Shocked by racist and sexist joke made by Council President

tigerballs

Hi All
Basically Im just back from a social function put on by a local council (whom I work for) to thank volunteers in the community. Towards the end of the evening the Council President who was hosting the event told me a really shocking Racist and sexist joke Directly relating to a certain section of people in his community, Now I am not too surprised at this, elderly man set in his ways and I have heard him give out before and realized he has a certain mindset , but this Joke ( not at all funny BTW) was Shocking , designed for only one end. Demeaning people.

Except he is the council elected leader and this area is not renowned for its treatment of people from other than a Local Anglo Saxon background, this attitude is making clear to me what has been happening in the area I work .
Casual racism and discrimination as well as a denial of services to people who are viewed to be different in the area.

Morally I'm in a dilemma here.. I know there is not much I can do. making a official compliant at work will just see me highlighted as a trouble maker. and probably pushed out sometime in the future . I could kick up a huge fuss but I really don't have enough to complain about or do I?
Its not Like I was personally discriminated against...

Im pretty sure I cannot carry on with this as I really am anti racist and believe in equality for all and also that places like where I work should do even more for these marginalized people rather than just focus on their own peer groups. I am pretty sickened to be honest

What to do??

ivytwine

Did you say anything at the time?

The_Conductor

Do you youself, have an issue with his 'joke' and if so- what are you willing to do about it?

tigerballs

I said at the time "I will remember what you have told me " which maybe was not what he expected to hear.

And yes, Obviously I have a issue with this "joke" Casual racism of this sort from a person who is in a position is just not on i think.

you are right though, The big question I have to ask myself is what am I wiling to do about it?

jeni

Maybe email, or say it to him direct, it was in bad taste, and leave it at that

Zen65

tigerballs wrote: »

I could kick up a huge fuss but I really don't have enough to complain about or do I?
Its not Like I was personally discriminated against...

If I understand what happened correctly, nobody was discriminated against.

In recent years there has been an increasing trend in people claiming that any form of reference to an ethnic group or other nationality is 'racist', but that really is not the case. A joke is a joke. A national newspaper in the UK referred to Frankie Boyle (comedian with a reputation for telling 'racist' jokes) as being a 'racist' in one of their stories and he took them to court for libel. He won the case, very clearly, and the newspaper had to pay out a few thousand pounds to him, which he gave to a charity.

If the chairman made a joke in bad taste (and many jokes are, depending on your own taste) then you could let him know you don't like the joke. However to suggest that this amounts to racism on his part is incorrect. You may choose to be offended by a joke (and it is your choice) but racism is racism and there are no choices involved.

It is racist if he discriminates against an ethnic group in the delivery of any services to that group, or if he alters the priority, cost, quality etc of service to a group on the basis of their race alone. So, for example, if he refuses to employ somebody from an ethnic background on the basis of race alone (even if his reasons are that the other staff might object to working with that person) then this is a racist act, and in this country* that is illegal.

A person is free to tell whatever jokes they wish in the workplace, unless there is a specific policy prohibiting such. If a colleague objects on the basis of (say) harassment then it is normally the case that the joker would be expected to cease telling these jokes. You cannot however insist that people stop telling jokes on the basis of not liking the topic (e.g. jokes about the local football team) but you can certainly object to jokes which can reasonably be grounds for making you feel uncomfortable (e.g. sexist jokes). Where a joker ignores a request to cease and persists in repeatedly telling such jokes then there are grounds for a case of workplace harassment.

Op, what I'm saying is this: For you to "kick up a huge fuss" might simply highlight that your objective judgement is poor. Of course in today's world of sound-bites you would be listened to at first, and then rational reason would be applied and the matter would most likely be dropped, leaving you looking foolish, and also throwing muck at a man who will not be enamoured by the event. It certainly will not help either of your careers, and at the end of the day it will not reduce real racism by any amount. If you really want to help stamp out racism, look at how the council applies its services and see if there's evidence of any discrimination there.

All of the above advice is predicted on the assumption that the joke told was a standard Jimmy Carr / Frankie Boyle 'edgy' joke, rather than the telling of an actual event that occurred involving real racism. We don't know what he said so the advice is offered on the basis of what information you have provided.

Be at peace,

Z


* I'm not familiar with laws in Australia

Spiritiser

tigerballs wrote: »

Hi All
Basically Im just back from a social function put on by a local council (whom I work for) to thank volunteers in the community. Towards the end of the evening the Council President who was hosting the event told me a really shocking Racist and sexist joke Directly relating to a certain section of people in his community, Now I am not too surprised at this, elderly man set in his ways and I have heard him give out before and realized he has a certain mindset , but this Joke ( not at all funny BTW) was Shocking , designed for only one end. Demeaning people.

Except he is the council elected leader and this area is not renowned for its treatment of people from other than a Local Anglo Saxon background, this attitude is making clear to me what has been happening in the area I work .
Casual racism and discrimination as well as a denial of services to people who are viewed to be different in the area.

Morally I'm in a dilemma here.. I know there is not much I can do. making a official compliant at work will just see me highlighted as a trouble maker. and probably pushed out sometime in the future . I could kick up a huge fuss but I really don't have enough to complain about or do I?
Its not Like I was personally discriminated against...

Im pretty sure I cannot carry on with this as I really am anti racist and believe in equality for all and also that places like where I work should do even more for these marginalized people rather than just focus on their own peer groups. I am pretty sickened to be honest

What to do??

No surprise. that is what Council Presidents and other self appointed custodian s of society are really like. All smile when in public different behind the scenes

Santa Cruz

Why not e mail him, tell him that you thought that the joke was racist and offensive and see his response. If he believes on mature reflection that it was he may apologise. If not then you should stand up for your principles or alternatively say nothing because you don't want to be branded a trouble maker. This may make you feel cowardly but if so your anti racism principles mustn't be very important to you.

tigerballs

Thanks for the replies and yes my principles are important to me.This so called joke/story was pretty nasty and im not easily offended . but life is often not in black and white and maybe letting my principles lead me into immediate action may not be wise either.

An update, so today back in work I decided to approach my immediate superior about this issue first. I thought about emailing or requesting to have a meeting with the individual in question but was advised by a co worker who was equally appalled to speak to my manager first.
Now these people were initially upset then baffled someone who would say stuff like this while representing the council. he could have been easily overheard etc and that is a good point , another co worker pointed out that this is the latest in a series of increasingly over the top (and the worst they have heard) comments from this man as well as some behavior issues, he is old and seems like a decent person. This is absolutely the first time I have heard him speak like this, although I had heard from others he was not exactly tolerant to begin with and in the past there have been a lot of issues with indigenous people in the area looking for Government funding support and assistance been constantly blocked by the council while he has been President.

I am in a position to do something about this and as I said previously I despise racism and all that ****, but Maybe I should file this one and wait and see what develops. I would not hesitate to give my opinion on him and this council to anyone if I thought it would make a difference.

up for anything

I'm not wanting to be a grammar nazi but I feel I should point out that indigenous is not the correct word to use in the context you mean. Indigenous means native. I think you mean non-national or whatever the term that is used now.

Pawwed Rig

up for anything wrote: »

I feel I should point out that indigenous is not the correct word to use in the context you mean. Indigenous means native. I think you mean non-national or whatever the term that is used now.

I think she is talking about aborigines in Australia

seachto7

Email him, and see what his response is. Are you a journalist?