And here I was, thinking that racism was dead…

On Friday, I began the tedious process of looking for work as a freelance writer. As a blogger who is PR friendly, I have had experience being paid to write reviews for websites such as CouponChief and have done my fair share of writing honest product reviews as well. I thought I should give it a shot, I mean, my trip to Trinidad in October isn’t going to pay for itself, and there’s no money in our budget right now for a flight!

I found a website where freelance writers apply for jobs based on their skill set. Although I have experience in other categories like HR, Payroll, Customer Service, etc, I quit working in that industry for a reason – I’m over it. I want to write.

It’s what writers do, after all.

I found a ton of jobs posted for blog writers, article writers, etc. Some only pay a few dollars per article – really?! $1.25 for 500 words? Are you kidding me? – but others are fair and I applied to a few on Friday. By Friday evening, I’d already received my first offer and have been working on the project off and on all weekend. Last night, I received a request for more details and I am waiting to hear back from the potential employer.

Obviously two freelance jobs (we’re talking small fees because this is content for others, not my own blog) are not going to pay for me to visit my husband in Trinidad. So I began applying for a few more jobs in my preferred field this morning.

And that is when I came across this:

“I need someone who can create 30 comments today. Fast turn around. I need it asap. Indians will be automatically rejected.”

Um, what?

Indians will automatically be rejected?

WHAT?!?!?

Seriously?! Is this person for real?

I was tempted to apply for the position just so that I could shoot them an email saying, “Mr./Mrs. Douche Canoe, it’s 2011. Get with the program. Racism is outdated. Go crawl back under the slimy, archaic rock from which you came.”

But then I decided to walk away…because what would that accomplish? I’d most likely be suspended from the organization and banned for life. And I can’t use righteous indignation to purchase a flight to Trinidad. If only!

So instead, I flagged it as offensive and sent feedback to the company about the racist remarks being included in the job description. Because this is a company registered in the United States…um, hello, that’s completely 100% illegal. I doubt that they would tolerate that sort of behavior. (This position had been posted in the past hour, so I doubt the company had come across it yet, otherwise, I’d hope that they would have removed it)

Ugh. But this company looking for comment writers…I realize that Americans are very touchy on the subject of outsourcing. But this is a national database we are talking here. If the company running the website allows the residents of any country to register and apply for a job, you can’t discount them because you don’t like their nationality!

Haven’t they ever heard of the Civil Rights Act?

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e and following) prohibits employers from discriminating against applicants and employees on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, and national origin (including membership in a Native American tribe). It also prohibits employers from retaliating against an applicant or employee who asserts his or her rights under the law.

IN YO FACE!!