This may have been debated before, but even so, humor me.

If you have ever been in a position of authority over someone who was of another race, did you ever get accused of treating them differently because they were?

Last night I reprimanded one of my employees for disrespecting me when I asked her to do a task. She looked at me and said (with attitude), "I thought that was your job." The comment annoyed me, but I just in an even tone, said, "I am asking you to do it." And, to clarify, it was not something that was one specific persons job, just something easy. She threatened to quit. The unpleasantness continued all night, with her not really respecting my position, so at the end of the night, I told her that we would be working together again, and she should have a better attitude the next time. We had some words, nothing outlandish on my part, but then she said, "I should have known it was going to be like this, working up this way." I told her I didn't understand, though I knew full well what she was implying, and then she repeated it, and I said something along the lines of "I hope you aren't implying that this has something to do with race." She backpeddled, but I really resent the implication that because someone doesn't like to bend to authority, that automatically means that it has something to do with race.

Experience? Thoughts?

There are a LOT of instances people pull the race card and it honestly pisses me off.

I HATE the race card! I don't care who it is...do your flipping job! That is what you are getting paid for.

this is such a coincidence cause dh came home sooo upset yesterday about this.. all new airmen in his shop have to stay an hour later than everyone and work on their booklets for level 5 advancement. this kid who hasn't been there 6 months doesn't have to do that anymore and he's failed 3 tests! his reason is his dad lives an hour away and he just moved in with him so it's "not fair" that he gets home an hour later than everyone else.. he moved out of the dorms on base to do that it was his choice! so now he's collecting bah thats going straight to his pocket and he doesn't have to stay an extra hour with all the other airmen.. and he refuses to get certified to use any of the equipment at work because he's scared of it so they give him tasks like cleaning up and he goes off on how its not fair and he's being punished and he's this close to going to MEO..

this is such a coincidence cause dh came home sooo upset yesterday about this.. all new airmen in his shop have to stay an hour later than everyone and work on their booklets for level 5 advancement. this kid who hasn't been there 6 months doesn't have to do that anymore and he's failed 3 tests! his reason is his dad lives an hour away and he just moved in with him so it's "not fair" that he gets home an hour later than everyone else.. he moved out of the dorms on base to do that it was his choice! so now he's collecting bah thats going straight to his pocket and he doesn't have to stay an extra hour with all the other airmen.. and he refuses to get certified to use any of the equipment at work because he's scared of it so they give him tasks like cleaning up and he goes off on how its not fair and he's being punished and he's this close to going to MEO..

Not to be a jerk, but what does this have to do with race?

There have been times I've been obviously discriminated against based on race but I don't call people on it, I just dip. Folks will get theirs.

Also, when she threatened to quit I would have told her to go ahead and walk.

Not to be a jerk, but what does this have to do with race?

because they let him get away with all that becaue he threatens to go to MEO when they are asking him the same requirements of everyone else

because they let him get away with all that becaue he threatens to go to MEO when they are asking him the same requirements of everyone else


From my understanding, MEO is about equal opportunity having to do with many things, including, but not limited to race.

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/airforceenlistedjobs/a/afjob3s1x1.htm

"Promotes an environment where individuals are treated with dignity and worth regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex. Provides advice, consultation, education, mediation, and referral services to enhance mission effectiveness. Coordinates with staff agencies to support MEO programs and policies."

From my understanding, MEO is about equal opportunity having to do with many things, including, but not limited to race.

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/airforceenlistedjobs/a/afjob3s1x1.htm

"Promotes an environment where individuals are treated with dignity and worth regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex. Provides advice, consultation, education, mediation, and referral services to enhance mission effectiveness. Coordinates with staff agencies to support MEO programs and policies. "

while he was threatening to go to MEO and saying he was being punished he also said the shop was racist.. i thought i put that in there too my bad

this is such a coincidence cause dh came home sooo upset yesterday about this.. all new airmen in his shop have to stay an hour later than everyone and work on their booklets for level 5 advancement. this kid who hasn't been there 6 months doesn't have to do that anymore and he's failed 3 tests! his reason is his dad lives an hour away and he just moved in with him so it's "not fair" that he gets home an hour later than everyone else.. he moved out of the dorms on base to do that it was his choice! so now he's collecting bah thats going straight to his pocket and he doesn't have to stay an extra hour with all the other airmen.. and he refuses to get certified to use any of the equipment at work because he's scared of it so they give him tasks like cleaning up and he goes off on how its not fair and he's being punished and he's this close to going to MEO..

