When an Arab-American working for a US bank heard that a colleague was buying a house, he went to Google Maps to check it out. Another colleague, noticing he was looking at satellite pictures, quipped: ‘What, are you selecting a target?’

The banker did not find it funny. A short while later he left the company and the industry, tired of being the butt of terrorist jokes and facile racial stereotypes by not-so-funny co-workers.