Racism is often unintentional and exhibited as behaviours that individuals did not realise were racist or discriminatory. Most people would not consider themselves as racist, however, that does not mean that occasionally people may do or say something that is unintentionally racist for example calling a member of the BAME community “coloured” because that is what they grew up with, even though this is not acceptable today.

A person does not have to intend malice to do or say something that can be considered racist for example, asking somebody where they are from but not accepting “Birmingham” as an answer, because of my brown skin colour, people assume that I must be from India. Racism can be found in subtle comments and preconceptions such as assuming that English isn’t my first language, or that I wasn’t born in England, or that I must have been on the cricket team.

Other examples in the workplace can include things such as confusing the only two minority members of staff, not trying to pronounce non-English names, or giving “Christian” nicknames to staff. Employees need to feel empowered to call out these behaviours as they happen and to know that they have the support of the company when doing so.

It can be very daunting to advocate for one’s self. Organisations need to have a clear stance on language and phrases that can offend. Derogatory terms that refer to race are unacceptable and discriminatory regardless if they were meant as a joke or were unintentional.