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Racism at a gaming company

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Re: Racism at a gaming company

#271

Post by MartinCron »

dmorgan wrote: post #189
MartinCron wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

clearly looking for oppression whether it exists or not Is there an explanation for the events in the story that aren't clear examples of oppression? I can't find one.

> Is there an explanation for the events in the story that aren't clear examples of oppression? I can't find one. Really? How about some guys talking BS and making irreverent jokes? You keep using this word "oppression". I don't think it means what you think it means.

I think the word "oppression" perfectly applies to multiple unwelcome instances of strong verbal abuse coming from someone in a privileged class directed at someone in a non-privileged class. If there's a better word, I haven't found it yet.

Even if we take the most charitable interpretation possible, that this wasn't anything more than "talking BS" and "irreverent jokes" and that the person making jokes was just clueless and not trying to be deliberately hurtful, that still doesn't make this kind of behavior OK. Ignorance of common decency is no excuse not to be decent.

Re: Racism at a gaming company

#272

Post by Lukeas14 »

to_jon wrote: post #232
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…

"I agree, but some of his content will be a barrier for some people. I'm sure if the tone of the post was milder, most of the comments here would be supportive." -- too typical a response "Peppered throughout the post are cultural signs and signifiers that mark the author as an advocate for a fairly specific set of political and social beliefs." -- completely irrelevant to assessing the facts of the case As a white m…

Regardless of how pissed off he may have been, you don't fight racism with more racism. All that does is exacerbate the situation and hurt your credibility. Calling someone a dumbwhite* might feel good but does nothing for your cause.

I've always believed the correct response to racism is to educate. Educate his coworkers on the origin and significance of his necklace and why they shouldn't equate the way he dresses with being a thug. And in this case, where it is systemic and tolerated, appeal to a higher authority such as HR and the court system.

Re: Racism at a gaming company

#274

Post by saraid216 »

mtrimpe wrote: post #198
JPKab wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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

And also, why should it be suppressed? Integration doesn't work if both parties pretend to be nice but are prepared to find a more underhanded way to stab each other in the back once the negotiations have ended.

Re: Racism at a gaming company

#275

Post by tptacek »

saraid216 wrote: post #212
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…

> Apart from the comment about the pendant, any one of the comments listed above would be a firing offense here. You know, it occurs to me that it's kinda sad that "firing offense" is the highest degree of punishment we have available to inflict. It's our proxy for social exile, but it's not actually social exile. That doesn't seem enough, but jailing and fining don't seem to fit either.

Apart from the morality of making team members miserable for the sole purpose of extracting some mirth out of their discomfort, the reason these statements tend to be firing offenses is that they have even more serious consequences for the employer.

Re: Racism at a gaming company

#276

Post by pja »

Just as an exercise, I went and collected all the responses here that matched entries in Derailing for Dummies (http://derailingfordummies.com).

We have at least: "You're too hostile", with a side order of "You're being Overemotional" and "You Are Damaging Your Cause By Being Angry" plus a few "But that Happens to Me Too!" and plenty of "But I'm Not Like That - Stop Stereotying!". Any more?

(I could link to the guilty parties, but they'd probably only start arguing the toss.)

Re: Racism at a gaming company

#277

Post by beatpanda »

I don't doubt for two seconds anything the author wrote. I wanted nothing to do with Kixeye after seeing their ads, and I'm not at all surprised.

But this dude's attitude is fucked up. It's statements like OP's that keep me from engaging in any meaningful way with organizing against racism and gentrification.

If you're a white cis male, even one that acknowledges and tries to check his privilege, who thinks poor people shouldn't be displaced on account of Twitter moving to the Tenderloin, a whole lot of people in the anti-gentrification movement think the only appropriate thing for you to do is move out of the city yourself, because you being white and male and having gainful employment is part of the problem.

I went to one meeting where one black speaker insinuated that white people "don't have a right" to move to Oakland, whether or not they're moving for economic reasons.

That's racist. Straight up. Nobody should make excuses for that kind of language, regardless of the extreme privilege historically enjoyed by white men in this country.

Just because I'm white doesn't mean I'm a colonizer, or fetishizing poverty, or anything else, and the knee-jerk bigotry expressed by the original poster needs to be addressed by people in activist circles who just let stuff like that go unchallenged.

Re: Racism at a gaming company

#278

Post by tptacek »

to_jon wrote: post #232
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…

"I agree, but some of his content will be a barrier for some people. I'm sure if the tone of the post was milder, most of the comments here would be supportive." -- too typical a response "Peppered throughout the post are cultural signs and signifiers that mark the author as an advocate for a fairly specific set of political and social beliefs." -- completely irrelevant to assessing the facts of the case As a white m…

I tend to agree with you regarding the relevance of the author's politics to the kernel of the story, but that relevance and the author's overall credibility is an elephant gleefully pooping all over the room, so we might as well not ignore it.

Re: Racism at a gaming company

#279

Post by recycleme »

001sky wrote: post #231
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…

Relevant> via google image search: http://allthingsd.com/20120530/kixeyes-games-on-facebook-are...

http://www.kixeye.com/#/en/lobby

Re: Racism at a gaming company

#280

Post by saraid216 »

humean wrote: post #217
thebigshane wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, then props to him for knowing how to keep his private feelings and thoughts out of the workplace.

At least by his own recollection. Anyone who is harboring that kind of hostility, whatever the cause, is going to exude pretty strange vibes in person. What's disturbing to me is not that an obviously talented young person like the OP has these kinds of issues. He'll almost certainly grow out of them. It's that so many older, wiser people, who obviously don't have personal problems of their own, seem intent on encour…

> an obviously talented young person like the OP

This is the strangest part of your claims. I don't see anything indicating that he's a remotely competent worker. Admittedly, I haven't researched who he is, but the only credibility he's got is that he can set up a Tumblr and add pictures to his post. I am not impressed at his technical skill–or his grammar, spelling, diction, or eloquence–indeed nothing about him says he's worth my time except that he's human and hurting.

If anything, this offhand remark of yours serves to undermine your credibility to me.

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