Quote Originally Posted by indysteel View Post
Out of curiosity, beyond thinking at first that it was a joke, have you thought about confronting your coworker about her comment and/or reporting it to management? I agree that racism, while common, is ugly and wrong, but silence in the face of racism (or gay bashing, sexism, etc.) can be just as wrong as the racism itself. You have to be prepared to speak out against it.
+2.

To me, it's far worse to let it go unnoticed - it implies that her comments are acceptable, when they're not. I've been in an interracial marriage, and had to speak up when I would not tolerate a racial joke. I've also had comments made directly to my face about my own religious background (I don't "look" a certain way - didn't know that religious beliefs made one look a certain way) and had to speak up directly to the woman making the comments.

We can't change certain people, but we can point out that we will not accept their comments. It's far worse, in my opinion, to remain silent.