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I would love to live in a world where no racial violence has happened since the 1950s.
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Google cancelled a talk on caste bias
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Re: Google cancelled a talk on caste bias
#62Do we need every mega-corporation to weigh in on every social issue globally? The thing I like most about work is that its a relatively diverse group of people working together on shared goal. People have known for a long time that work should be professional and you should avoid politics and religion. But I guess people have to relearn these lessons every few decades.
Yes, we do need that, at least in the USA. The last 42 years of politics have neutered the federal and state governments when it comes to any kind of social issue. The only institutions that get respect are The Military, churches, very rich (and therefore very intelligent) men, and some big companies. The US government has so many checks and balances that virtually nothing has gotten done in years.
Re: Google cancelled a talk on caste bias
#63Is there a Wikipedia list of obscure 'race'-isms? I find reading about other cultures or other time period's biases to be informative and wonder what the common elements might be. Off the top of my head, issues I can think of where an outsider may be oblivious between the "sides" are: Indian caste Japanese Barukumin caste Protestant/Catholic in Europe Jewish people in Europe/US/USSR English Class System, or Southern/…
I don't know if the Indian caste thing should be considered obscure. There are 1.3 billion Indians. By number of people affected it might be one of the more important conversations in the world today.
I intended 'obscure' in the 'not easily understood' (to outsiders) sense, but probably an unfortunate word choice as it also means 'unknown'.
Re: Google cancelled a talk on caste bias
#64This is likely an example why it may not always be a great idea to discuss politics at work. I know a lot of us have strong personal opinions on a lot of subjects, but making sure everyone on my team aligns with my beliefs is likely not conducive to teamwork. Quite the opposite. If I was not an IC now, I would definitely be trying to cut discussions like that in a bud.
> This is likely an example why it may not always be a great idea to discuss politics at work.
If you're seeing discrimination in the workplace then it's no longer about politics, it's about the workplace and professionalism among staff.
Re: Google cancelled a talk on caste bias
#65Question from a layman. How does one know that someone is from another caste? If I was someone from India, how would I know what caste my fellow Indian is from? Is there some kind of code? Or where you are from?
Re: Google cancelled a talk on caste bias
#66Re: Google cancelled a talk on caste bias
#67Is there a Wikipedia list of obscure 'race'-isms? I find reading about other cultures or other time period's biases to be informative and wonder what the common elements might be. Off the top of my head, issues I can think of where an outsider may be oblivious between the "sides" are: Indian caste Japanese Barukumin caste Protestant/Catholic in Europe Jewish people in Europe/US/USSR English Class System, or Southern/…
All the three ethnic groups that comprise Belgium?
English vs French speaking Canadians?
Re: Google cancelled a talk on caste bias
#68> Soundararajan appealed directly to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who comes from an upper-caste family in India, to allow her presentation to go forward. But the talk was canceled, leading some employees to conclude that Google was willfully ignoring caste bias. > Pichai, the CEO, “is Indian and he is Brahmin and he grew up in Tamil Nadu. There is no way you grow up in Tamil Nadu and not know about caste because of how…
He doesn’t have explaining to do because he holds the power and is choosing not to.
Re: Google cancelled a talk on caste bias
#69Do we need every mega-corporation to weigh in on every social issue globally? The thing I like most about work is that its a relatively diverse group of people working together on shared goal. People have known for a long time that work should be professional and you should avoid politics and religion. But I guess people have to relearn these lessons every few decades.
They don't have to weigh in. But, if few Indian managers discriminate against Dalits, how are their non-Indian peers and managers supposed to correct that discrimination if they don't even understand what are castes? This isn't political, it's professional: US laws and Google policies forbid discrimination, and so people need to be trained in understanding what discrimination looks like. You don't categorize "securit…
Discrimination against protected classes is illegal. For example, until somewhat recently it was legal to discriminate based on someone’s sexual orientation (don’t ask, don’t tell).
Case law matters, and caste seems to not have clear answers as to whether it qualifies. If caste is considered equivalent to race, it would.