Racial bullying occurs when a person is bullied or experiences repeated offensive behaviour against them based on:
- The colour of their skin
- Their cultural and religious background or traditions
- Their ethnicity or perceived ethnicity
Like other types of bullying, racial bullying can take place online, face to face or via phone. Examples of racial bullying can include:
- Calling someone names, teasing them or humiliating them using racially offensive language
- Making fun of someone’s religious customs or traditions
- Being sent racially insulting messages or threats
- Making fun of someone’s accent, clothes, the food they eat etc.
- Excluding someone because of their ethnicity
- Damaging a person’s property, offensive graffiti or displaying racist symbols
- Bringing racist leaflets or magazines to school/work
- Physical attacks
- Being made to feel like you should change the way you look
- Racist jokes, including jokes about a person’s colour, race, nationality or culture
Racism can affect anyone. It can make you feel like you’re not important or don’t fit in. You might feel upset, depressed or angry. You can be affected by it even when it’s not aimed at you, such as, if you hear someone discriminating against someone’s culture.
How to recognise if someone is a suffering from Racial Online Bullying
It can be difficult to tell if someone is being bullied online, but a person may show some of the below signs:
- Not wanting to interact with social media or their online usage is significantly less than usual
- Become suddenly withdrawn or is behaving differently
- Are anxious or showing symptoms of depression
- Have aggressive reactions to normal situations
- Have changes in their eating habits
- Become afraid or worried about going to school, being mysteriously ‘ill’ each morning, or skipping school altogether
Some suggestions if a person is being Racially Bullied Online
- Don’t share, comment or reply to those sending the racist comments as this can often make matters worse
- Block the person from contacting them – there are ways on all social media platforms to any stop contact. Take a look at our App Information Sheets here
- Save the comments as evidence – screenshot or save any abuse for reporting purposes
- Tell someone – ensure that the bullying behaviour is reported to an adult or via an online reporting system straight away
