I just love Andre Torrez' account of intolerance in the workplace . When I worked among the smug suburbanites at Boucher Communications I experienced the same sort of hypocrisy first hand. For example, one day a Boomer-aged woman who proudly identified herself as Jewish came by my cube and asked, "Are you from Oklahoma?"
I answered yes.
"Are you a hick?"
"Excuse me!" I said in near-disbelief.
"Are you a hick?" she asked again, trying to supress a smirk.
I just looked at her icily, and, after a few moments, she made a half-hearted apology, but I wondered if she would think it was funny if I asked her if she was some anti-semitic slur.
That was hardly an isolated incident. I don't think I've been privy to so much outright bigotry as when I worked at that office, I'd hear all kinds of crapola about African-Americans, Muslims, South Asians, Latinos, and nearly every other group imaginable. I don't know if the people at Boucher are representative of the Philadelphia suburbs, but they certainly condoned bigotry.
Who asked you that? I can't believe that anybody that saw the way you dressed (kinda NE urban hippy) would think you were a hick, although the accent might make people think that ;)
I never really saw what you saw, though I did find a pretty noticeable lack of color in the place, if you know what I mean. Was there even one person of color there?
Posted by: The Surly Analyst at January 9, 2003 02:55 PMI had a similar shocking experience working not for a suburban business but for a respected university. One of my (white) co-workers liked to rant about another (out of earshot) and refer to him as "white trash". I was pretty stunned when I heard it -- I, too, grew up in Oklahoma and that phrase was once fighting language.
The ranter in this case did have a few neanderthal political beliefs but for the most part was a nice guy who wouldn't have used slurs against the other ethnicities found in our office, but for some reason he felt free to use that one.
Please don't misunderstand me -- I'm not equating the white experience of racism with the black experience; I'm just expressing my surprise that some people would think it's okay to insult another white person that way.
Posted by: Prentiss Riddle at February 3, 2003 09:30 PMrecent entries
hello goodbye
internet to zone out
internet to zone out
sticky situation and paperwork
just deserts
heap of burnt orange
update
wing in the happy house
rushing out of frame
not really that powerful
about infobong.com
archives
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003
August 2003
July 2003
June 2003
May 2003
April 2003
March 2003
February 2003
January 2003
December 2002
November 2002
October 2002
topics