Declare your lunchroom a hate-free zone

 By Helen Said, Autistic advocate, Melbourne Australia


Anti-discrimination provisions often fail us in staffrooms, lunchrooms and social venues attached to our workplaces and places of study. It is time for employers, employees and students with integrity to say "No more hate in the place" and to ban casual racism, sexism, trans-phobia and ableism from all property or social gatherings associated with their organsiation.

Discrimination and hatreds are contributing to a divided society where many people feel unwelcome and unsafe. By keeping Human Rights provisions in a rarely used volume in the manager's office top shelf, and in a show bag of new employee induction material (destined for the recycle bin), we are not freeing our schools, unis, clubs or workplaces of hatreds. All human rights material needs to be included in new employee training and old employee re-training. "No hate in this place" needs to be part of enforceable workplace, study place and club policy. All work and social spaces associated with the workplace or study space needs to be completely free of hate. 

Before becoming self employed, I was always conscientious and good at my job but the social side of workplaces was sometimes a nightmare. Apart from the fact that I am a socially quiet Autistic, I am also a migrant and a single mother. I certainly have tried to keep up with workplace chit chat, but I get massively turned off by anti-migrant rubbish and disapproving remarks about single mums, which happen fairly regularly in many workplace lunchrooms and socials. 

Even though racists have turned their attention to newer waves of migrants, I am still sickened and turned off by hearing racists saying things about other migrants which were once said about people like me. As a single parent, I have done a better job of bringing up my kids than many married couples have done and I own my own home. 

As an Autistic, I have consistently made huge efforts to build workplace relationships in noisy, chatty, sensory unfriendly workplaces, only to have further barriers of racism and sexism thoughtlessly hurled into my path. These barriers have then killed my workplace relationships and managers have shown me the door for not being "one of the girls" or "part of the team".

Casual racism, sexism, homophobia and ableism spreads like a cancer in lunchrooms, staffrooms, workplaces and socials and damage the fabic of society. This has to be countered by management, workers, unions and students of integrity who are willing to say "No hate in this place."


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