# Your worst personal experience with discrimination/bigotry in the last ten years **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 24, 2014, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-worst-personal-experience-with-discrimination-bigotry-in-the-last-ten-years/682142 "2014-02-24T20:20:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-worst-personal-experience-with-discrimination-bigotry-in-the-last-ten-years/682142/123 "2014-07-02T13:50:26Z")
Talking to the anti-abortion, pro-adoption crowd about gay issues brings up such gems, my favorite being “Marriage is for monogamy, and gays can’t be monogamous. So gays can’t get married.” They’ve also told me “There is no such thing as gay marriage” and “Gay parenting is child abuse.” News to my sister, her wife and eight daughters. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-worst-personal-experience-with-discrimination-bigotry-in-the-last-ten-years/682142/124 "2014-07-02T15:16:52Z")
> [@Fleetwood](#): > > What is Roma? Romanian? Are they considered different than other eastern Europeans? Some Roma are from Romania. Some are from other countries. Linguists say our primary language hails from India. it’s very close to Sanskit. For many centuries Roma have been called Gypsies because of a mistaken belief that we were from Egypt. However that name has also been applied to other groups in the Western world such as the Irish Travelers or plain Travelers (some do not claim an Irish origin). Roma and Travelers are not the same groups though they may get along (or may not depending on the personalites involved). Language, culture and religion (actually those last two are more or less the same thing) are what unites the Romany people not geographic location. ---
**Author:** ![Fleetwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fleetwood/32/271_2.png) [@Fleetwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleetwood)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-worst-personal-experience-with-discrimination-bigotry-in-the-last-ten-years/682142/125 "2014-07-02T18:09:40Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Roma = [Romani](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romani_people). You might know them as gypsies, though that term is no longer in favor. They’re discriminated against with a capital D more or less everywhere. Perhaps less so in the US since nobody really knows who they are. > [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > Some Roma are from Romania. Some are from other countries. Linguists say our primary language hails from India. it’s very close to Sanskit. For many centuries Roma have been called Gypsies because of a mistaken belief that we were from Egypt. However that name has also been applied to other groups in the Western world such as the Irish Travelers or plain Travelers (some do not claim an Irish origin). Roma and Travelers are not the same groups though they may get along (or may not depending on the personalites involved). Language, culture and religion (actually those last two are more or less the same thing) are what unites the Romany people not geographic location. Thanks. Ihave heard Gypsy, but never Roma. So the Roma are a stateless lot. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Ayebaw](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darth_ayebaw/32/9870_2.png) [@Darth\_Ayebaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Ayebaw)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-worst-personal-experience-with-discrimination-bigotry-in-the-last-ten-years/682142/126 "2014-07-02T21:53:25Z")
About 8 years ago I was pretty much forced out of a cashier position when I ‘let slip’ I was an atheist. Was all very friendly, was working there for months, someone brings up their faith (I think inviting me to church or whatnot) and I mentioned I was an atheist. All of a sudden I start getting snide remarks, my schedule begins seeing a lot of last minute changes that are hard to keep track of, and it became a generally unfriendly environment to work in. They didn’t outright fire me, so maybe it wasn’t outright discrimination, but always left a bad taste anyways. Only time I’ve ever encountered outright hostility to my atheism other than schoolyard bullying. Other than that just all the discrimination you get being born and growing up white in Hawaii (seriously, look it up), where no matter where you go you’re just a “dum fuckin’ haole” who “stole our land”. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-worst-personal-experience-with-discrimination-bigotry-in-the-last-ten-years/682142/127 "2014-07-02T22:23:37Z")
