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Customers complain about e-mail
By RICK ROUAN
A Warren woman was so offended, she’s taking her business elsewhere.
NILES — A racially insensitive joke apparently intended for circulation within a local insurance company’s office made its way to the e-mail inboxes of several customers when a computer virus attached itself to the e-mail.
The joke ended up in the deleted e-mail of Diana Richards, a former partner at Guerra Richards Mulvey, LLC, and when tech workers shut down the company’s firewall, a virus attached itself to the e-mail and sent it to both customers and personal contacts, Richards said.
The company, which recently merged with First Place Insurance, fixed the problem within a day, but the damage was done, and customer complaints began to flow, said Michael R. Guerra, a former partner in the company.
The joke originally came to Richards from her husband, Dick Richards, who also works in the office. It suggests that white people should have broken into the homes of black people to retrieve stolen items while black people attended the inauguration of President Barack Obama.
That was enough to prompt Debra Colvin to take her business elsewhere.
“I was just very insulted. I couldn’t believe it. I’ve been dealing with this insurance company for over 10 years,” said Colvin, 50, of Warren. “I even sent people to them.”
Colvin said her home and two cars are both insured by the company and that she has a life insurance policy, too. All told, Colvin said she pays the company more than $1,000 a year.
Guerra said the company tried to contact customers who received the e-mail, but Colvin said she has not heard from anyone at GRM Insurance.
“It’s been two weeks and I never even got a letter from them,” Colvin said. “I don’t even believe that story is true ... I think they’re trying to protect themselves.”
As a best practice, most companies have a discriminatory practices policy that helps protect them from liability in some cases, said Laura Myers, the interim director of Ohio University’s Office of Institutional Equity. Myers spent six years in the university’s College of Business teaching business law and communications.
Ultimately, though, Myers said the public perception of the company stands to lose the most.
“The biggest issue is that it creates a bad image of the company,” she said.
Guerra said the company has a policy against distributing these kinds of jokes at work.
“It came in from cyberspace someplace into our office. We have policies against this,” Guerra said. “It was a horrible, horrible joke or whatever that was supposed to be. It was just totally insensitive.”
But Richards said the partners are too busy to police employee computers.
“You can have a policy, but we’re busy working,” Richards said.
rrouan@vindy.com
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Comments
No one considers "White racism". It does exist. White-racsm exists within every non-white race. African-Americans/Blacks are simply more vocal when they find a real--or perceived--"insult".
How many African-Americans/Blacks laugh at or forward jokes about the "hillbillies" who are targetted in places like West Virginia, Kentucky, and southern Ohio (Appalachia territory)? Those "hillbillies" are *White*.
How many African-Americans/Blacks share snide remarks toward Whites (or Asians) at lunchtime, around the water cooler, or around their family table? Please, don't say it doesn't happen--- it DOES go on.
Many African Americans/Blacks are taught from childhood to call people Miss and Mr as a sign of respect. But how many times do African Americans/Blacks say "Miss Diane" or "Mr. George" with unmistakable sarcasm and definitive lack of respect when the Miss or Mr is a white person? It does happen---OFTEN.
How about the "uh-uh-uh-uh-uhh" sounds that many African Americans/Blacks make when they want to show clear disapproval of what another person is doing or saying? It's a very disrespectful sound and "message" to give to ADULTS, especially strangers. But many African Americans/Blacks make that degrading sound---with intention to degrade and to shame---toward White people mostly. And that is not White racism?
White racism exists, just as openly and as frequently as supposed Black racism!
What political joke did you, as an African American/Black, forward that made fun of those who voted for, say Bush (one or two) -- most of those voters were----WHITE.
I wish that African Americans/Blacks would stop yelling racism, and instead, look for the racism in their own words, actions, and through the "uh uh uh" sounds they use against other (white) adults. "Tsk tsk" should be reserved for kids---kids who belong to you---not for ADULTS who don't need you "tsking" them.
No attacks please. I'm writing about a view many people have in the USA. Many non-black groups are tired of the unending "racism! racist! accusations over every little thing. We realize how badly Blacks have been hurt. We know the history. But.......... when will African Americans/Blacks see the reverse discrimination in what THEY do and say?
Oh.... and I forgot.... Most Whites are so fearful that they will be called "racists" that Whites don't stand up and say or write what I just wrote.
But, it's true. And more Whites need to start saying "Oh come on! Give it a break already!"
In the article, a husband sent his wife a joke. Whether you agree or disagree with their sense of humor or their polical correctness, the email was between the 2 of them. It's not like the Owner or Manager or Supervisor of the business sat at the lady's computer, trolled through her email, and found this ONE email to then forward to all the customers! Stop calling "racist" against the company---sheesh! I'm sure the company already feels embarrassed, but THEY didn't deliberately send the joke to *you*.
Hmmmm..... I can only wonder.... when Blacks outnumber Whites in the US Census, will Whites be taken seriously when they start yelling "racism!"? Probably not. But one HUGE difference will be that Whites will not have overused, over-yelled, and over-sensitized every little thing into being "Racism!! Racism!!"
