Comment about someone's race at work: big deal or not? [View all]
Last edited Sat Aug 15, 2015, 05:32 PM - Edit history (1)
This happened a while ago and I could be the only one who remembers it but I do and I wonder what people think.
Our group was gathering for our weekly meeting, and our director, who is about 70 years old and white and male was absent. Our project manager, who is about 25 and black and female sat in the chair the director normally sits in. People were joking around, saying things like, hey Bob you look different today ha ha. One man, a nice jovial dude around 50, says "you look a lot darker!" ha ha.
Maybe not a big deal but I was a bit shocked and obviously I still remember it. One thing I'm sure about is that the guy didn't mean any harm.
I'm also not 100% sure his comment was wrong. My thinking is why couldn't he say, "hey Bob you look younger today" or "hey Bob you look a lot more female today"? Then again, why not say you look darker? What's wrong with being dark?
One thing I can't know is how the woman took the comment. I wouldn't in a million years ask her about it.
So I wonder what people think?
editing the title to clarify. I originally had "racial comment at work..." and I think people may be misunderstanding. I am NOT saying this comment was racist, or that the person is racist. Or that the person should not be allowed to say this.
What I'm asking is, is this something that could hurt someone's feelings?
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