Responses to Negative Discrimination

If someone makes a statement against an individual because of their group membership or generalizes about members of groups, we suggest that you do the following.

(NOTE: These ideas are from Unity in diversity: A curriculum resource guide for ethno-cultural equity and anti-racist education, Ontario Ministry of Education, 1991).

Do

• Deal with the situation immediately.
• State that such abuse is harmful and will not be tolerated.
• Value the feelings of others by listening with sensitivity.
• Support the victim.
• Take aside those involved to discuss the incident.
• Apply appropriate consequences to the offender.
• Examine the context for subtle support of such offenses.

Don't

• Ignore it, let it pass unchallenged, or let intangible fear block your ability to act.
• Overreact with a put-down of the offender.
• Impose consequences until you know what happened from everyone involved.
• Focus entirely on the offender; remember the victim.
• Embarrass either party publicly.
• Assume the incident is isolated from the context in which it occurred.