Gen Fricker Calls Out Triple J For Failing To Address Racist Behaviour In The Workplace
“If you work at triple j and you’re white, you’re part of the problem."
Ex-triple j presenter and comedian Gen Fricker has publicly criticised the station for failing to address racism and discrimination present in the workplace, saying “if you work at triple j and you’re white, you’re part of the problem.”
“I think I need to say something because I’ve been complacent — because I’ve just been so beat down by it, and I didn’t say it before,” Fricker said in a six-minute video shared to Instagram. “But after seeing black tiles all over my feed and people sharing things about how the gatekeepers of the culture should be held accountable. I’m just going to put this out there.”
“If you work at triple j and you’re white, you’re part of the problem. People can write this off as angry former worker, I don’t care, I have nothing to lose. And I’m also saying this because having chatted to people of colour who work at triple j with triple j, want to be on triple j, these are the discussions we are having. So here it is.”
Fricker — who left the station at the end of 2019 after five years — goes on to detail how white co-workers would have to be asked to stop doing “blaccents” in the office, and recalled how a manager had no problem with a prank which involved one of Fricker’s colleagues doing an Indian accent, “pretending to be an Indian call-centre worker.”
“The difference between being not racist and anti-racist is calling out that shit. And I say it all the time. But I don’t think you realise how lonely it was to be one of two brown people in those rooms, having to explain why maybe a white woman singing a language with no black people was a bit fucking problematic. Or having to ask white co-workers to stop doing African-American accents in the office, ‘blaccent’.”
“That indigenous ally tile is great but post a picture of the management team at triple j and tell me that comes from a real place,” Fricker continued. “You’re the gatekeepers of our culture. You need to stop trading off as a progressive brand because it’s not real.
“And if you’re an employee and you’re there and you’re wondering if they’ll fire you for saying something, the odds are if you’re white and a presenter, they’re not going to fire you.”
Triple j and the ABC have yet to respond to Fricker’s comments. Watch the full video below.