> [@Mississippienne](#): > > A stranger called me a nigger once. Um. I won’t go into why that incident was bizarre on several levels, just trust me, it was. > > A couple days ago I was ordering at a Subway restaurant in Manhattan. The guy behind me in line says, “You’d be prettier if you smiled more. You’re going to be old before your time.” > > “Mind your own business,” I say. > > “Fucking lunatic,” he mutters. > > I turned and stuck a finger in his face and repeated “Mind your own business!” I kinda wish I had cussed him out or had some great comeback, but that was the best I could do. You wanna talk ugly? Sexism is fucking ugly. It’s not my job to smile and be pretty for random strangers every minute of every day. I paid for my food, snatched it up and stormed out of there. I’m sure you have other reasons to realize it was sexism, but I’ve read that comment as a pickup line before. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2014, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-worst-personal-experience-with-discrimination-bigotry-in-the-last-ten-years/682142/128 "2014-07-03T14:04:48Z")
A lesbian my sister knew got pregnant via a rape. She decided to have the child and raise it with her long time partner. I told her to talk to some anti-abortion protestors. They all told her she should “have the baby and give it to a real family.” ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2014, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-worst-personal-experience-with-discrimination-bigotry-in-the-last-ten-years/682142/129 "2014-07-03T15:42:38Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I’m sure you have other reasons to realize it was sexism, but I’ve read that comment as a pickup line before. I am neither a woman nor a pick-up line expert. But I’m still willing to bet that a stranger throwing out, “I’ve observed you, and now I can tell you without your solicitation what you need to do to improve your physical appearance” is not likely to win a lot of brownie points. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-worst-personal-experience-with-discrimination-bigotry-in-the-last-ten-years/682142/130 "2014-07-13T08:29:34Z")
What Asmovian said, plus what gave you the impression that pick-up lines can’t be sexist? I’d wager that a large proportion of them are. ---
**Author:** ![OurLordPeace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e8c25b/32.png) [@OurLordPeace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OurLordPeace)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-worst-personal-experience-with-discrimination-bigotry-in-the-last-ten-years/682142/131 "2014-07-13T18:51:35Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Or the opposite. I was accused by many liberals of being a racist when Obama ran because I didn’t think he would make a good President. I’m curious as to the nature of your objections to Obama. Mine were (and are) from the Left. Obama is comparable to Nixon and other Republicans in a lot of key ways (individual mandate!), and would be a conservative in most other rich countries, thus liberals ask why do Republicans hate him so much, if not for something racial? With that said, I don’t know if it’s simply because he’s black. If everything else about him was the same, but his name was Bernard Hopkins Olson rather than Barack _Hussein_ Obama, what would be the reaction? > [@shiftless](#): > > The most recent? Probably the diversity training I took at work. While the intent is to dispel generalizations (I think), they go about it by making us learn and repeat broad generalizations about age, racial and sexual groups. “Don’t tell a black woman what to do”, “Don’t expect young people to pay attention like old people”, “Women have to be talked to like this while it’s OK to talk to men like that.” > > It was a very stange class. We even got a list of the generations (Boomers, Millinials, Xers, Yers and, my favorite, the Greatest Generation) and the broad expectations we should have for each. Did your company make this one up on their own, or is it being sold to companies by a third party? That’s incompetent. > [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Talking to the anti-abortion, pro-adoption crowd about gay issues brings up such gems, my favorite being “Marriage is for monogamy, and gays can’t be monogamous. So gays can’t get married.” > > They’ve also told me “There is no such thing as gay marriage” and “Gay parenting is child abuse.” News to my sister, her wife and eight daughters. And yet gays have the fewest abortions. Why do some people have so many hang-ups about sex, family, etc.? It’s all due to religion, right? > [@Darth\_Ayebaw](#): > > About 8 years ago I was pretty much forced out of a cashier position when I ‘let slip’ I was an atheist. Was all very friendly, was working there for months, someone brings up their faith (I think inviting me to church or whatnot) and I mentioned I was an atheist. All of a sudden I start getting snide remarks, my schedule begins seeing a lot of last minute changes that are hard to keep track of, and it became a generally unfriendly environment to work in. They didn’t outright fire me, so maybe it wasn’t outright discrimination, but always left a bad taste anyways. Only time I’ve ever encountered outright hostility to my atheism other than schoolyard bullying. If you don’t mind my asking, what sort of snide comments, and where was this? ---
**Author:** ![OurLordPeace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e8c25b/32.png) [@OurLordPeace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OurLordPeace)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-worst-personal-experience-with-discrimination-bigotry-in-the-last-ten-years/682142/132 "2014-07-13T18:56:09Z")
1. In a protest in front of the White House the last time the Israel Offense Force massacred Gazans, a police cordon separated me and many others from a bunch of Zionists singing and dancing with lyrics about Gazans being bombed. 