over the last few years i have heard awful stories of the lives of people of colour in germany, my home country. people never walking alone at night, or taking cabs everywhere they go, because of fear they will get hurt, or worse. i’m sure this must extend to work.

so – a question, griotte: if you have experienced racial discrimination at work, how did you deal with it?

When it comes to citizens of colour, the Western societies do not practice the “liberal democracy” citizenship propaganda they preach. In fact they’ve always preferred immigrants – not because they care about the migrants but because they provide a HUMAN BUFFER GROUP(s) against addressing the longstanding rightful claims of those of us permanently marginalised in our home countries.

Extremely often (local) people of colour – and almost regardless of advanced education – simply are not hired except in low-level, temporary and/or menial jobs. No government bothers any more to measure HOW MANY people of colour – and our actual ethnic backgrounds – apply for jobs: how many are hired vs. numbers rejected out of hand.

Significant numbers of us know of relatives who were murdered on their jobs, all because a white person or persons coveted the job itself.

When was the last time anyone really heard of the U.S. EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) vigorously prosecuting race and race+ gender job discrimination?? By and large, people of colour are totally shut out and un/der/employed.

that story about telling your boss about the consequences if he’d ever did that to you again is very inspiring. talk about boundaries!

i think that’s a very important part of boundaries – not just saying “these are my boundaries” but also letting people know what happens if they do overstep them.

I found your examples brought back some memories that I haven’t thought of for years. While working in a hairdressing salon, my boss would get very stressed out on the really busy days and would throw brushes and yell at the junior members of the team. When I could no longer take this abuse, I waited till the end of the day, asked to speak to him privately and informed him politely that if he ever yelled at me in front of a customer again, I would find my coat and walk out immediately. He apologized profusely and never did it again.

Sometimes a negative experience in youth can also shape how we work and act in the workplace later in life. As in “I would never want to make someone feel the way I felt……”

On reflectingabout this experience from the past, it became evident to me that no matter how old we are or what type of relationships we are in, it’s so important for us set boundaries over which others may not step.

i think you’ve brought up an important topic – what your first work experience was like. it’s really similar to how we were brought up, isn’t it? if early in life we were surrounded by respect and love, we usually won’t stand for maltreatment later in life.

it might just be that something similar holds true for work. i, too, have had a very good first work experience, and that has definitely shaped me.