Racism at a gaming company • Hacker News Board

Re: Racism at a gaming company

#191

Post by shardling » Tue, Oct 02, 2012, 9:01 PM UTC

methoddk wrote: post #148

rauljara wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're leaving out a pretty important bit of context. He isn't talking about white people in general, here. He is talking about a very specific subset of people who have had power over him, and said pretty racist things to him. I'm pretty sure he wasn't referring to my white mother when he said dumbwhite. While I agree that the saintly thing to is respond without bringing up your persecutors' race, I am pretty sympat…

That bit of context is irrelevant. He frequently used the extremely general term, "Dumbwhite motherfucker.", which is blatantly racist and makes his complete argument null and void, because the comments he makes in this post are no better than the crap he heard at his job. Sincerity and respect for a person's race does not take a backseat just because someone made racist remarks to someone else. I've been the victim…

>which is blatantly racist and makes his complete argument null and void, because the comments he makes in this post are no better than the crap he heard at his job.

Oh hey, it's the rare explicitly stated ad hominem attack.

Re: Racism at a gaming company

#192

Post by btilly » Tue, Oct 02, 2012, 9:01 PM UTC

He "won't name the company." But searching on the text of the picture finds http://www.meh.ro/2012/06/07/rule-the-interwebz/ which tells me that it is Kixeye. And then https://www.google.com/search?q=kixeye.com+racism turns up lots of other stuff including people on the forums complaining that they don't police racist comments in game, http://www.theatlanticwire.com/topics/kixeye/# complaining about the sexism there, and so on. If you search this forum you'll find other links supporting their bad corporate culture.

He certainly didn't hide the company very well. However knowing the company makes his allegations much more plausible.

Re: Racism at a gaming company

#193

Post by oinksoft » Tue, Oct 02, 2012, 9:02 PM UTC

datalus wrote: post #183

tptacek wrote: post #137

Decoder ring for nerds who are unable to read past words like "neoliberal colonizer" without racing to the nearest TEXTAREA: * A black coworker is singled out by another (non-black) coworker with "watch out for that guy, he’s trouble, he talks a lot of shit" * Referring to a latino coworker, that same coworker suggests jokes: "Like ‘you’re a mexican whore’ or like ‘your mother’s a Mexican whore?" * The black coworker…

If anything, he was dressed closer to NWA or Public Enemy. Disclaimer: This has nothing to do with his lyrical abilities.

... wow. Just .... wow.

You may disagree with his fashion sense, but this man is smartly dressed. I don't see any Raiders jackets, or any baggy jeans/tee-shirts. Just because his clothing is not mainstream and he is black DOES NOT make it hip-hop fashion.

While we're on the topic, note the shoes in particular, very nice, especially for a guy struggling to afford a bedroom in Oakland.

Re: Racism at a gaming company

#194

Post by humean » Tue, Oct 02, 2012, 9:02 PM UTC

JPKab wrote: post #165

tptacek wrote: post #137

Decoder ring for nerds who are unable to read past words like "neoliberal colonizer" without racing to the nearest TEXTAREA: * A black coworker is singled out by another (non-black) coworker with "watch out for that guy, he’s trouble, he talks a lot of shit" * Referring to a latino coworker, that same coworker suggests jokes: "Like ‘you’re a mexican whore’ or like ‘your mother’s a Mexican whore?" * The black coworker…

Brilliant analysis. I am one of the readers who had deep concern for the truthfulness of these observations. If they are true, then he got screwed, royally, and should sue. Except for the pendant comment. That's just a case of taking yourself too seriously. Yet another nail in the coffin of his credibility.

I would guess that the woman who stepped on the pendant land-mine had thought the pendant was some kind of Kenyan abacus. Or something. And phrased it very badly, because she sensed subconsciously that she was about to get her head bitten off for being a racist.

Naturally, she gets her head bitten off for being a racist...

Re: Racism at a gaming company

#195

Post by saraid216 » Tue, Oct 02, 2012, 9:03 PM UTC

potatolicious wrote: post #80

JPKab wrote: post #25

I'm sorry, but this kind of whining is what I've heard from professional victims my entire life. Talking about gentrifiers as invaders discredits the rest of the story in my eyes. As a former trailer park country boy who grew up in a mostly black county, I can attest to how blatantly (and without even realizing it) racist and insensitive whites who grew up in affluent suburbs can be. My best friend (since age 11) is…

> "He tells them, directly, in the same manner as if he were talking to a drunken buddy making an ass of himself at a bar, "what you just said was offensive/racist/etc. I'm gonna assume that you didn't realize it, but now you do. Cool?" He told me this has resulted in all of them apologizing with minimal awkwardness afterwards." Your world of rainbows and unicorns sounds amazing, where all racism comes from under-inf…

And really, the only reason you aren't a Baptist is because you haven't given the Bible a real chance! All you have to do is read God's Word and let him into your heart and of course you'll believe exactly the same things I do to the letter even if they aren't actually found literally stated anywhere in the Bible.

