Discussion: Ethics, Politics, and Diversity: Inappropriate Joke 59 59 Gurbinder
ID: 330365 • Letter: D
Question
Discussion: Ethics, Politics, and Diversity: Inappropriate Joke 59 59 Gurbinder is invited to lunch with some new coworkers. During the meal, one of the coworkers tells a joke about a blind person of a certain ethnicity. Gurbinder politely chuckles at the punch line but is actually offended. Gurbinder wornders how to best handle the situation. Should he tell the joke teller that the joke was offensive? Should he tell the department supervisor? Gurbinder clearly believes that this type of behavior is inappropriate. What are Gurbinders options in handling this situation? What is the best option? Why? Click reply and type a response to this situation with your own thoughts and ideas. Your response should be at least five sentences long and include your advice to Gurbinder. Then, choose two student colleagues' responses and reply to each of them with a comment of at least three sentences. You must post your own reply before seeing the replies of others Guidelines for productive group discussion: Incorporate prior knowledge into group discussion. Ask questions of group members in an open-minded way Build on comments of other group members to enhance discussion Volunteer ideas in a constructive manner. Help the group to summarize its progress. Identify missing information in the group answer. Build on the ideas of others. Your reply should be posted AFTER you read the chapter and take the quiz. The discussion will be richer when you are fully informed.Explanation / Answer
My advice to Gurbinder:
The first decision the he has to take is to decide whether it is worth to aim at that comment. There are two situations involved in this. Firstly, it should not feel like it was your baisness towards ethinicity that led to you addressing the comment and the other, is the fear if you might be penalised for what you do. Also, it should not feel like you are supporting this kind of behaviour when you are not speaking up.
But whatever you decide to do, don't accuse. Comments such as "That's racist" are usually the one's involving accusations and a tough workplace. It might feel right to call people out, but no one wants to hear that they’re being offensive or racist.
Explain what you are feeling after the comment : You can say something like this, "I know it wasn’t your intent, but that made me a little uncomfortable". It is anyday better than accusing someone.