The not so Great Racism in Canada Thread

[lio45]

Clearly ssiguy did not read my post - the only reason this "problem" existed is that that ONE guy (as I pointed out, statistically, I likely have several gay employees, not just him) will loudly ping even the least sensitive gaydar out there.

Had he been an actually invisible minority, we wouldn't be talking about it.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by lio45

Clearly ssiguy did not read my post - the only reason this "problem" existed is that that ONE guy (as I pointed out, statistically, I likely have several gay employees, not just him) will loudly ping even the least sensitive gaydar out there.

Had he been an actually invisible minority, we wouldn't be talking about it.

This kind of thing annoys me because I've had friends who are obviously gay or trans and got harassed for it over and over (it's pretty much the norm for any person who does not conform closely to gender/sex expectations) while one justification bigots bring up is that homosexuality is just behaviour and so if you get picked out of a crowd for being GLBT it's your own fault for acting wrong. Aside from being cruel this is obviously a complete fantasy.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by esquire

There could be any number of personal reasons why someone had an off day or week at work... Ran a marathon, has new baby, having an argument with their significant other, having a sick relative, got sick/injured, etc. I think anyone who has spent some time in a workplace understands this.

A boss who is not willing to cut a little slack to an otherwise good employee, or does it only grudgingly while mocking who they are as a human being, is probably not a great person to work for.

As much as I privately agree with milomilo's definition, I wouldn't have told the Ramadan guy anything like that - that would just be unnecessarily mean. Had I wanted to get rid of him, I am sure I could have (on the grounds of subpar performance at work due to the poor guy being a combination of starving/weak/sleep-deprived; why that's the case is not my problem).

Everyone loves working for me so far so I don't think I'm a bad boss at all. Incidentally, I just spontaneously treated the Sunday day shift to excellent food again paid by me - they're in the break room enjoying it while I'm posting this. (It's 12:30 here.)

[lio45]

Originally Posted by someone123

This kind of thing annoys me because I've had friends who are obviously gay or trans and got harassed for it over and over (it's pretty much the norm for any person who does not conform closely to gender/sex expectations) while one justification bigots bring up is that homosexuality is just behaviour and so if you get picked out of a crowd for being GLBT it's your own fault for acting wrong. Aside from being cruel this is obviously a complete fantasy.

Yeah, it is annoying. And trust me, I did not like at all having to accommodate homophobia. I am nearly 100% certain the Conspicuously Gay Guy did not realize anything - it wasn't the first time we shuffled people around, we had done it plenty of times already (some of the positions have certain downsides and you don't want to force people to do the same thing all day long if you can help it) and I made sure to do it in a way that didn't raise suspicion.

Also to answer theman23, of course there's no written trace of anything - I would certainly not leave a paper trail showing I officially implemented an homophobe's complaint - which I technically did not: they didn't want to work with that guy (for reasons that were pretty obvious) so I shuffled some people around and everyone was happy afterwards, problem solved.

If some other (good) employee says "hey, you know what, I just don't really like working with [other employee]", I'm likely going to accommodate that, if I can. I don't even need a reason. In fact, not giving me a reason makes me more likely to grant the request. If you say the only reason you don't want to work with that collegue is because the collegue is black, you're making it way more difficult for me to oblige.

[Truenorth00]

Future Prime Minister arrested at a rally in Toronto.

• Video Link

[dleung]

Originally Posted by lio45

Yeah, it is annoying. And trust me, I did not like at all having to accommodate homophobia. I am nearly 100% certain the Conspicuously Gay Guy did not realize anything - it wasn't the first time we shuffled people around, we had done it plenty of times already (some of the positions have certain downsides and you don't want to force people to do the same thing all day long if you can help it) and I made sure to do it in a way that didn't raise suspicion.

Also to answer theman23, of course there's no written trace of anything - I would certainly not leave a paper trail showing I officially implemented an homophobe's complaint - which I technically did not: they didn't want to work with that guy (for reasons that were pretty obvious) so I shuffled some people around and everyone was happy afterwards, problem solved.

If some other (good) employee says "hey, you know what, I just don't really like working with [other employee]", I'm likely going to accommodate that, if I can. I don't even need a reason. In fact, not giving me a reason makes me more likely to grant the request. If you say the only reason you don't want to work with that collegue is because the collegue is black, you're making it way more difficult for me to oblige.

Um, what? In that scenario, wouldn't it be a simple matter of just firing the motherfucker?

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

Future Prime Minister arrested at a rally in Toronto.

• Video Link

Reality is stranger than fiction ...

