Google removes its head of diversity after 2007 blog post surfaces • Hacker News Board

Re: Google removes its head of diversity after 2007 blog post surfaces

#341

Post by joshuamorton » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 3:47 PM UTC

rsj_hn wrote: post #189

JansjoFromIkea wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the blog post is definitely worse than Damore's email (although I thought it was pretty crappy in itself), but you're talking here about a blog post from 2007 and an email that was sent via company channels while he was working there. I can only imagine Bobb was quite apologetic and a lot more aware of how terrible his conflations are there than he was in 2007. That's also 14 years of time to have solid evide…

No Damore sent supposedly confidential feedback when solicited to do so by diversity trainers. That content so enraged the diversity staff they leaked it to the rest of the company. Perhaps Damore was naive in thinking the feedback about diversity training was welcome or confidential, but he definately did not send a company-wide email to anyone.

That's not true. Damore posted his document to larger and larger making lists (it was essentially ignored on the first two or three) until it finally got a reaction. He shared it with thousands of people.

Re: Google removes its head of diversity after 2007 blog post surfaces

#342

Post by the-dude » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 3:47 PM UTC

jsjsbdkj wrote: post #316

dalbasal wrote: post #17

Somewhat tangential, but who is the right kind of person for a diversity job? What does a job well done look like? Changes in hiring? Changes in company culture? I'm skeptical of roles with a "my job is to care about X" kind of definition. That includes, for example, "customer advocate" and similar, especially someplace as complicated as google. I don't think they can have much success beyond the surface level. EDIT:…

"Diversity and inclusion" as a separate function is mostly an exercise in giving the rest of the company cover. In my experience the people in these orgs have very little power to do anything, they just recieve the complaints, empathize, and then nothing happens. As an example, I went to our head of D&I with a complaint about HR violating human rights law in our jurisdiction. They said "oh that sucks" and I never spo…

The Human Rights, urrhh, Human Resources department is not there for the benefit of the employees, but for the benefit of the corp.

Re: Google removes its head of diversity after 2007 blog post surfaces

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Post by NateEag » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 3:48 PM UTC

unbroken wrote: post #217

donatj wrote: post #55

What I have learned in recent years is how shockingly accepting of antisemitism people apparently are on both sides of aisle. Growing up in a prominently Jewish neighborhood in Minnesota I never really encountered it until maybe ten years ago. The fact that he was just shifted rather than fired in this political environment speaks volumes.

[flagged]

And Jewish != Israeli.

How is that hard to understand?

Re: Google removes its head of diversity after 2007 blog post surfaces

#344

Post by BTCOG » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 3:48 PM UTC

What I find most absurd in all of this is the utter stupidity of beliefs in entirely man made fairytales that have been causing nonstop wars for the past few thousand years.

Maybe eventually, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Mormonism, and any other gullible belief systems in fake sky people, written by total nutcases 1k+ years ago and miraculously still followed today, will end. Believing that you're somehow superior to the other faction of people based on your beliefs in false Gods is so laughable that it borders on showing that all humanity is largely insane. I find it absolutely baffling that you can read any of these ancient texts and do much more than laugh your fucking ass off. Where is God? Why would he have you launching rockets at innocent civilians over what amounts to gang turf wars for phony belief systems.

Nothing I said here was racist before anyone even starts. Religion is fake bullshit. Abolish religion, and you free the people to the reality of the universe. God is dead. You fight for no reason other than your murderous nature to want to kill. All sides. Any nation. Religion is man made, man written, has no basis in any reality, and is cult-personality total insanity.

Re: Google removes its head of diversity after 2007 blog post surfaces

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Post by myfavoritedog » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 3:48 PM UTC

Redoubts wrote: post #150

myfavoritedog wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People can be critical of the state of Israel, but they should not be antisemitic. Theoretically, I guess, but it's really strange how the one tiny country in the whole world that has a Jewish-dominated society is so often a target for complete destruction. Many of the same countries that have all but eliminated their own Jewish populations somehow find Israel's very existence to be unpalatable, going after them in t…

it’s really strange… You don’t think there’s anything about it’s recent creation that makes this a special case?

So now we're against indigenous peoples having autonomy in their ancestral homeland?

