'AITA for confronting coworker over racist joke and making them uncomfortable?'

The internet is rallying behind a young woman who turned the tables on a co-worker who made a racist remark about her being hired to “hit a diversity quota.”

In a viral Reddit post titled “AITAH for Making My Coworker Uncomfortable After They Made a Racist Joke?”, the OP shared her experience, which quickly ignited a heated discussion about workplace discrimination and double standards.

AITA for speaking up about racist joke at work and causing discomfort?

In the post, OP (23F) explained that she is one of the youngest employees in her department and one of the few women of her background. She described how a co-worker, Stephen (34M), repeatedly made microaggressive comments toward her, often disguised as jokes.

"I (23F) have been at my job for about a year. I’m one of the youngest in my department and one of the few women of my background. I usually ignore workplace banter, but one coworker, Stephen (34M), has a habit of making subtle comments that don’t sit right with me. At first, it was small things. He’d ask where I’m really from or joke about how I must be great at handling spicy food. I never made a big deal out of it," she said.

However, things escalated when Stephen made a comment during lunch. She said, "He decides that apparently, I am "Lucky. They probably needed to hit their diversity quota."

OP noticed that everyone around her chuckled, seemingly used to Stephen’s remarks. Rather than letting it slide, she responded, "I'm guessing he always does this sort of thing cause everyone let out a good chuckle. I almost hesitated, then I let it go and said, "Maybe, but It’s crazy how I got promoted so fast, while you’ve been in the same role for like, ten years? Maybe they have a quota for that too."

"I'm guessing everyone got uncomfortable cause the room went dead silent, you could hear the clock on the wall almost. Stephen looked at me like a kicked dog and said that he was just joking. I didn't really care to hear it so I just smiled," OP explained.

Now, OP is wondering if she was in the wrong for clapping back.

"Later, my manager told me Stephen felt humiliated and that I should have been more professional. I said I responded the same way he spoke to me, but now I’m wondering, AITAH?"

Internet backs woman who clapped back at coworker’s racist joke

The internet overwhelmingly sided with OP. One user wrote, "NTA...They're not just jokes. They're prejudices masked as a joke. He really feels like you're "just a DEI hire." F**k him and your manager."

Another commenter added, "Yeah he's being racist. And when you finally stood up for yourself, your boss corrected YOU?? If your workplace has an HR department, I'd contact them. Your boss effectively just told you racism is acceptable but your comment was not."

Many pointed out the double standard in workplace behavior. "It's not just a racist joke, it's belittling all of your hard work and efforts. It's blaming him being jealous of your winning in your career and putting aside your efforts to get there. There's no place for this in the workplace, it's just bullying," one said.

"Well, don't ACTUALLY "f**k your manager". That would be a whole other issue. JK. NTA!" a user said, while another user wrote, "Yep, it’s the only way they can justify someone they feel to be inferior to them holding a position above them."

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