London Fletcher

Our company played musical chairs again, and I was the one left seatless. I have to go through an exit interview and i'm tempted to sing like a canary about all the racism, favoritism, inefficiency and dumb decisions. Should I-or will it get around and hurt me in my next job?

Bahtatboy

Tell the truth but don't burn your bridges.

zoukla

Whats new...I was quite shocked when someone showed me a CV they are putting forward and the first line was nationality.

I shuddered. In 2010 what has nationality got to do with Job performance, experience, contribution to the bottom line. In my mind they could be aboriginies with uzbekistan nationalities as long as they are qualified the references add up and the synergy right . Bob's your uncle.

Seem some of us who came here in the early days cemented this practice hence...

EU, AUS, BRITs, USA, nationals are paid top Dirhams with full package
Indians, Phillipinos and the rest of the world ( who actually get the work done are paid fractions with 2 digit denominators)
Pakistanis and some indians just get whatever one decides on the day!


This is the reality of the world we live in. My two fils worth

Write the song but dont sing it yet. Do the best work you can and it will speak for it self. Retribution has its day but many times we are never around to see it....If your Boss is the person i imagine you may get blacklisted... very common in UK.

Seek your next challenge and SHINE

London Fletcher

This is the fourth time this has happened to me and in all but in one case I was the only Black British man in the office, and the only one to be let go. I feel that at this point I have to throw caution to the wind and say something, for myself and for my race.

commander

can you back it up with any hard evidence that the reason that you were let go is because your black, and not because you were the worst performer?

dont know your line of work, but have you any sales target records, appraisals etc that could support you in proving that you were not the worse performer

Without this i think it may be difficult for you, they may say its a case of sour grapes and your playing the race card.

Good luck though.

soukie

Even if you wanted to play the race card I'm not sure where it would get you as there doesn't seem to be any laws regarding equal opportunities - how many times do you see ads wanting christian girl, muslim office boy, Keralite etc etc.

Millhouse

you are wasting your time. you have nothing to gain from this and potentially stuff to lose.

London Fletcher

These are the types of questions and attitudes that continually lead to my dismissal. Going strictly by the numbers yes I am usually the "worst performer" but I'm repeatedly saddled with the worst territory, the worst office, the worst assistant and impossible sales targets- and I'm being evaluated without these factors being considered. I am continually being set up to fail. Why?

Racism, clearly

London Fletcher

Accept my pride

The Dean

Go for it - but what exactly are you going to do? Complain? To whom? I reckon a letter to a local paper might be the most effective path to take - won't get you anywhere officially but they love that kind of thing.

As an aside: I know a young Kenyan woman who decided to put her photo on her CV. Under normal circumstances, I'd advise against anyone (of whatever race or colour) doing that, but she felt that, if she got a job despite her colour, it wouldn't be a particularly racist environment when she started work there.

Good thinking - but at the first interview she attended, the interviewer (a local) said: "You're blacker than you look in your picture."

She didn't get the job.

London Fletcher

It's not enough for us to be just as good, we have to be better than everyone else.

TGFKASE

Sounds like sour grapes to me.....

But at least you have the balls to admit you probably deserve to be fired.....

commander

maybe you have a chip on your shoulder from day1..your employers realise they have hired a problem child..and therefore adapt suitable tactics to justify getting rid of you.

Maybe if you removed the said chip.

FYI my 2 best engineers here are black americans. These guys are brilliant but yet i have witnessed some unsavoury things at work and play directed at them, purely because of thier colour. Saying that, they have the build of Linebackers so it doesnt happen too often.

One of them did get refused from Oceans in the Royal Meridian becuase there was 'too many men' in. When i was arguing with the doorman (i was already inside) a group of about 5 british guys (white) waltzed in.

Speaking to them about racism and how bad it can be in this country, they both laughed and said try being a black man called out to a land rig in Luisianna...

TGFKASE

So are you saying its coz you's black...

..or coz you's British??

TGFKASE

Lol.. No fried chicken or grits here, boy.....

Few years back in Saudi, I was pulled in by my boss and advised I was receiving a written warning for racism on the job. It transpired that an Egyptian engineer was unhappy that I had run his ass off my rig...

..and my boss at the time was also Egyptian...

I advised him that I was unwilling to accept the letter, and pointed out that no-one had claimed I was racist towards Russians, Indians, Yanks, Canucks or Brits.. yet had run their asses of before the Egyptian guy....

I then pointed out that, if he was to force the issue, I would point this out to senior management....

The letter was never issued.....