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So, there's a guy in the office, white, blond-haired, blue-eyed, het, typical thirty-something Aussie male, single. We're on conversational terms tending to friendly, but I'm not sure how much longer that's going to continue.
I've already shot him down for using the term 'gay' as a negative: "That's so gay." At which point he asked if I was gay and I said that I wasn't but it was still insulting to use the term as a negative descriptor. And, frankly, I'm still not sure he quite understood why it's an issue.
He sends jokes to people in the office - you know, those 'forwarded on' mails? The ones that appeal to the lowest common denominator and deliberately play on sexist stereotypes: 'perfect men vs. perfect women' etc.
Warning bells ringing yet?
Today, though, I got one about a Somalian immigrant who's getting free Medicare, food stamps, housing, social benefits, etc. He walks down a street and greets three people and tells them "thank you for letting me in your wonderful country". Of course, the first person is Croatian, the second is Turkish, the third is Indonesian. And he wonders where all the 'Australians' are. The Indonesian checks her watch and says, "they're probably at work."
Ba-dum-tish. Or not.
So, for starters, "immigrants" are all non-white - Somalian, Turkish, Croatian, Indonesian - and by implication, not "Australian". Following on from that, "immigrants" are only here for the freebies provided by social security (which, the punchline implies, are paid for by real - read, "white" - Australians) - so they're freeloaders. Finally, they don't work, so they're lazy bastards.
I sent back a polite mail explaining this and noting that, for me, personally, these kind of 'humour' mails were less amusing and more stressful and disheartening by what they implied about Australia and Australian attitudes. I don't know if he'll listen, let alone understand, but I had to say it.
Twenty years ago, this joke would have been about a Chinese, a Vietnamese, and a Japanese instead of a Croatian, Turk, or Indonesian. It would have been about my grandparents who came out here as businesspeople from China and Hong Kong; it would have been about my Mum who came out as a student, aged 12. It would have been about my uncles and aunts. And, ultimately, it would have been about me. Because this "joke" implies that anyone who looks like me, with a background like mine - isn't really Australian.
And, you know, that crossed my lines - hell, it tromped over them in steel-spiked boots.
There's a point at which enough is enough.
I've already shot him down for using the term 'gay' as a negative: "That's so gay." At which point he asked if I was gay and I said that I wasn't but it was still insulting to use the term as a negative descriptor. And, frankly, I'm still not sure he quite understood why it's an issue.
He sends jokes to people in the office - you know, those 'forwarded on' mails? The ones that appeal to the lowest common denominator and deliberately play on sexist stereotypes: 'perfect men vs. perfect women' etc.
Warning bells ringing yet?
Today, though, I got one about a Somalian immigrant who's getting free Medicare, food stamps, housing, social benefits, etc. He walks down a street and greets three people and tells them "thank you for letting me in your wonderful country". Of course, the first person is Croatian, the second is Turkish, the third is Indonesian. And he wonders where all the 'Australians' are. The Indonesian checks her watch and says, "they're probably at work."
Ba-dum-tish. Or not.
So, for starters, "immigrants" are all non-white - Somalian, Turkish, Croatian, Indonesian - and by implication, not "Australian". Following on from that, "immigrants" are only here for the freebies provided by social security (which, the punchline implies, are paid for by real - read, "white" - Australians) - so they're freeloaders. Finally, they don't work, so they're lazy bastards.
I sent back a polite mail explaining this and noting that, for me, personally, these kind of 'humour' mails were less amusing and more stressful and disheartening by what they implied about Australia and Australian attitudes. I don't know if he'll listen, let alone understand, but I had to say it.
Twenty years ago, this joke would have been about a Chinese, a Vietnamese, and a Japanese instead of a Croatian, Turk, or Indonesian. It would have been about my grandparents who came out here as businesspeople from China and Hong Kong; it would have been about my Mum who came out as a student, aged 12. It would have been about my uncles and aunts. And, ultimately, it would have been about me. Because this "joke" implies that anyone who looks like me, with a background like mine - isn't really Australian.
And, you know, that crossed my lines - hell, it tromped over them in steel-spiked boots.
There's a point at which enough is enough.
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Good for you for explaining, though. Let's hope it gets through his thick head.
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But hopefully he'll just cut it out already.
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Anyway, I let him know about this and why I took issue with it - and I didn't mention the word 'racist' once...
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It's an interesting question, actually, since our company is the Australian subsidiary of an American-owned company, with American HQ.
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He doesn't seem to get that he can hold any ideas he wants but the minute he starts inflicting said ideas on others, especially co-workers, he's going to get push back. I hope he does think about it but even if he doesn't, I'm glad you put him on notice.
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And then there are people who hold racist ideas - like those in the "joke" - and don't even realise how racist those attitudes are.
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*smooches you* Thanks for the link all the same.
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If you could see me, you would know that I am white. Some of my ancestors came over on the Mayflower. I may be descended from the son of Pocahontas and John Rolfe. Other ancestors were among the first white settlers of Manhattan Island, and close friends of Peter Stuyvesant. I'm related (as is former President Jimmy Carter) to "King" Carter, who was one of the biggest slaveholders in the Colony of Virginia. My family has been here for nearly 300 years.
My step-father, who is Palestinian, and who was sworn in as an American Citizen when I was 12, is as American as I am. In ways more so, because he earned it, with hard work and by jumping through the hoops and paying the fees. I got it handed to me on a silver platter along with the silver spoon that came in my mouth at birth.
That kind of willful ignorance and prejudice really ticks me off. Alas, the only effective way of countering it is continuing education, until the message is beaten into their thick skulls.
Not that I haven't needed some educating myself from time to time. I'm a work in progress too, but at least I want to learn. Privilege can be so blinding.
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Unfortunately, they don't seem to teach empathy anymore.
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