chernmax said:
It could also be a result of bad management practices. Make everyone purple and apply the same synopsis. Is it discrimination now???
IMO, someone can be sick at home and still have someone come over their house and braid their hair!!!
I also feel if a wrong was committed, as discribed by all your above examples, feeling your being discriminated against may just be a way of trying to feel good for doing something wrong in the first place...
Strickly My Opinion
Of course it is bad management practices, who gets written up for cooking chitterlings in the microwave? Most companies have the policy of doctor's excuses for missing work. If a company doesn't then the fact that the employee brought one should look VERY responsible so who gets a verbal warning for that? It's pretty much discrimination, "you can't but such and such can" because...
As a black woman that gets her hair braided quite often, if you are so sick that you can't take your behind in to work but you can sit for 6-8hrs getting your hair braided then something is wrong. Sick is sick, and recuperation is not getting your hair done. When you applied for the job you knew when you were expected to work. If you need to take off then use annual leave, don't lie and say you're sick.
People like that who abuse the system make it harder for others because at the next staff meeting after Kirsten makes a grievance there is going to be a new policy for taking sick leave and we can thank Keisha and Wanda for that. So regardless why someone was discriminated against the fact remains if they feel that way then it is their choice to pursue it. My whole point in the scenarios was to show that all races can be discriminated against in the workplace as they can also discriminate.
Granted the incident in post # 1 is black/white. That happening is so rare that it didn't hold enough weight to continue to be the focus of the thread. The subject moved on to blacks trying to get over by crying discrimiination which according to a few is a bad thing. Why? Because it's black people accusing white people? Or is it because discrimination is ugly and not something that people like to deal with and accept that it still happens?
In any given industry, especially those where certain races are predominant (i.e. mailroom, housekeeping, nail salon, finance office, Subway's, etc.) you can find discrimination. In my opinion I believe it stems from cultural differences and not about skin color. While some people may really, really hate the color of someone else's skin, the real issue could be that the person discriminating has a problem with how the other person is different from them.
They may unknowingly focus on any negativity surrounded by that race. And if a person of that race does something that does not "work" for them then they make "take it out" in a way that sends the message "You don't like me because I'm purple". When in fact it's because you're loud and annoying, or sneaky and always running telling the boss, or an employee in denial about their terrible work ethics.
The thiing is whenever someone of another race disagrees with someone to the point they are offended the defender's mind instantly goes to what's different between the two. "It's because I'm purple, fat, poor, a hoe..." Whatever! It doesn't matter. But, when it comes to some form of favoritism between two different races decided by someone who shares the same race as the "victor" in the situation it can be misconstrued as racism.
A lot of times it's true but unintentional or unavoidable. For instance, Tasha and Uniqua are friends in the office. Tasha's promoted and becomes Uniqua's boss. They go to lunch together like before but this time Uniqua's lunch hour turns into 15-30mins longer and this happens a few times. Same office and scenario but the "boss and staff friends" are of any other race. In your opinion which race looks the worse doing this?
Another quick scenario is internet usage abuse OR telephone usage abuse IN the workplace. What race looks worse doing it? I pose this question only to say that it would be more noticeable to the natural eye and mind registry that black people are goofing off in the workplace than other races. It could be due to the stereotypes associated with the race. They don't like to do any work, they're lazy, they're selfish and not good team players, etc.
So when reprimanded for something a black person by nature automatically thinks it's about race only because John and Mindy do the same thing but no one says anything to them. I won't sit and deny that some of my black people (including me) will try to get away with as much as we can and dare someone to say something to us when everyone else is doing stuff too. Wrong is wrong regardless of who else is getting off scot-free.
A lot of times it's hard to accept that you got caught for doing something you shouldnt've have been doing anyway when everybody else doing wrong wasn't caught. Same with paying bills late, speeding down the road, or just obeying any policy, rule or law. If you know right from wrong and you're doing wrong don't make excuses for why you're in trouble for it.
I know that black people use the race card for a lot of things that happen to them. They may not pursue it but they say it. And for those that pursue it to be spiteful or greedy of course that is wrong because it makes it harder for others who really were discriminated based on race to pursue it. A perfect example is Cynthia McKinney using the race card when she knows she was wrong in the first place. But for her to accept that was too much like right.
Anyway, this is a long response and I attempted to make my point. But, in any event it's just my opinion and I am just here for discussion nothing more.
Whats AFSCME?
thank you. 
S.O.S.
