I work in a chud-filled workplace in a chud-filled state, with a lot of the bullshit that goes along with it. Today, though, a coworker said something particularly bad like it was no big deal, calling a poorly tied down load on a trailer jury-rigged... except she replaced the jury with a hard-r N word. I thought I misheard her until she repeated it. Call me a lib, but I had no idea how to respond and still don't. Previously I thought she might be alright in this respect since she's really proud of being part native, taking part in some of the traditions of her native side of the family; obviously this doesn't preclude racism against black folks, but still.
Anyway, I don't trust my chud bosses to take it seriously and I don't feel like the coworker in question would listen to whatever I have to say since I'm a white guy in a state with a small black population (we do not have any black coworkers).
I'd appreciate any advice from people on here on how to not be a lib about the situation.
Edit: I should add that I would like to quit and leave the company with one less worker, but I need the money right now until I can find something else.
Thank you all for the advice, looks like I'll just need to find some backbone. This job isn't more important than anti-racism, after all.
I would probably say like "hey, what the hell? what do you mean by that?" and try to make her feel uncomfortable for saying it. i know situations can be hard to judge though
This only works if they can be made to feel embarrassment which only works if they're on the opposite side of at least 5 people they respect. They only change their tone when they feel completely ostracized in a social environment they view as their own. If you're just one person talking them down about words they use casually, they'll write you off as a hysterical idiot unless they really really respect you or they're afraid of you.
This is at least how it's gone when I've tried organizing racists in my own chud state.
She won't be uncomfortable because everyone around her is on her side, not OP's. Best case scenario in a workplace like this imo is just to laugh and move on, mock them later.