ok after i re-read this i realized that i didn't type this out clearly at all.. this guy says he's too scared to operate the equipment used by the shop because its heavy duty construction equipment so the higher ups asked him to do other stuff like weed eating around the sites, organizing and cleaning the equipment shed so he could be doing something besides just watching them work and he had that fit threatening to go to MEO and saying he was being punished and calling the shop racist. if he can't operate the equipment then there's nothing else for him to do except those kinds of tasks unless he just stands around the sites.. this was a week ago and then yesterday they started letting him leave early.

No I have never been told by anyone that worked under me that I treated them differently based on race or sex. I treated everyone the same.

So do I, and I would have done the exact same thing had it been anyone that was working for me last night. I don't have a racist bone in my body, and I'm totally offended that because she doesn't want to do her job, and wants to disrespect me, that I am racist. It just doesn't add up.

I had this happen with people that were older than me. It's really, really difficult being the boss of people my same age and older than me.

Same age: Because they expect me to be the "cool" manager that parties with them and hangs out and is more lenient.

Older: Because they felt they knew more than me about the job, the programs, and the processes involved. They felt I owed them respect rather than appreciating my skill set and the knowledge that I may have that could have benefited them.

I haven't had it happen at work, but there are a lot of people I know who will say they have less money than me, just because I'm "White" (which, if they knew me better, they'd know I'm not full White...they just assume it). I usually don't even bother with a reply, because it's just not worth getting into (for me).

ok after i re-read this i realized that i didn't type this out clearly at all.. this guy says he's too scared to operate the equipment used by the shop because its heavy duty construction equipment so the higher ups asked him to do other stuff like weed eating around the sites, organizing and cleaning the equipment shed so he could be doing something besides just watching them work and he had that fit threatening to go to MEO and saying he was being punished and calling the shop racist. if he can't operate the equipment then there's nothing else for him to do except those kinds of tasks unless he just stands around the sites.. this was a week ago and then yesterday they started letting him leave early.


I see, that makes way more sense. Seeing the fact that he actually accused the shop of racism, would definitely bring race into the situation. Sorry I misunderstood what you were trying to say earlier. :)

She should have just done her job.... Nobody should pull ANY kind of card.

What drives me nuts is when people play the race card for inconsiquential stuff like that when it obviously is not a race issue. It undermines the times when it actually is a race issue. It's like the boy who called wolf. People just say "yeah yeah" when there actually might be an underlying issue there.

I won't go into the details of any situations that I am personally aware or part of, but you want to know what irks me worse than someone using their race as leverage? It's the people that succumb to it. This ticks me off worse than anything in the world, b/c when people in authority allow themselves to be intimidated by it, and bend over for it they are encouraging it and usually screw some honest people in the process.

Pulling the Race Card. What a title of a thread. This is interesting as I just attended a 2 day workshop and race for supervisors with my company. Perhaps this women you described simply needs to do her job. But I don't want you ladies to be naive to the fact that often times people of color are treated unfairly.

Just something to consider.

What drives me nuts is when people play the race card for inconsiquential stuff like that when it obviously is not a race issue. It undermines the times when it actually is a race issue. It's like the boy who called wolf. People just say "yeah yeah" when there actually might be an underlying issue there.

Right, exactly. If there was a race issue I would be one to stand beside her and fight with her. This had nothing to do with race, and you are exactly right, it undermines actual racial issues.

Pulling the Race Card. What a title of a thread. This is interesting as I just attended a 2 day workshop and race for supervisors with my company. Perhaps this women you described simply needs to do her job. But I don't want you ladies to be naive to the fact that often times people of color are treated unfairly.

