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

#451

Post by dalbasal » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 4:12 PM UTC

tolbish wrote: post #172

siculars wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you were your ancestors who were "run out of town on a rail" you would care very, very deeply about your familial bond to Israel. Like yours, my family was run out of town. Unlike yours, many in my family did not run fast enough. If only there was a place they could run to either as first resort or when quota had been reached in other places. If only there was a place that could make running a specific people out…

That's the argument certain Native Americans use to say that they are the only ones whose home is America. Do you see how this argument makes you look?

Saying that Israel is a jewish homeland does not necessarily mean that it is not anyone else's home. It does to some, but they are an extreme minority. It's also contrary to our declaration of independence.

I'm not american, but I'll hazard a guess that "certain Native Americans" who take this position are also more often assumed than real.

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

#452

Post by rixed » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 4:12 PM UTC

ericd wrote: post #337

howeyc wrote: post #76

Wow, 14 years ago. I hope the current progressive correct-thinkers realize the takes they make today have to hold up over a decade from now, otherwise the next wave is going to cancel them.

One of the most striking things when reading about the French Revolution is seeing some of the original key agitators for Revolution being eventually denounced as insufficiently revolutionary, and some of them even being killed for being considered counter-revolutionary.

Exact same thing happened during the Russian revolution BTW.

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

#453

Post by Steve0 » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 4:12 PM UTC

GrinningFool wrote: post #295

lgleason wrote: post #247

Live by the sword, die by the sword. That said, firing him, like they did with Damore would have been more consistent. Because everyone is under arbitration agreements that always benefit the company, vs the courts where you might have a shot at justice, they have no incentive to do that. As repugnant as his past anti-semitic rant was, people change and sometimes say and do stupid things. In a sane world this guy wou…

> but today it is all about getting scalps, You say "today" as if it's ever been any different. Has it?

An apology used to go a long way... in my perception. Could be wrong of course.

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

#454

Post by cloverich » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 4:12 PM UTC

whimsicalism wrote: post #286

lgleason wrote: post #247

Live by the sword, die by the sword. That said, firing him, like they did with Damore would have been more consistent. Because everyone is under arbitration agreements that always benefit the company, vs the courts where you might have a shot at justice, they have no incentive to do that. As repugnant as his past anti-semitic rant was, people change and sometimes say and do stupid things. In a sane world this guy wou…

The people change defense obviously doesn't work for Damore, who was fired over his actions while employed at Google Lots of weird comments in this thread.

moreover he immediately posted a “fired for telling the truth “ response - perhaps he’s since changed but very different circumstance.

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

#455

Post by geodel » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 4:12 PM UTC

bmmayer1 wrote: post #129

If you supported the firing of Antonio Garcia Martinez this should make you happy. If you thought that Apple overstepped their bounds by punishing a new hire for old creative work, this should outrage you, too. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a lot of consistency in peoples' views on these two closely related incidents. Why?

> If you supported the firing of Antonio Garcia Martinez this should make you happy.

Hardly. In fact only being transferred instead of fired from a cushy job shows one just has to be on right side of social justice movement to be shielded from past transgressions.

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

#456

Post by honkycat » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 4:12 PM UTC

decremental wrote: post #405

In a sane world there would be no such position as "head of diversity."

Why not? I can think of plenty of reasons why google would want a head of diversity.

- They may find diverse teams to perform better

- or maybe highly qualified people prefer to work on diverse teams so it helps with recruitment

- or their leadership value creating a more equitable society by giving people in under-represented groups the opportunity to work at google.

If any of the above are true why should they not have someone in charge of diversifying their workforce?

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

#457

Post by JPKab » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 4:13 PM UTC

germinalphrase wrote: post #386

koheripbal wrote: post #353

His bigotry goes beyond anti-semitism. Kamau Bobb's blog posts were almost exclusively about White and Jewish people, as a whole, and their mistreatment of Black Americans both historically and today. He even targets progressive white people for their more unspoken racism. There is a very obvious tone of distaste for white and Jewish people in his posts. Search for the word "white" or "Jew" in his blog [1] posts to s…

Do you believe the acknowledgement of race or racial difference to be intrinsically bigoted?

Yes.

Kids don't see skin color the way these ideologues do. They look at it like hair color. My twin brother and I were literally the only white kids on our school bus, attending mostly black public schools in a mostly black county in southeastern Virginia. We were never really aware of skin color as a thing, just "this kid let's us borrow his gameboy and is nice", vs. "this kid punches us in the back of the head on the bus cuz he's psycho". Race was a useless proxy for good/bad when you are in a heavily integrated school system, because it's ALWAYS been a useless proxy for judging human character.

People that speak like this publicly ("sea of white children") are THINKING like this constantly.

In my opinion, he projects his own bigotry and obsession with skin color onto everyone else around him. That's what bigots of all colors do.

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

#458

Post by balls187 » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 4:14 PM UTC

themaninthedark wrote: post #446

balls187 wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the point being made was Damore's email was sent using company resources, while employed by the company, presumably on company time. Bobb's blog post was from 2007.

Is that better or worse? In Damore's case: He was asked to privately(?) provide his thoughts to the company(hence while employed and on company time). Bobb's case: He decided to write a blog post. No-one asked him nor compelled him to share his thoughts. My view is that firing people over views and opinions is dumb as long as they are not trying to force their views and opinions on other people in the workplace. On t…

> [Damore] was asked to privately(?) provide his thoughts to the company(hence while employed and on company time).

Except that wasn't why he was fired.

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

#459

Post by anoonmoose » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 4:14 PM UTC

throwaway09223 wrote: post #440

michaelscott wrote: post #369

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In terms of getting people fired/removed/cancelled for remarks, yes absolutely. That may be a function of social media and the scale of communication in modern times, but either way the sensitivity of the vocal minority has definitely changed even in my relatively short life.

You say yes, but can you explain how it is different? As far as I can tell it's the same as it was a century ago. The only change is the subject matter. Do you think you'd keep your job after saying something anti-Christian in the 1950s? Look at what happened to Sinead O'Connor in the early 90s after she spoke out against child abuse in the Catholic church. Maybe the biggest difference is that now we write when we co…

I regret that I have only one upvote for the Sinead O'Connor reference. This isn't new, the only thing that's new is that people are broadcasting their opinions far and wide for everyone to find/see/hear.

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

#460

Post by stickfigure » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 4:14 PM UTC

germinalphrase wrote: post #386

koheripbal wrote: post #353

His bigotry goes beyond anti-semitism. Kamau Bobb's blog posts were almost exclusively about White and Jewish people, as a whole, and their mistreatment of Black Americans both historically and today. He even targets progressive white people for their more unspoken racism. There is a very obvious tone of distaste for white and Jewish people in his posts. Search for the word "white" or "Jew" in his blog [1] posts to s…

Do you believe the acknowledgement of race or racial difference to be intrinsically bigoted?

It's one thing to acknowledge differences. It's another to define ourselves by them.