It doesn't matter if you're black or white

A friend of mine is having a little trouble with some of the things his colleagues are saying at work. He is a white Anglo-Saxon, born and raised in Australia; both of his parents were born in Britain, where he is now living. Generally as Australians living in London, we are subjected to some anti-Australian banter here and there from the natives. Most of the time it’s pretty friendly and we give as good as we get. I get the impression though that in my friend’s case, it has risen to a level above what can be construed as friendly banter. On a number of occasions my friend has expressed his distress to me at being continually subject to snide remarks and sly comments about his nationality.
Most Australians are more than happy to make jokes about themselves and their own country; it’s one of the things that make Aussies generally laid back and friendly people. What are being said to my friend however, are not jokes and are certainly not funny. Psychologically I believe the reason for these comments, mostly from one or two individuals, as an attempt to exclude my friend as they regard him as a threat to their status and as a result of themselves harbouring feelings of inadequacy.

So far, my friend has not drawn attention to the fact that he is upset about this. He does not want to cause any trouble and it is obviously not worth his while to start putting people in the office offside. What would happen though if he did report the matter to senior management? Perhaps the parties involved would be told quietly that they should give it a rest for a while. I imagine that would be the extent of it.

Pretty much everything that has been said to him could have equally been said to someone of any nationality in the exact same context. He is being victimised purely on the basis of his nationality and it is causing him distress and discomfort in the workplace. What would happen though, if my friend were black, and he were not from Australia, but an immigrant from the Caribbean? I can tell you that the shit would hit the fan! There would be massive repercussions for the company and those involved. The offenders would be sacked in an instant; my friend could resign stating he could no longer work in an environment where he was being racially vilified. He could then take the company to court because of this and more than likely win his case and receive a large amount of compensation. The case would be reported in the press and the good name of the company would be sullied. The whole experience would cause not only financial damage, but also long term damage to the company’s good will.

So what’s the difference? There is none. The treatment that my friend is subject to is no different at all to treatment that would be labelled racist and totally unacceptable were the colour of his skin different. Racism and discrimination is such a highly sensitive issue in modern society, minor indiscretions are zealously reacted to. The treatment my friend is subjected to is totally unacceptable. Whether it is racist, culturalist, nationalist, call it what you will it is all the same thing: discrimination and vilification based on something the victim has never had any control over.