Just something to consider.

No, I understand that, it obviously goes both ways though. If I was a woman of color, she wouldn't have felt the need to call me racist. She may have still argued, but really the only person that has the race issue in the scenario, is her.

Oh no. People of color pull the race card against themselves ALL the time.

I had a substitute teacher who did that. She claimed we weren't listening to her and giving her a hard time because she was black. And that we as black females would show her some respect if she were a white woman and a LOT more if she were a man of any color.

I spoke up for the group and said it was because she was going DIRECTLY against the written instructions the teacher had left and because she had a reputation as a looney toon. (She spoke in the third person and she'd look at you at the beginning of class and tell you not to ask to go to the restroom because she could tell you were a sneak and wouldn't come back.)

She doesn't sub in our city anymore.

Well Racist is such an ugly word. I am not denying that her behavior was wrong or out of order. I just don't want anyone to believe that racism does not exsist.

Well Racist is such an ugly word. I am not denying that her behavior was wrong or out of order. I just don't want anyone to believe that racism does not exsist.

Oh no one here is that silly.

Well Racist is such an ugly word. I am not denying that her behavior was wrong or out of order. I just don't want anyone to believe that racism does not exsist.

No, though I wish it didn't. Racism goes every direction you can think of.

No, though I wish it didn't. Racism goes every direction you can think of.

Exactly. We have had people come in at work and accuse us of being racists because we didn't have change.... even though we have a sign that specifically states that we don't keep change in the office and to bring correct amounts to pay. :lol They also accused the office next door of being racists because they weren't there when they stopped by... but the place next door goes by appointments and they had not called ahead.

They rolled their eyes and said "We ain't in Birmingham anymore." Then they proceeded to be flat out rude the whole time they were there. Popping and clicking and rolling eyes... UGH, that shit gets on my damn nerves. My niece does it but she is also, what, 8... so she gets punished and will learn to stop. These are grown ass people acting like spoiled little kids. I truly hate when people expect special treatment. We treat everyone the same in our office and it rubs me wrong when people act like that.

A girl I worked with pulled the race card a good bit. She actually got fired and had a meeting with the bosses like a week later and they hired her back. Wouldn't you know they gave me a raise "to make things fair". They fired her because she was lazy and didn't do her share of the work, and totally disrespected my boss...NOT just because she was black.

This may have been debated before, but even so, humor me.

If you have ever been in a position of authority over someone who was of another race, did you ever get accused of treating them differently because they were?

Last night I reprimanded one of my employees for disrespecting me when I asked her to do a task. She looked at me and said (with attitude), "I thought that was your job." The comment annoyed me, but I just in an even tone, said, "I am asking you to do it." And, to clarify, it was not something that was one specific persons job, just something easy. She threatened to quit. The unpleasantness continued all night, with her not really respecting my position, so at the end of the night, I told her that we would be working together again, and she should have a better attitude the next time. We had some words, nothing outlandish on my part, but then she said, "I should have known it was going to be like this, working up this way." I told her I didn't understand, though I knew full well what she was implying, and then she repeated it, and I said something along the lines of "I hope you aren't implying that this has something to do with race." She backpeddled, but I really resent the implication that because someone doesn't like to bend to authority, that automatically means that it has something to do with race.

Experience? Thoughts?

Oh my gosh! What a wench!! AS IF you of all people would treat her differently based on color! I'm sorry she implyed that about you!

How stupid....I don't want to work because I am having a bad hair day:rolleyes
I hate when the race card is pulled in any situation/any race.

Oh my gosh! What a wench!! AS IF you of all people would treat her differently based on color! I'm sorry she implyed that about you!

Thanks, Sweetie! My feelings were really hurt.

There's a woman that works with me and she's just a rotten person. Steals clients, trash talks other stylists to her clients, and even physically prevented another stylist from coming in from her break. The salon owners are literally terrified that if they so much as write her up she'll scream racism. She has threatened it and they believe her. It really sucks.

wow. i'm sorry your feelings were hurt