UN asks staff to identify 'yellow' option in survey on racism, creates uproar

The United Nations has been accused of racism by its own staff.

It began with an internal survey that the international body conducted recently. It was a part of UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres's mission to stamp out racism and promote dignity which was called the "United Nations survey on racism" and was sent to thousands of UN employees across the world.

The first question of the survey left the UN staff appalled as it asked them to answer how they identify themselves, that is the racial identity they represent. A lot of options were provided namely black, brown, white, mixed, multi-racial but there was one tick box that stood out - "yellow".

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The United Nations asked its employees if they identified themselves as "yellow", a word that has many connotations but when it comes to racial identity it is considered a racial slur. It comes at par with the many insulting terms that are used to describe Asians.

UN employees were outraged. They asked how a body which sings praises of its diversity can even use such a slur in its own survey that too in the very first question. For now, the United Nations has taken the survey down but no apologies have been offered.