by Carmen Van Kerckhove

Watercooler is the section of the blog in which we share with you real-life horror stories from the frontlines of race in the workplace. This week, we have a story from Selina:

My story takes place where I currently work. There is a white woman here who constantly feels the need to make racist jokes or comments to me.

When we were first hired the training class went out for drinks to celebrate the end of training. She was telling dirty joke after dirty joke. Everyone was having a good time until she said,”what are the three biggest lies in the world?” She mentioned one I cannot remember and the checks in the mail and black is beautiful.

There was only one person with melanin there besides myself. She was the only one laughing. She later apologized but it felt forced. This woman really thought that was funny!

Later on I was promoted and she was not. Her excuse was racism and of course she decided to mention it to me. The boss of the supervisors is an African American female and so is her boss. This of course is not typical. I had to mention to her that the other person who was promoted is blonde and blue eyed just like her!

Please email team@raceintheworkplace.com if you’d like to send in a story, put “watercooler” in the subject line, and let us know what name we should use for you. Pseudonyms and first names are totally fine. You can read more Watercooler stories here.