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Reality is stranger than fiction ...

Trolls aren't just an online phenomenon....

[Corndogger]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

Trolls aren't just an online phenomenon....

Are you saying the guy was a troll?

[wave46]

Originally Posted by Corndogger

Are you saying the guy was a troll?

What do you think he was doing, if not attempting to stir the shit pot?

[Corndogger]

Originally Posted by wave46

What do you think he was doing, if not attempting to stir the shit pot?

Apparently the guy has mental health issues. He thought he was supporting BLM. The video Truenorth00 posted is heavily edited and probably purposefully so. I'd like to know why the person who threw water at him wasn't arrested. A police officer was right there and saw that. Different rules for different groups, I guess. Also a lot of jumping to conclusions.

There’s debate over this tactic but as of deadline it appears protests remained trouble free — except for the arrest of a man at Nathan Phillips Square with his face, neck and hands painted black. Called a “blackface Trudeau” by the offended crowd, he was doused with water before Toronto Police saved him from harm, whisking him away on a breach of the peace citation.

Turns out the smiling Toronto man, 28, has a history of non-criminal mental health challenges and actually thought he was supporting Black Lives Matter.

“He didn’t see anything wrong with it,” said a source.

Police arranged for his grateful and thankful mom to take him home.

“He didn’t mean any harm.”

Source: https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/warmington-anti-racism-protests-provoke-necessary-discussion

[theman23]

Do you really think the appropriate action would been to arrest a guy for throwing water? How tone deaf can you be?

[dreambrother808]

Originally Posted by casper

I have been in a management role for a very long time (both in corporate and small business). I am not certain I would have solved the problem by moving people around. I would start with sitting down with the person one on one and basically say: "Look here are the company values and that drives everything we do and we do it. You don't have to agree with them, you don't have to like them but we need to follow them."

Yes, I work in management for a major corporation and if I told my boss I was dealing with racial, religious, and sexuality issues in the way Lio has described I would worry about being fired. I wouldn’t disagree with that outcome.

[Corndogger]

Originally Posted by theman23

Do you really think the appropriate action would been to arrest a guy for throwing water? How tone deaf can you be?

You're okay with people throwing stuff in other people's faces? It sure didn't take long for one of you to prove my point. Have to admit I didn't think it would be you but you do have a tendency to shoot first and think later sometimes.

[dreambrother808]

Originally Posted by dleung

Um, what? In that scenario, wouldn't it be a simple matter of just firing the motherfucker?

Yes, it’s obvious tolerance of racist behaviour. Good luck defending that in a court of law. I guess if you’re self-employed you can still get away with living in the past. Or if you have been lucky in hiding it so far from your employers.

If your company policy is zero tolerance for such behaviour, then you can fire the person. If not, it would still require some kind of discipline. I don’t work in HR but that’s what I assume.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by dreambrother808

Yes, it’s obvious tolerance of racist behaviour. Good luck defending that in a court of law. I guess if you’re self-employed you can still get away with living in the past. Or if you have been lucky in hiding it so far from your employers.

If your company policy is zero tolerance for such behaviour, then you can fire the person. If not, it would still require some kind of discipline. I don’t work in HR but that’s what I assume.

In the real world there are shades of grey, sometimes people say stupid things, and it doesn't always make sense to instantly fire anybody who behaves incorrectly.

[dreambrother808]

Originally Posted by someone123

In the real world there are shades of grey, sometimes people say stupid things, and it doesn't always make sense to instantly fire anybody who behaves incorrectly.

Agreed but if I told someone in my company I didn’t want to work with them because they were black I’m fairly certain I would be fired. If I told my boss that about someone else I’m not sure what would happen but in no way would I be accommodated.

Companies have strict policies on certain issues because they work. They protect the company and the individual. They hold people accountable for their behaviour, rather than creating a grey area where none should exist.

[theman23]

Originally Posted by Corndogger

You're okay with people throwing stuff in other people's faces? It sure didn't take long for one of you to prove my point. Have to admit I didn't think it would be you but you do have a tendency to shoot first and think later sometimes.

You’d be shocked at the amount of water that gets thrown in people’s faces with no arrests being made. Nary a peep from the media. It’s the hidden epidemic.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by Corndogger

Are you saying the guy was a troll?

The cops who arrested him for his own safety and then charged him certainly thought so.

[Corndogger]

Originally Posted by theman23

You’d be shocked at the amount of water that gets thrown in people’s faces with no arrests being made. Nary a peep from the media. It’s the hidden epidemic.

Yeah, during water fights with willing participants.