General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: If a member of a racial minority joined your workplace, [View all]LWolf
(46,179 posts)I would treat them much like I treat everyone else, but I treat everyone differently.
I treat them with respect, but differentiate that treatment according to their strengths and needs. I get closer to some people than others, based on shared understandings, but am there for what anyone needs. That's true of all people, not just colleagues at work.
So...since I don't treat everyone the same, I wouldn't treat a "racial minority" the same, because I'd be treating them like I treat everyone else: some things are the same, some different.
In the very narrow, insular, WHITE place that I currently work, I might pay more attention, and spend more time, just in case that new colleague needed support or needed me to have his or her back. Not that my white colleagues are racist, at least as far as I know; it's just a monoculture.
I did for a jewish colleague a few years back; he was only here for a year, but he was both jewish and a liberal environmentalist, which definitely made him a minority. I was sorry to see him go, but budget cuts hit the newest first.