2. A co-worker complaining about some customers thus: “Indian people are so _fucking_ _Jewish_!” 3. Eleven years or so ago, I was protesting the imminent invasion of Iraq, when someone drove past and yelled “Bomb the sand niggers!” ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-worst-personal-experience-with-discrimination-bigotry-in-the-last-ten-years/682142/133 "2014-07-14T00:49:20Z")
Mindless anti-Muslim forum posters and bulk-chain e-mailers. ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-worst-personal-experience-with-discrimination-bigotry-in-the-last-ten-years/682142/134 "2014-07-14T01:30:39Z")
> [@Dr.Woo](#): > > A few years ago I was interviewing candidates for an IT analyst for a project at work. One of the interviewees was an older white woman who I kinda sorta knew from a local pub - I’d been introduced to her and seen her a few times while hanging out in the bier garden. To set the context, I too am an older white woman. This occurred during the recession, in a Silicon Valley high-tech company. > > So, when I came to the interview room, her eyes lit up. Understandable - I guess it’s comforting to see someone of your own demographic as a decision maker on your job prospects. > > Sadly, after I told her about the position, she came right in with a question: “Are there a lot of Indians on this project? I’ve heard [company name] has tons of Indians working here - is that true?” I was a bit flustered and hesitated a second (did she just SAY that???) and she jumped right in again: “Isn’t it hard to work with them? Their accents are so weird and they’re so weird and I hear they lie and oh my god they SMELL . . .” > > At that point my brain engaged and I wound up the interview. > > The project manager (from Delhi) asked me later why it was a short interview and I just said “not a good fit”. Understatement of the decade - a lot of my co-workers are in fact from South Asia, and other places not in North America. This woman’s head would have exploded before she even got badged. > > Stupid woman. Hoisted on her own petard. She figured my very WASP looks and age would yield a fellow bigot or at least some sympathetic beliefs. Not this time. Nearly the exact same thing happened to me. I was interviewing candidates for a network tech job, and first thing out of one guy’s mouth after the initial office tour was “It’s nice to see that you don’t have any Indians here.” NEXT. Anyway, as a hetero white dude, I can’t say that I’ve experienced anything worse than being called a “fucking honky” by the occasional obviously-mentally-ill panhandler when I turn them down. Life is pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-worst-personal-experience-with-discrimination-bigotry-in-the-last-ten-years/682142/135 "2014-07-14T02:27:40Z")
A co-worker once sent an email to the entire 800 person company basically shilling for a video documentary about “the radical Muslim threat.” I was pretty amazed that he thought that was appropriate. He sent another mass email out a few weeks later: a goodbye email. Some other co-workers swear up and down that it wasn’t actually because of the first email, but I’m dubious. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-worst-personal-experience-with-discrimination-bigotry-in-the-last-ten-years/682142/136 "2014-07-14T02:51:28Z")
One situation was being the captive audience to a supervisor at work blathering on about how all the Jews control the media and the government are are just out for money. The kicker is he _knew_ I was Jewish, and started out with that, “I know you’re Jewish and I don’t want to offend you but…” thing, and proceeded to lecture me for about five minutes on how greedy all Jews are. Same employer, different position, different supervisor. There are five of us, all females, and Boss takes over in a supervisory position (Boss is also female). Boss sits down with us one-by-one to chat, see how things are going, any concerns, etc. For context: Colleague 1 is a lesbian and married, colleague 2 also lesbian and single, I’m often assumed to be a lesbian, colleague 3 is straight and married, and colleague 4 is straight and single. Boss sits down with us one by one for a little chat, how are things