Racist or not?

My big mouth has yet again gotten me into trouble.  Again. I think I was affected by a equality and diversity course I just took.

The "event" -  a co-worker who I like very much as a rule, was complaining about a caller she had just finished with and while I'm reasonably sure he was a miserable so and so, she said something to the effect of that is just how Welsh people are.  Now I should probably have investigated more what characteristics she was referring to, just to gather more info, but I was so startled that I said "That sounds awfully racist!"  She responded by saying if I didn't like what I was hearing, I should just not listen .  Well this is not possible in our office and that really isn't the point.   

To my American mind, this slagging off the Welsh and Scots  and for that matter the people in the next county is crazy.  It seems to me that would be like me saying, when I live in Southern California,  that everyone in Northern California are backward losers. 

I guess that the English have a long history of differences with the Welsh and the Scots but this out and out what seems to me ethnic prejudice is weird.   Ultimately it is just a matter of accent and/or regional language, after all.  And isn't the time long past for this kind of baloney?

Just want to get some feedback from others on this one.

Thanks,

Kathleen

Well, there are a lot of stereotypes that British people hold about people in other parts of the UK. To the English, the Scots are mean, pugnacious alcoholics, the Welsh are nasty, unfriendly, awkward inbred bumpkins who have relationships with sheep, to the Scots and Welsh the English are stupid, vain, ignorant arrogant overbearing bullies, etc, etc.

This can come out in a jokey way. I once had a Welsh boss who told me "I come from Wales, where men are men and sheep are worried!". Another office had a Scottish guy who was reputed to have a wallet with a lock on it, from which moths flew out when it was (rarely) opened. To a large extent this is just a bit of fun, and is not considered inappropriate behaviour. In a customer service environment, this sort of thing would be absolutely confined to the back office. If a Welsh or Scots customer was subjected to those kinds of remarks, even by accident (e.g. an unmuted phone) then a serious misconduct issue would arise. Likewise if a member of staff was being bullied or victimised. Remarks about people of ethnic origin outside the UK such as Asians and black people would be over the line in any circumstances.

To my American mind, this slagging off the Welsh and Scots  and for that matter the people in the next county is crazy.  It seems to me that would be like me saying, when I live in Southern California,  that everyone in Northern California are backward losers.

Be careful about elaborating this view to your colleagues. It might come over as you saying that unlike the USA, where everybody behaves properly, Britain is a dinky little country whose inhabitants have ridiculous ideas that they should get over.

I wouldn't say it's racist, perhaps bigoted.  I don't think of Welsh as a race.

Who amongst us has never harbored grumpy thoughts about New Yorkers, Southerners, Texans, people from Delaware, Kalamazoo, etc. etc.?  Best not articulated but they do exist.

Be careful about elaborating this view to your colleagues. It might come over as you saying that unlike the USA, where everybody behaves properly, Britain is a dinky little country whose inhabitants have ridiculous ideas that they should get over.

I have to agree.  It seems like the best course of action in this lose-lose situation would be to not get involved in any way.

Who amongst us has never harbored grumpy thoughts about New Yorkers, Southerners, Texans, people from Delaware, Kalamazoo, etc. etc.?  Best not articulated but they do exist.

True. I heard many things about Alaskans recently... I'm glad we don't have to find out if they are true.

I think there is an issue with your coworker's job performance if she is treating Welsh callers (or workers of other nationalities or ethnic groups) differently because of her prejudices.


This is work-related; not the same as someone making a racist comment to a friend in a pub.

She could be causing problems for your company.

Many companies force employees to attend diversity training just for this reason.

You might want to bring this up with a supervisor or someone in HR.

Or she could just be making a poor 'joke'.  If it doesn't effect her work, and it isn't repeated, it may not be worth reporting, as it could lose her her job, which may be a legal requirement but a disproportionate reaction.

Vicky

If it doesn't effect her work, and it isn't repeated, it may not be worth reporting, as it could lose her her job, which may be a legal requirement but a disproportionate reaction.

I so agree. Riding about the office on a high horse and grassing people up for things you overheard is a sure fire ticket to great unpopularity with management and colleagues alike.

And it's just plain nasty.

Don't do it.

Depending on how well you know this co-worker...it could have just been a generalized statement that she made out of frustration...not a truly thought-out sentiment of harbored ill-favour towards the Welsh.  I live in the south (America) but we have A LOT of people in my area from up north.  If someone is being rude, stuckup or just "difficult" (in general) AND it just so happens they are from the North, it would not be uncommon to hear one of the "locals" make a comment like "Oh well, he/she is from New York...what do you expect from those people?"  Even if the person making that comment has no *actual* problem with people from the north.  Another example would be when men make comments about female drivers like, "Go figure, it's a woman driver.  Everyone knows women can't drive."  Or if someone driving slow in front of you just so happens to be old...you might hear, "Get up the road granny.  Old people shouldn't be allowed to drive anyway."  (*Not saying it's OK to make those statements, just saying it happens all the time*)

It seems that if you are truly angry, upset or aggravated with someone, it's easy to make stereotypical generalizations about that person...even if you don't truly believe those things.  Not many people in this world can say that they've NEVER said something they didn't mean when angry (whether about a complete stranger or your closest friend or family member). 

It could have just been a statement made out of anger...or like Vicky said, a poor joke.

Then again, maybe she really is prejudiced against the Welsh.

Regardless of her intention behind it, I do agree that it was very unprofessional in a work atmosphere.  You've made it known to her that you don't appreciate those type of comments (or were even offended by them) so she should be more conscious of what she's saying in the future.  I wouldn't report her unless you see this as a continued pattern.

Or she could just be making a poor 'joke'.  If it doesn't effect her work, and it isn't repeated, it may not be worth reporting, as it could lose her her job, which may be a legal requirement but a disproportionate reaction.

Vicky

I meant to add if the OP knows that it is serious and not a joke. It's a judgment call.


How would an American on this board feel if they tried to solve a problem over the phone and it didn't get resolved and it was causing them a major problem - if they knew that the second they hung up the phone, the person at the other end started saying nasty things about Americans

Maybe this is a lesson and we need to make sure we don't do anything similar.

I so agree. Riding about the office on a high horse and grassing people up for things you overheard is a sure fire ticket to great unpopularity with management and colleagues alike.

And it's just plain nasty.

Don't do it.

I agree as well.

Unless it is something that continues, I wouldn't mention it. 

I meant to add if the OP knows that it is serious and not a joke. It's a judgment call.


How would an American on this board feel if they tried to solve a problem over the phone and it didn't get resolved and it was causing them a major problem - if they knew that the second they hung up the phone, the person at the other end started saying nasty things about Americans

They'd feel terrible.  But how would someone feel if they reported someone to a manager, lost them their job or got them a serious repremand, when it may well have just been a case of someone throwing out a thoughtless flip statement after talking to an annoying client?


Vicky

I bet that if it got reported, the management would say to the person who slagged off Welsh people, "Be careful what you say around Katpaint".