I was at work the other day and I had gotten into a argument with a black guy, it really was no big deal but later in the day when we were getting off work he says to me “see you later Goerge.” Now he knows my name isn’t Goerge and he said it in front of a bunch of black guys some of which were supervisers and they all laughed. I just walked away and went home. I’m not trying to make a big deal over this but I am curious if that is racist. Am I wrong by feeling that the name Goerge is kind of a stereo typical name for white guys?
On a side note, me and this guy are ok with each other but after we had our little argument, his buddy went off on me a few hours later for pretty much no reason. He kept saying that I have a problem with black people. I really don’t know what to think about this because it came out of no where.
I’m the only white guy in my department and I always hear stuff like, “only one white boy left” I take no offense to any of this because I feel it’s more of a joking around type thing but this Goerge thing is a new one for me.
I’d say it can be if it’s being used as a stereotypical “White Boy” name, but I don’t know if it’s being used as that or not. It’d be like me calling every Mexican I say “Jose” or “Julio” purposefully, even though I know their real name.
Still, regardless, even though I am very flexible when it comes to names, I’d be pissed if someone purposefully referred to me by a completely different name, especially in the group of other people.
Sure- no doubt it was meant to be mocking and obnoxious, but racist? I guess I don’t think of George as a white boy name- George Jefferson actually springs to mind.
Hmmmm. It really seems to me that you should be making notes and keeping track of such racist hostile behavior. It clearly is a hostile environment and appears to me to be grounds that the organization is opening itself up for a serious lawsuit. You need to talk to hr.
You’re probably joking, but it’s true (depending on the definitions use, of course). Black people can be prejudiced, but not racist. Racism requires institutional power and influence. I think most people use the words interchangeably.
I’m a temp at this place and I really don’t want to cause unwanted attention. I really don’t say much at work because I work in a envirement where everything is pretty fast paced so I really don’t even have time to talk to anyone. I really feel that because I don’t talk to anyone, that maybe they feel i’m snobby. I tryed to explain this to the guys buddy who went off on me but he kept putting his hand in my face and telling me to stop hollaring. So I just went back to work and ignored him. I wasn’t yelling or hollaring, I was just trying to explain myself.
Since you are a temp is it possible that the George reference might be an inside joke by the regulars based on something other than race? Maybe a previous employee?
I think the OP should innocently and seriously ask the African-American co-workers, “Why are you calling me George?” My guess is that the serious question will kill all their fun.
In college in the late 80s, I took a course in the African-American studies dept. called “African-American autobiography.” In this class, the professor told us that “George” was a name white people used for black people-- in other words, white people couldn’t be bothered to learn the actual names of inferiors, and just called all black men George. The guys are turning the tables on you by calling you George, I suspect.
I’m British, so please treat my input on an American situation, as appropriate; but maybe the “George” business might indeed be just something randomly dreamed up by these guys, out of nowhere, for mockery purposes – not specifically racist.
Many years ago, I was working temporarily in a factory job – young guys who were my fellow-workers there, thought me “different” and odd (we were all white, but I was middle-class and “talked posh”, they were streetwise proles and proud of it): they took to mocking me, including dubbing me as “George”, which is not my real first name. It would seem that in various parts of the English-speaking world, George is a male first name associated with “upper-class twits” rather than down-to-earth working-class guys.