going, blah blah. 4 comes out of her little meeting wide-eyed and sits down with us and tells us we are not going to believe this. Boss apparently said to her that she knows 4 is “surrounded by lesbians” and if we do anything to make her uncomfortable she’s to tell Boss right away, and there’s no room for misconduct here, etc. She then tells 4 that us queers are just “confused” and that lots of women “experiment” in situations like this, and 4 shouldn’t “encourage” it. 5 finishes up with Boss, comes over to us. “You are not going to _believe_ what Boss said to me.” Same thing. So that was a fun couple months until we managed to get rid of her. There are a number of worse situations I have either been directly involved in or witnessed, but those cross the line into sexual harassment/assault, so I’m not sure if they belong here. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-worst-personal-experience-with-discrimination-bigotry-in-the-last-ten-years/682142/137 "2014-07-14T04:18:52Z")
I was using an internet cafe in Rotarua, New Zealand when the owner overhead my wife and I talking in our American accents. He came over to us and said “get the f\*\*\* out of my shop and go find yourselves some Iraqi prisoners to torture!” We’ve been to Iran, Syria, Lebanon, North Korea and other countries that are perceived as anti-American, but have never run into any abuse over our nationality except in New Zealand. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-worst-personal-experience-with-discrimination-bigotry-in-the-last-ten-years/682142/138 "2014-07-14T04:20:00Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Nonsense. > > I was baptized into a liberal Christian sect (Presbyterian). We were told to never convert anybody; and indeed, were told to leave those who held other faiths (e.g. Jewish, Muslim) alone. > > What we were told was that we all (Christian, Jewish, Muslim; i.e. the Abrahamic faiths) belonged to God’s family. So did the Roman Catholics, the Mormons, the Ukranian Orthodox, the Greek Orthodox, the Lutherans, and so on. As long as Jesus figured somehow in their religion (as Messiah or prophet), we were related. And we should be glad of that. > > Reading many of these debates, I am glad I was born into such a liberal sect. Really, looked at from my point of view, arguments about Jesus, religion, or Christianity are dumb. Yeah. Except for those Presbyterians who are splitting from the church over gay ministers and gay marriage. Not a lot of tolerance there. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-worst-personal-experience-with-discrimination-bigotry-in-the-last-ten-years/682142/139 "2014-07-14T08:51:17Z")
I’m mostly European and in Australia. In just one semester alone, I suffered significant racist and xenophobic abuse from two sets of Chinese students in two projects. They called me Alien 老外 and foreign devil 洋鬼子。 They refused to tell me meeting times, and then complained to the teacher that I didn’t come along and they ignored my emailed contribution, submitting without me. Because of this, I failed one of the modules, and passed the other due to my high exam scores. I would have failed that too, if I hadn’t told the university I would would take legal action if my groupmates were given the authority to allocate my marks. A new lecturer co-ordinated the module, and quite thankfully, she had everyone conduct their group project in a monitored online forum. I didn’t encounter any discrimination. I doubt all of them were strongly bigotted, it just takes one to hate and the rest to go with the flow for discrimination to happen. On the other hand, I often wonder if I was let into the prestigious university **because of** my ethnicity… pretty much all my classmates there were Chinese. Witnessed: A friendly, open-minded and kind Chinese friend of mine suddenly motioned for me to cross the street. When we got to the other side, I asked her why, she said, because she saw some black people approach. Whaattt??? It seems not all racism comes from consistent racists. I am not sure Anglos are that much better, I have a very aboriginal surname and I have only started getting interviews when I’ve omitted it. Seriously… people would rather interview someone dumb enough to forget to write down their surname than consider someone of potentially Koori descent. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-worst-personal-experience-with-discrimination-bigotry-in-the-last-ten-years/682142/140 "2014-07-14T14:35:59Z")
> [@OurLordPeace](#): > > And yet gays have the fewest abortions. Why do some people have so many hang-ups about sex, family, etc.? It’s all due to religion, right? Excellent point. Next time they get in my face about “teh gay,” I am so going to ask “Excuse me, but how many abortions have been caused by homosexuals?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-worst-personal-experience-with-discrimination-bigotry-in-the-last-ten-years/682142.md?page=6)