One of the teams on the floor have got a fancy dress day, and someone has come dressed as Michael Jackson in the Thriller video. Except it’s a white guy who has blacked up.
Phone up HR right away. Blacking up is racist. Don’t be the person who ignores racism.
He’s dressed up a particular character, rather than a whole race.
You don’t know him. He’s probably just an ignorant idiot rather than a big old racist.
Is there a fourth option where you call him out for it directly instead of reporting it to HR? (I know this hinges on a lot of variables, is easy to say, isn’t a responsibility anyone should have to shoulder in a 2018 workplace, etc)
The problem is that I don’t know him, or who he reports to. Last year 75% of the floor were made redundant and some new teams have moved in. As always, there was no communication about who they were and what they do.