this post was submitted on 08 Aug 2024
109 points (89.8% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26875 readers
2261 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try [email protected]


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either [email protected] or [email protected]. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email [email protected]. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

I'm a white guy from a fairly non-diverse city. I was at a grocery store today where a cashier opened up their line to serve me and, I thought, the person behind me. As they were serving me, though, they put up their lane closed sign right in front of the black man behind me. The buy was just trying to purchase some tuna, bread, and peanut butter.

The cashier basically decided to serve me, a middle class white man, but refused to serve the black man behind me. I was so shocked that I didn't say anything. It is possible that I misunderstood the situation but it seemed so blatant.

What should I have done in this situation? Should I have spoken up? Would that have just been more embarrassing for the man who was being discriminated against?

Honestly, I'm still just in shock to see someone treated so poorly when they were simply trying to buy food for themselves. I recognize that means that I'm sheltered but I also feel like I should be able to use my unearned privilege to help others who are being discriminated against.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Thank you. You don't think that speaking up would be more embarrassing for the man that what already happened? I feel terrible that I didn't act more appropriately in the moment, but I was too shocked to think of a good response to the situation.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago

My impulse would be to say something like, “excuse me, but the gentleman behind me is still waiting in line!” in a loud enough voice to draw a bit of attention. Gives the cashier space to pretend they didn’t notice him while letting him know you noticed that shit and you’re not OK with it. Also gives other cashiers and patrons nearby the opportunity to be cool and let him jump in line or help him on another lane. As long as it’s focused on the rude behavior of closing a lane without ringing up everyone in the queue, hopefully not too embarrassing for the poor dude behind you.

That cashier was a fucking dickhead. Not your fault you didn’t react in the heat of the moment, that would catch me off guard too!

[–] [email protected] -1 points 3 months ago

I think speaking up would have allowed the clerk an opportunity to defend himself.

That is one of the most important reasons to speak up: silently judging people offers them no opportunity to dispel your assumptions about them.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I don’t know the answer to that. But if he didn’t speak up for himself I would have done so for him. Racism is unacceptable.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Yeah! You obviously know what’s better for him than he does about himself.

Homie might have severe anxiety and then you throwing gas on the fire would make it way worse.

My fucking heart rate is up just thinking about it

[–] [email protected] -3 points 3 months ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago

Do you think it's racist to presume only people of particular races need your help and protection?