77: School Admin Officer

A number of years ago, I worked with a School Admin Officer who blatantly treated people differently on the grounds of their race. Parents who spoke to her who had a non-English accent would be replied to in a patronising manner, exaggeratedly slowly and deliberately. She would become impatient if they didn't grasp what she was saying or if she couldn't understand them. This person also favoured white children over others, which in a school of very few white children was excruciating to watch. I didn't actually ever address this directly with her - I wasn't her line manager or senior to her in the school, so didn't know how to do this. Instead, I would very intentionally ensure that whenever I spoke to BAME parents or children in front of her, I spoke in the nicest, most respectful way possible, in the hope that she would notice the different way we dealt with people. Sadly, I'm not sure she ever did and I hope I would take a more direct approach if I witnessed something similar again.