When Dealing With Racists, It's Sometimes Good To Be "Oblivious"

Don’t be offended, but most people who are targeting you for bullying, harassment, discrimination or retaliation will, generally, think you’re stupid to begin with. Even if they don’t quite think you’re an imbecile, they will certainly believe you have far less intelligence than they possess. This arrogance, which is typical of the arrogance of a racist, can be a blessing in disguise.

Unfortunately, any perpetrators and company officials, who are targeting you for mistreatment (e.g., supervisors, managers, and Human Resources staff), will likely share this view. So, because of your assumed stupidity, you won’t be seen as a true threat—even while you’re under attack. Your company fears litigation, but they will still be inclined to see you as just a dumb nig*er! So, here’s how you can use that to your advantage…

Occasionally pretend to be oblivious to a large portion of what is said to and around you. Give people the chance to put their guard down! Let them talk and talk and talk.

Here’s a real life example of how this works. I had a Latino coworker tell me that he couldn’t believe some of the racist and unethical things that were said or discussed (by White senior managers) right in front of him. But, he didn’t openly complain about the remarks. What did he do? He said, “I sit there like…,” and motioned with his hand over his head. You get it. He acted like what was being said went right over his head, like it was meaningless to him. And, the entire time these senior managers were speaking, he would take notes or he would wait to get back to his desk and write the entire conversation down. Why didn’t he say anything? Because he felt he was being targeted by certain individuals at the company and decided it was better to keep some information as ammunition to use against them at a later time—when it would be most useful to him. He said, “I just pretend like I didn’t understand a thing. You wouldn’t believe what I can do with this information. If they try to fire me, I’m pulling it out and I’m taking people down with me.”

That’s what I’m asking you to consider. There are times when you can’t let something slide because it’s simply far too egregious. But, there are other times, when something is important, but you can just let it simmer. You want to be very discreet, so that the people talking don’t realize that you realize they just put their foot in their mouth, contradicted their previous statements, contradicted statements from someone on “their side” who has given a completely different story, lied, misrepresented or massaged facts, and given you a huge boost in proving your case of harassment, discrimination or retaliation.

Don’t play your entire hand. You should learn to be patient and learn to bluff. When I was in meetings, I’d hear things that clearly contradicted the previous statements of multiple company officials. I didn’t say a word, I’d just ask a detailed question that didn’t tip my hand to the fact that they had shown their true motive, but that would make them make further admissions about this new contradiction or lie. If you want to fib, I’m the type of person that will help you go all the way—to your own demise. Start learning to think fast on your feet and you’ll see opportunities to probe and ask questions in a way that makes people reveal more than they would like, implicate other people, contradict themselves, etc.