Racism at Touro College
My colleague sent me this article, http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/bronx/2008/01/09/2008-01-09_fired_worker_sues_touro_college.html and as an employee of Touro I can say that I believe the young woman who was fired. I don’t know her or her boss, but I work at the same location and have witnessed a great deal of racism directed not only towards some employees, but also towards the students.
The racism comes not only from the Russian employees, but also the religious Jews. I have heard blatantly racist comments and also more subtle ones made about people who are not white. One of the worst was said to me about a Hispanic employee. I was having a pleasant conversation with the Hispanic man, who happened to be a custodian, and after he left, my Russian colleague said I shouldn’t talk to him because now he’ll just keep coming back like a dog. My Russian and Jewish colleagues refer to students in one particular division of the college, where the students are typically not white and definitely not Jewish, dummies. My boss, who is the Dean of one of the programs, said “jokingly” that he as long as none of our foreign students turn out to be terrorists we won’t get in trouble for the way we give out I-20′s. I have also witnessed religious Jewish students treating the non Jewish students with contempt. These stories only scratch the surface.
I have worked in a number of different environments over the years, corporate, non-profit, education, and this is the first place that I have truly felt disgusted by the people I work with. I have brought some of these issues to the attention of HR, but as of yet they have not been addressed.