Re: Racism at a gaming company

#196

Post by methoddk » Tue, Oct 02, 2012, 9:03 PM UTC

saraid216 wrote: post #170

methoddk wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That bit of context is irrelevant. He frequently used the extremely general term, "Dumbwhite motherfucker.", which is blatantly racist and makes his complete argument null and void, because the comments he makes in this post are no better than the crap he heard at his job. Sincerity and respect for a person's race does not take a backseat just because someone made racist remarks to someone else. I've been the victim…

> He frequently used the extremely general term, "Dumbwhite motherfucker.", which is blatantly racist Agreed. > makes his complete argument null and void No, actually it doesn't. That's really not how logic works. This is an audience problem. This post was pretty clearly not meant to be an intellectual tour de force; it was a rant, and a step away from frothing at the mouth. The author doesn't claim to be perfect, no…

Except it really does. I fully support a good rant to get something off the chest. The OP is so intensely focused on the race of his attackers, that it is debilitating to the rest of his problem. It makes him look just as bad as his attackers for stooping to the race level.

Re: Racism at a gaming company

#197

Post by hackinthebochs » Tue, Oct 02, 2012, 9:04 PM UTC

rmc wrote: post #112

dos1 wrote: post #26

>I cannot afford to take white people’s shit anymore. That’s been my mantra this year, and I’m still on it, even if that means getting the law involved. From the comment above (and several other parts of his article) he certainly appears to be just as racist as the people he's trying to demonize. Not to mention there's a crazy amount of self entitlement going on. >I had a whole month of potential creative and communi…

he certainly appears to be just as racist as the people he's trying to demonize There are several definitions of racist talk, one is essentially "making references to someone's race and implying everyone in that group is the same (in some attribute)". Lots of people like this definition because it's nice and simple and it means black people in the USA can be racist to white people if they say things like "Dumbwhite".…

Please keep repeating this as many times as it needs to be said. I hate how the word racist has been watered down to the point of meaning anything that acknowledges someone's race. It's a game of false-equivalency that lets, ahem, white people ignore actual racism because "black people are racist too". The fact is, there is a world of difference between systemic racism and this kind of "racism" that the author is guilty of. Trying to equate the two and thus water down the severity of real racism is despicable.

Re: Racism at a gaming company

#198

Post by mtrimpe » Tue, Oct 02, 2012, 9:05 PM UTC

JPKab wrote: post #165

tptacek wrote: post #137

Decoder ring for nerds who are unable to read past words like "neoliberal colonizer" without racing to the nearest TEXTAREA: * A black coworker is singled out by another (non-black) coworker with "watch out for that guy, he’s trouble, he talks a lot of shit" * Referring to a latino coworker, that same coworker suggests jokes: "Like ‘you’re a mexican whore’ or like ‘your mother’s a Mexican whore?" * The black coworker…

Brilliant analysis. I am one of the readers who had deep concern for the truthfulness of these observations. If they are true, then he got screwed, royally, and should sue. Except for the pendant comment. That's just a case of taking yourself too seriously. Yet another nail in the coffin of his credibility.

> Yet another nail in the coffin of his credibility.

Please understand that the anger such treatment (validly) brings about is incredibly hard to suppress.

In that situation it's really hard to walk the line between expressing your emotions in such a way that it evokes similar emotions in others and not expressing so much anger that you will be classified as just bitter and vindictive.

Re: Racism at a gaming company

#199

Post by tsahyt » Tue, Oct 02, 2012, 9:06 PM UTC

rmc wrote: post #105

drats wrote: post #29

"Dumbblack " "then proceeds to do what black men always can’t help but do" "black men always telling which way is up because they feel they are the “authority” when it comes to any and everything, most often when they don’t know shit about shit" " I know when black people start to speak down to me from their pedatsol which is white privilege, they aren’t listening, nor will they" "I cannot afford to take black people…

There are several definitions of racist talk, one is essentially "making references to someone's race and implying everyone in that group is the same (in some attribute)". Lots of people like this definition because it's nice and simple and it means black people in the USA can be racist to white people if they say things like "Dumbwhite". There's another definition, which is talk that's designed to maintain & reinfor…

> it's more racist to say "dumbblack" than "dumbwhite"

There are degrees of racism? Wasn't that a binary thing? I understand that racists aren't created equal since some are filled with more prejudices than others but I think the same doesn't apply to racism itself. I'm not arguing that life is harder for people who are (or so we are told, I've got no data) the majority of victims but a victim being racist isn't being "less racist" after all. He's contributing to a vicious circle. Whilst I understand such behaviour from an emotional point of view, it's definitely not wise.

Re: Racism at a gaming company

#200

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Oct 02, 2012, 9:06 PM UTC

MartinCron wrote: post #28

cstross wrote: post #3

"We don’t even tolerate people brining up concerns of racism here." Translation: "we don't want to admit that we have a toxic, racist corporate culture so we're going to blame the messenger." The emphasis here is on racism, but there's a ton of casual sexism -- and I'd be surprised if ageism wasn't present, too. This is, at best, a company where HR have taken their eye off the ball. More likely, there are serious ins…

If I was the author of this piece I'd be incandescent Reading this made me so angry... If I were a juror, I wouldn't convict the author for murdering the people in this post. Edited to add: No actual murder has happened, nor should any actual murder happen. This was an overstatement meant to reflect outrage at injustice.

[deleted]