Let's get back to things like.... How are families going to feed their kids? How can we stop gun violence? How can we END child rape and abuse? How can each of us give back in our communities? What elderly person is going without food again today? Who cares about pornography enough to stop it? Will you care about your neighbors enough to check on them if you haven't seen them in days---weeks? Pick a "need"--our country has enough needs that we can ALL be kept very, very busy, without worrying about a joke sent out by a computer virus.
I really don't know anyone who has nothing better to do at dinner than talk about caucasians or asians. And hillbilly jokes, most of the hillbilly jokes come from caucasians. No one said the entire company, but lets be honest. Anyone would have less faith in their insurance company when you get sent a mass email (that at best was in poor taste and the best the company can say is oops. Besides Mrs. Richards is a lying idiot, her last statement said "the partners are too busy to police employee computers." What policing was necessary? They violated policy when they sent it to you, but it was hubby who violated policy and cost you your business (see first paragraph). They deserve it, I find it funny not because of the joke because of the stupidity involved.
This is the valley where the year is really 1961. Racism is alive and well here more than anywhere I've been.
In the spotlight of political correctness whites are always valid targets for whatever befalls them and blacks are always the victims but never of their own doing. The best that whites can do is to show the right way down the path of life .
I have lived in Cleveland and in Youngstown. Youngstown is far less racial than Cleveland.
As a white person I am one of those people who pass on hillbilly jokes and laugh at Bush 1 and 2. When it comes to jokes about skin color, I generally don't find them funny because I feel that if you have to say the race of the person, it's getting a cheap laugh from either making you uncomfortable or just plain racist.
What most whites don't understand is if they say...I was talking to a black guy...that is a racist comment. I hear people saying that every day and they really mean no harm. I have caught myself doing it as well. I do not consider myself a racist but old habits and attitudes die hard. I can only strive to try harder. Too bad that others don't try to do the same.
This whole "white racism thing" bothers me. The way that the right has latched onto it, tells me that it's once again part of that conservative agenda to sucker white people into thinking that they are somehow being screwed by "people of other races". So basically they are complaining about what they always complain about other races for.
Rodney King said it best when he simply said "Can't we all just get along?".
And as far as someone at an insurance company sending out e-mails like that and having them end up in the in boxes of customers? The person who sent that would be fired and prosecuted. Fired for violating company policy and prosecuted for sabotage.
Racism is alive and well with all races still it will never end..We all will never "Just get along" the african americans will talk about the caucasian, the caucasian about the african american, the asian about the african american, the african american about the asian, the caucasian about the asians, the asians about the caucasian, the natives about the caucasian, the caucasian about the native, the latino about the caucasian, the caucasian about the latino, the african american about the latino, blah blah blah etc etc etc.. it goes on and on and on amongst all races! it will never be "Can we all just get along?" Never ..no matter how hard we try there will still always be racist families passing it through generations and it will never change. Someone will always be cracking those racist jokes amongst all the racist..Trust me I have a very mixed family and I hear a lot of racist jokes and remarks..they will never stop because thats just what some people do. Some people take these jokes seriously..while most just laugh it off! I heard 3 african americans joking with each other the other day and it was very racial.. it was aiming at their own race! (And I am Caucasian!) I was appalled!! I couldnt believe they were cutting each other down like that. but thats what we all do we dont realize how racial were all being with each other. It will never end till we all make it end. It will continue as always because noone can live down the past and THAT remark is directed towards all races. I agree what happened to rodney king was horrifying, as would it be if it were any other person of any race, but remember too that it is happening everywhere,I'm sadly stating facts and that we need not forget also about the caucasian teen female who was raped, sodomized and tortured with a broomstick by a gang of six african americans and latinos, her skull was caved in and her body was dumped in a ditch..mind you this WAS NOT treated as a hate crime.. or how about the asian girl in brooklyn who was murder by a latino gang...or the native american boy murdered by the asian gang. Its everywhere. Neverending. Until every parent of ALL RACES in america decides to raise there children teaching them Respect and Equality amongst the races...Racism will continue to live on. Sad very sad... and sickening
Are we still yet that insentive here in America, here in 2009 to the issue of RACISM that we continue to tolerate such behaviors? Important to remember is that RACISM is not something that we as individuals are born with, but yet a learned, taught, and rehearsed behavior. RACISM comes in many forms both of which may be explicit or implicit. RACISM begets hatred, and hatred governs our thoughts, behavior, deed, and actions. Simply put...this is unacceptable regardless of ones race and it's high time that we as Americans put RACISM to rest. I applaud Ms. Colvin for reminding & alerting us of this as we have become complacecent and strill need to know that this fight against RACISM is a continuing saga here in America. Shame on you in positions of authority at this insurance company to take the high road that you cannot control activities that go on in the work place with your employees. Well, to a certain point this is true, but you do have the authority to act responsibly now that you are aware of what has taken place and take the appropriate actions accordingly to ensure that issues and behaviors likes this are minimized. And, by the way what was this company's response to Ms. Colvin???