Live data from Hacker News

Google’s caste-bias problem

newyorker.com

191–200 of 291 posts

Re: Google’s caste-bias problem

#191
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but not in an "obviously" racist manner based on skin color. There is plenty of colorism within India too (everywhere in fact). I think you should definitely read about forms of discrimination.

He didn't say there wasn't. He said this , i.e., caste bias, is a form of discrimination that is not made obvious by being based on skin color.

Higher cast Indians have lighter skin color in general (compared to lower cast Indians). There are exceptions, of course.

Re: Google’s caste-bias problem

#192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

white + male is still obviously the best build for life and it still needs more nerfs, but the devs are all playing white male and think the balance is fine

At Google, whites are underrepresented in engineering roles. In 2022, 36% of tech hires were white, about half their national population. Asians on the other hand, made up 55% of tech hires despite making up 6% of the population [1]. Why do an underrepresented group deserve a "nerf" while vastly overrepresented groups do not? Certainly, there are demographics influences at play: higher Asian concentration in Californ…

I'll just casually mention here that in the last week or so someone on hn claimed very insistenly to me that they, as an asian man, were the primary "victim" of modern dei policies and that white people weren't harmed by them. And that this was why dei was bad and that I was engaging in white supremacy to suggest anything to the contrary.

You cannot both be correct in the reasons you dislike dei. They're contradictory. (You could both be wrong, but you can't both be right).

Re: Google’s caste-bias problem

#193
post #125

If someone wants some more background information. A few decades ago during the Cold War, there were several large scale anti-caste movements, and this caused a lot of the moneyed upper caste (note that many of the upper caste are poor) to flee to the US where money often open doors. The immigration to the UK and the other English speaking countries tended to be more varied and more middle class based on skills (doct…

Quoted post unavailable.

That isn't even right because almost every single victim of caste discrimination is an Indian themselves. If there are caste allegations outside India, then it can only be from Indians themselves. Covering it under the wide umbrella of anti-India smear campaign is disingenuous at best.

Re: Google’s caste-bias problem

#194
post #172

The simplest solution from a company perspective is to not hire activist type employees. It just never ends well. You may very well find the activist's point valid and just, but it still won't end well in most cases. Other than the fact that perhaps they should spend time on actually working, the typical activist method cannot ever succeed. It starts with some sweeping assertion affecting a large group: men oppress w…

Consequently, to filter out the potential troublemakers, for short a period of time encourage “bring your whole self to work”, “open and honest conversations” etc. See who starts to raise issues and then put them on PIP for purely “technical” reasons.

Re: Google’s caste-bias problem

#195
post #67

We need to stop calling this a "caste-bias problem" and call it what it is: racism. Just because they're not a distinct ethnicity doesn't mean it's not racism, and the people looking down on others because of their caste are no different than the white guy yelling the n word in traffic. Neither should be tolerated, and if you find yourself working with one, they should be fired. It is antithetical to an open society.

It can all be abstracted into “tribalism”.

When someone can look at a pair of parents and tell you their kid’s “tribe,” the difference between tribe and race becomes purely semantic.

Re: Google’s caste-bias problem

#196
post #35

I take no position on the broader issue of the article, but I was shocked to see that Isaac Chotiner (a repeat India-related article writer at New Yorker) failed to mention that Narendra Modi is an OBC in the context of describing the BJP's caste base. Truly, an egregious oversight and one that misleads readers.

He also says > “The right-wing Hindu movement in India has historically not been associated with people from underprivileged castes, and those people have generally been less supportive of the movement“ My understanding is that BJP has come to power under an OBC wave, both in UP in 2022, and in the North 2019.

Both your quote and your response can be true, depending on "historically". For example in the US -- the rust belt used to be solidly democratic. Politics & groups can frequently realign.

Re: Google’s caste-bias problem

#197

I don't know why Google (or really all the tech companies in SV) aren't taking this far more seriously. I feel like it opens them up to lawsuits and with the weight they hold, a company like Google can easily institute a zero tolerance policy against it. Send a message that if you do this, you're getting kicked to the curb.

>I don't know why Google (or really all the tech companies in SV) aren't taking this far more seriously

The CEO of Google being a Brahmin is a pretty good reason. Either (1) he knows there's discrimination but he won't pursue because it calls into question his own legitimacy or (2) having risen through the ranks since 2004 as a Brahmin he knows there's no real problem with discrimination.

Re: Google’s caste-bias problem

#198
post #116
post #34

How would a non Indian person even tell? Is it really all in the last name? I've worked with a fair amount of Indian folks with a wide variety of names - how would you even go about determining someone's caste? Based on this article it sounds like most people who end up in Big Tech will be upper caste.

It’s done through seemingly simple questions. Usually dealing with what city they are from, what city are your parents from, are you vegetarian, are you having dessert? I've never experienced or seen the thread searching. Larger person grabs your shoulder to see if the thread is there. But that wouldn't surprise me at all.

For an outside observer, what's the significance of dessert here?

Re: Google’s caste-bias problem

#199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At Google, whites are underrepresented in engineering roles. In 2022, 36% of tech hires were white, about half their national population. Asians on the other hand, made up 55% of tech hires despite making up 6% of the population [1]. Why do an underrepresented group deserve a "nerf" while vastly overrepresented groups do not? Certainly, there are demographics influences at play: higher Asian concentration in Californ…

I'll just casually mention here that in the last week or so someone on hn claimed very insistenly to me that they, as an asian man, were the primary "victim" of modern dei policies and that white people weren't harmed by them. And that this was why dei was bad and that I was engaging in white supremacy to suggest anything to the contrary. You cannot both be correct in the reasons you dislike dei. They're contradictor…

It's entirely possible for both to be right: different companies have different DEI policies. At Dropbox from 2015-2019 we had 4 diversity categories, from most to least desirable:

* Double diverse: Black or Latin + female

* diverse: white or Asian female, or Black or Latin male.

* standard: white male

* Negatively diverse: Asian male

So it definitely is the case that asian males are even more undesirable than white males at some companies. I can attest to that myself. But each company is different, some categorize Asians as diverse.

Re: Google’s caste-bias problem

#200
post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's abundantly clear that any discrimination against non-favored groups is ignored and in cases promoted/celebrated. Heck, I live in a country with anti-white and pro-black laws/regulations. Minorities here plainly get denied jobs due to the color of their skin and no one bats an eye. I'm all for fairness for all, no matter their race, but seeing what I've seen in person is very eye opening. I no longer have sympath…

white + male is still obviously the best build for life and it still needs more nerfs, but the devs are all playing white male and think the balance is fine

Not where I live. If you're plain average and not in in-demand roles/fields, as a white male your options and opportunities are limited employment wise. That's what I've seen first-hand and in some cases experienced.
Post reply on HN