Honestly I'm not even sure where to start with this. If this is truly your attitude you are apart of the problem. Everyone in the world isn't as "tough" as you

Honestly I'm not even sure where to start with this. If this is truly your attitude you are apart of the problem. Everyone in the world isn't as "tough" as you are. You may enjoy working in that type of environment but that doesn't mean other people should. Yes there is absolutely a part of being adult that means dealing with uncomfortable people or situations but that should be far from the norm. And encouraging people to just toughen up is the exact wrong response to these situations. Also the author doesn't describe one "weird" guy as you suggest. She describes an individual who was far and beyond offensive. Whatever his reasons that's not appropriate in every day life much less in the workplace. Being white gives you the ability to brush this off as not your problem, or not that unusual but for someone like the author who is doubly on the outskirts the fact that a situation like that isn't addressed promptly and decisively sends the message that she isn't a valued part of the team. If you value that guys right to be overtly offensive and racist more than her right to be offended by it you are creating a culture that implicitly doesn't value a certain segment. In this case both blacks and women