Re: Google removes its head of diversity after 2007 blog post surfaces

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Post by throwaway3699 » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 3:48 PM UTC

devwastaken wrote: post #132

underseacables wrote: post #52

The left’s obsession with cancel culture and conducting archeological digs on past comments, tweets, etc is coming back to bite them. I think removing this guy was the right thing to do, BUT I also think a major company like Google needs to set an example: Something someone tweeted more than ten years ago should no longer be relevant and should be ignored. However until that standard is set as example by a major comp…

Google is not threatened by "cancel culture". What are people going to do? Get them banned on Twitter? Won't happen, and that's the extent of the possible damage. Google does this because someone in the corp didn't like what this guy said, and canned them. People do that because they have beliefs. In the U.S. firing people, protesting, and overall underhanded methods are also a Hallmark of "the right" whenever someon…

The religious right was also wrong. The 90s were abhorrent. But that doesn't excuse current behaviour from the left today.

Re: Google removes its head of diversity after 2007 blog post surfaces

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Post by brianberns » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 3:49 PM UTC

sanity31415 wrote: post #197

nazca wrote: post #37

Slightly shocking that he didn't get fired. (yet?) They fired Damore for writing an email that was tone-deaf, insensitive, but largely supported by research. Bobb goes on a clearly antisemitic rant, and just gets reassigned. Is Google inconsistent, or has their policy on how to deal with these things changed over the past few years?

> They fired Damore for writing an email that was tone-deaf, insensitive, but largely supported by research Damore was asked for his feedback on Google's diversity policies, and that's exactly what he provided. Most of Damore's critics haven't actually read his memo[1], but rather formed an opinion based on the character assassination campaign against him, a campaign his employer publicly sided with. Over the 4 years…

He suggested that biological differences between the sexes (rather than bias/discrimination) are the reason why women are underrepresented in the tech industry.

It’s not hard to understand why many people find this offensive.

Here’s the direct quote if you need it: “I’m simply stating that the distribution of preferences and abilities of men and women differ in part due to biological causes and that these differences may explain why we don’t see equal representation of women in tech and leadership.”

Re: Google removes its head of diversity after 2007 blog post surfaces

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Post by zpeti » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 3:49 PM UTC

antisemtexism wrote: post #322

zpeti wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the correct answer. The amount of anti-semitism shown during this recent Hamas Israel conflict in the woke left has been very worrying. We are likely to see a big resurgence of anti-semitism in the next period. It's more and more socially acceptable on the left.

Criticism of Israel's apartheid policies isn't antisemitism. It's such nonsense how the two have been conflated in recent years.

Most of the stuff I've seen recently is not criticising the "apartheid policies" (debatable) of Israel. It's actual anti jewish rhetoric.

Re: Google removes its head of diversity after 2007 blog post surfaces

#349

Post by door101 » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 3:49 PM UTC

Veen wrote: post #266

door101 wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Theoretically, I guess, but it's really strange how the one tiny country in the whole world that has a Jewish-dominated society is so often a target for complete destruction. Because it’s a colonial ethnostate, with massive support from the United States. Israel (the colonial ethnostate) should not exist. Palestine is not an ethnostate, it is the name for the multicultural, multi-ethnic state who rightfully control…

If you believe "Israel should not exist", you have to account for what would happen if it didn't. What would happen to the Jews who live in the Hamas-controlled "multicultural, multi-ethnic state" that would inevitably replace it? We all know the answer: they'd be killed. That's why people who call for the non-existence of Israel (anti-Zionists) are considered anti-semitic. If you support a position that leads inevit…

I never said I support a genocidal Arab ethnostate, that's extremely offensive. I support no ethnostates, no colonialism, and no occupation in the region.

Re: Google removes its head of diversity after 2007 blog post surfaces

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Post by antisemtexism » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 3:49 PM UTC

unbroken wrote: post #217

donatj wrote: post #55

What I have learned in recent years is how shockingly accepting of antisemitism people apparently are on both sides of aisle. Growing up in a prominently Jewish neighborhood in Minnesota I never really encountered it until maybe ten years ago. The fact that he was just shifted rather than fired in this political environment speaks volumes.

[flagged]

Doesn't stop them trying. They've already successfully managed to broaden the definition of antisemitism to include criticism of Israel. To the point where nowadays, if someone is accused of it, you have to check if it's antisemitism or "antisemitism".

It's the boy who cried wolf, but embodied in a nation state.