This is going to turn into a bit of a rant, feel free to skip over it :/
I actually think prejudice is an innate part of human nature - kids learn that something is hot / cold / spicy / whatever, and become prejudiced against it. Cavemen were prejudiced about sabre-toothed tigers; they always suspected that given a chance the tiger would tear them limb from limb, and I'm sure many times they were right.

The problem comes when common-sense is abandoned... My girlfriend got suspended from work a couple of years ago over an alleged "racist incident". She and a group of care-worker colleagues had gone to a party with the guys they cared for, and my girlfriend was asked to get a round of drinks in. She did this, and forgot to include one lady (I'll call her C) who, upon realising this mistake, elected rather than to go to my girlfriend and say "Oi, what about me?", went to the manager, who in turn mentioned the mistake to my girlfriend - who immediately apologised to C and asked what drink she'd like, to be told "I don't want a drink thanks". Incidentally, the reason my girlfriend forgot to include her was that she'd taken herself to a different part of the room, away from everyone else and out of sight.

So far, so utterly utterly uninteresting. However, a couple of weeks later C decided that that only reason she'd not got a drink was because she is black. A complaint was made, and while it was investigated my girlfriend was suspended.

The complaint was eventually thrown out, my girlfriend was reinstated with no blemish on her record, and that was that.

However, just let me recap the events:

- Girlfriend gets everyone a drink (and forgets to include C, who was out of sight at the time)
- C complains that this was because she was black
- Girlfriend apologises, asks C if she wants a drink
- C says "No thank you"

Ok, you've got to have an investigation - but surely a bit of common sense would have meant it could be done in an afternoon instead of 6 weeks? She wasn't the only black person there and my girlfriend got drinks for the others. Surely that sole fact is enough to disprove the theory that she was being racist? Or how about the fact that every single person involved in the investigation was incredulous that she'd been suspended over not buying someone a drink?

In the interviews that happened, my girlfriend was asked about the race and colour of the other people there and couldn't actually say for definite - as far as she was concerned she was out with some colleagues. When C was interviewed though, she could recount the race and colour of everyone at the party. Doesn't this on its own say something about their respect mental outlooks?

I realise I'm not making much sense so I'm going to stop now, sorry if I've wasted a few minutes of your life there.

Thanks to skydivingyeti for grammar correctionosity ;)
(Professor Kenny Martin Hmm? What?, Sun 4 Apr 2010, 16:30, 4 replies)

you're making perfect sense dude.
the point is, i think, that you don't have to be white to be a racist.
on a couple of accasions, whilst visiting a friend in Huddersfield, i suffered terrible aggresive racism from groups of asian yoofs.
( blaireau69 , the Cumbrian Travis Bickle., Sun 4 Apr 2010, 17:01, closed)

you know, i wasn't going to ...
but since you have accepted Amberl's grammatical assistance on another post, i feel i should say this:

"She and a group of care-worker colleagues had gone to a party" not "Her" because the sentence "Her had gone to a party" does not make grammatical sense. In the same way that "Me and my mates have a pound each" does not make sense because "Me" cannot have a pound, only "I" can ... (that last one for example only, i can see you do not mention pounds in your story)

:)
(zenmeban thinks the weather could be better, Mon 5 Apr 2010, 22:38, closed)

Cheers, now edited :)

(Professor Kenny Martin Hmm? What?, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 0:46, closed)

Was this outside work then?
Things like this get my piss boiling.
(shinypurplebit booked his tickets (yay) on, Tue 6 Apr 2010, 11:09, closed)

No, it was some sort of works do - the manager had given my girlfriend some money and instructed her to get some drinks in.

(Professor Kenny Martin Hmm? What?, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 0:47, closed)