. We work in a large…
Stacy
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17
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8 answers

How to recover from being falsely seen as a racist?

So here is the story: It was a Saturday night and my wife and I were sitting outside, drinking. We've already had a few drinks and we were talking, listening to music, in a good mood if you will. I see about 5 or 6 houses down from ours (we live in…
Crazy Cucumber
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How to respond to an older colleague who uses sub-optimal phrasing when referring to other racial groups?

I'm in a community organization in Texas that interacts with and reaches out to people of all ethnic groups, though most of the members are "white". I'm a new member of this organization and recently attended a big meeting where the members were put…
Catija
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How to handle a younger sibling being verbally bullied, with sometimes racist remarks, at school?

My younger sister tells me she's having trouble at her new middle school; one of these is that a boy, who tends to be the class clown and troublemaker, makes fun of her underbite. I told her to notify her teacher about these insults and to…
user182
13
votes
2 answers

Friendly co worker suddenly distant/rude because of different views

There is a very nice co worker at my office. Every morning he comes to my desk and we chat for about fifteen minutes about how our kids are doing and whatnot. I really enjoy these morning conversations. At one point both him and I had to go through…
Quillion
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How could I have better handled telling this minority woman I liked her cultural hairstyle?

Background This happened in Netherlands. I have some mixed ancestry. I mostly look like a Dutch person, except for my curly bush of hair and my olive skin. In school I got bullied a lot because of my hair. I've only recently stopped straightening my…
Belle
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Happy Juneteenth?

I recently learned about Juneteenth. For anyone not familiar: Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. From its Galveston, Texas origin in 1865, the observance of June 19th as the…
thehole
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1 answer

How to deal with racism in shops and restaurants?

I'm Israeli. I travel to the UK about twice a year. I generally try to be polite and pleasant around people, so very often a smiling waitress in a café or an assistant in a shop would ask me where I'm from. It's a safe question, right? Like the…
Galastel supports GoFundMonica
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