Whether you sign the petition to get him fired is really immaterial to the matter at hand. You titled this thread “Descrimination”. From the story you told, descrimination of a racial variety took place when, in an argument between a manager and a customer (which often occur), said manager let slip, in what I can only imagine to be a grand display of unprofessionalism and incompetance, a racial slur. I’m a musician who’s currently earning a degree. In my business, tension can run dramatically high, especially when dealing with personalities we don’t typically enjoy (which might be…all the time). Despite the disagreements we have, we (to a much larger extent than for which we are given credit) refrain from making fools of ourselves and the people we represent (directors, managers, patrons, instructors, etc.) by settling our differences in the moment and then if we still have some steam, blowing it off by talking a friend’s ear off about the matter later.
What happened at this place of business on the part of both parties was probably foolish. What the manager did, however, I just don’t comprehend. What I comprehend even less are some of the responses I’ve seen. Let’s turn this scenario on its head:
Let’s say you’re at this place of business, waiting in line while you watch this carnage unfold. Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that you’re not alone: you have your 6 year old son/daughter with you. Do you want to have to explain to him/her what just happened? If you had to do so, wouldn’t you hold the manager responsible for what he said with regards to a customer’s race? How would you feel walking up to the front desk with your child, putting on a game face, and pretending the ordeal didn’t happen while he/she stands next to you completely confused? Moreover, would you want that manager to continue working there?
But wait, why stop there?
Let’s presume, just for the sake of argument, that you are also of the same race as the person who just got publically insulted with respect to their race.
I don’t know the races involved and I won’t speculate. I’ll just say that being African American, I’ve been called some nasty things. Not necessarily by a manager of a business and not necessarily by anyone whose intelligence I consider to be exceptional, mind you. It still doesn’t change the fact that something that external, exposed, and immutable being insulted is such a low, cheap blow. As Catholics who are constantly preaching the dignity of the human person, is it really appropriate to say that something like this, in the grand scheme of things, is just as much a misunderstanding as anything else and that this manager, while he was within his right to not be shouted down by a customer, chose one of the dumbest ways to “win” an argument, but it’s not really our call as to how immoral it may be? Granted the customer probably said some inappropriate things herself, the manager still represents the business. If a priest got into an argument with a parishioner and let slip a racial slur, what would be the magnitude of this issue? I think it’s safe to presume that most (certainly not all) of the people here are caucasian and have probably never encountered a racial slur that could be directed at themselves. Just take a minute and think of how it would feel to be derogatorily referred to as something less-than because you were in a stupid argument. I’m not saying you should take one side over the other. I’m just saying that not everyone sees the world the same way, especially when it comes to issues like this (AKA, issues that don’t affect the majority of people) and that speculating the motives of a group of concerned people is just as bad as speculating the events of an altercation.
God bless,
Rob
