Earlier quoted context omitted.
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Because brains don't have enough processing power not to generalize. You wouldn't be able to leave your house if you didn't use heuristics for inference all the time.
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6 Words: 'My Name Is Jamaal I'm White'
101–110 of 199 posts
Re: 6 Words: 'My Name Is Jamaal I'm White'
#102As a white guy with a (very mildly) African American sounding name, I have had similar experiences. When I meet people in person after emailing them they sometimes seem surprised, and some later admit they expected me to be black. The worst example was when I was told by someone renting a room on craigslist that they couldn't rent to me because I was a "security threat", even though I had hardly said anything about m…
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Not that guy, but I've considered changing my name so it sounds more exotic and unique. From what I've seen, people with "generic" or biblical names don't seem to get chosen as often as they used to when it comes to academic and prestigious stuff.
It would be nice if people could use two or three names legally. Like when you use multiple emails.
Re: 6 Words: 'My Name Is Jamaal I'm White'
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
More evidence you're confused about the US. In the United States, white people don't consider Italians a different race. They're white. You're right about the precise claim of what I said. But people who've never talked to a black person are disproportionately likely to have not talked to an Asian, Arab, etc. States that have high proportions of non-Black racial minorities tend to have higher proportions of Blacks.
Bullshit, I've heard white ppl talk shit about Jersey Shore and use racial slurs against Italians. Secondly look at the Silicon Valley numbers for diversity, how many Asian vs Black? So your point no black interaction == no asian interaction is incorrect.
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Re: 6 Words: 'My Name Is Jamaal I'm White'
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is absolutely unreasonable. When you say it "works out more often than not" I would ask "For whom?" Many snap judgments based on race lead to the death of unarmed black men and women. Studies have shown that resumes with black-sounding names get fewer callbacks and we treat black men like white men with a criminal record. Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal? http://www.nber.org/papers/w9873 N…
>Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal? That's impossible to say on an individual level, but it is very likely. If you phrase the question differently, there's a pretty clear answer: >On average, are two white people more employable than two black people? Without knowing any further info about the possible candidates - Yes. Looking at education statistics in the US, it becomes clear pretty quickly…
The thing is that when you're looking at job candidates, you typically have far more reliable indicators of employability than race. So it is not justifiable to make race a significant factor in your decision. These sorts of biases tend to show up even when race is absolutely demonstrably non-informative. (E.g., when reviewing journal articles.)
Re: 6 Words: 'My Name Is Jamaal I'm White'
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
More evidence you're confused about the US. In the United States, white people don't consider Italians a different race. They're white. You're right about the precise claim of what I said. But people who've never talked to a black person are disproportionately likely to have not talked to an Asian, Arab, etc. States that have high proportions of non-Black racial minorities tend to have higher proportions of Blacks.
Bullshit, I've heard white ppl talk shit about Jersey Shore and use racial slurs against Italians. Secondly look at the Silicon Valley numbers for diversity, how many Asian vs Black? So your point no black interaction == no asian interaction is incorrect.
Regarding minority populations: it's not equivalent. But it is often the case. Think Texas, New York City, Los Angeles, or Chicago.
People talk shit or joke about the French, Italians, Germans too, but French and German people are considered white. Same with Poles and Italians.
Those stats you gave did not consider people of Italian or German descent as non-White.
Re: 6 Words: 'My Name Is Jamaal I'm White'
#106"In a high school soccer game I was called 'a white man with a [horrific racial expletive deleted] name.'" Horrific racial expletive. That seems a bit... excessive? Let's elevate the horrificness of this word to the point where if someone utters it they get fined or jailed. That should teach 'em. People are so ultra-politically correct these days I'm too scared to open my mouth for fear of offending someone, saying s…
The placeholder was chosen in the context of a relatively personal, informal group blog:
http://thepoetryquestion.com/about/
If you think your sexist, racist, white male privileged, fat shaming thoughts are important to voice, I don't see why you would worry about them offending someone.
The motions of political correctness can go too far, but the basic thought, to consider what words might mean to someone else, is a reasonable thing to do if a person wants to communicate effectively.
Re: 6 Words: 'My Name Is Jamaal I'm White'
#107I don't think the other people are at fault here. I think it's reasonable to assume that someone with a stereotypically black name is black, just like it's reasonable to assume that a random IT professor is male based on the fact that 90%* actually are. As long as you owe up to your error when you notice it (and e.g. apologize). It's a reasonable optimization that works out more often than not. The problem only start…
It is absolutely unreasonable. When you say it "works out more often than not" I would ask "For whom?" Many snap judgments based on race lead to the death of unarmed black men and women. Studies have shown that resumes with black-sounding names get fewer callbacks and we treat black men like white men with a criminal record. Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal? http://www.nber.org/papers/w9873 N…
> It is absolutely unreasonable. When you say it "works out more often than not" I would ask "For whom?" Many snap judgments based on race lead to the death of unarmed black men and women.
So your solution is to rewire the brain so that it doesn't generalize? Is this what contemporary discussions of prejudice attempt? Guilting people for aspects of cognition?
No, I think it's better to at least admit that this sort of subconscious bias is a problem and that we don't know now to fix it yet.
Re: 6 Words: 'My Name Is Jamaal I'm White'
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
of course they can escape it. they just have to change their name. that's what my family did for me, and what i will do for my kids if i have kids. as far as i'm concerned if you have serious professional ambitions in the US, you're being foolish if you keep an 'ethnic' sounding name. keeping your disadvantageous name and arrogantly shaking your fist at the world to change to suit your political tastes is insane to m…
I think the point is that the name is disadvantageous because it makes people think that he's black, and black people cannot stop being black. In other words, if you're actually black, then you can't escape racism just by changing your name. I'm not sure what you mean by "political tastes". I'd have thought pretty much everyone was opposed to e.g. refusing to rent an apartment to someone because of their name, or bec…
> In other words, if you're actually black, then you can't escape racism just by changing your name.
no shit sherlock. but changing your name to a neutral sounding one, no matter what your race, will get you in the door at a much higher rate, where you are actually able to present yourself and your abilities instead of having your resume, application, submission, or email summarily tossed in the trash for no reason other than prejudice.
small advantages like this compound over time. small disadvantages also compound.
it's an optimization, and a highly effective one at that, but nothing more, nothing less than that.
Re: 6 Words: 'My Name Is Jamaal I'm White'
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ok, quick: see me as an individual. You have 5 seconds. Note: Don't draw any conclusions about me that are based only on what little you know about me. You cannot, eg, draw conclusions upon that fact that I have an account on Hacker News. You must see me as an individual .
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I suggest not pursuing "data science" as a career.
Re: 6 Words: 'My Name Is Jamaal I'm White'
#110Couple of off the cuff thoughts: Why can't people use the expression "niger" in context? It was clearly meant as a racial insult, and I think people need to remember that that is the way it is commonly used. Replacing it with a placeholder doesn't make racism go away or make the word less racist, all it does it soften the racism used in that instance. His TSA story is more likely fiction. Is he saying that there are…
I think names do trigger a lot of 'random' searches on their own. Whether by profiling by a computer that delegates to the TSA person or by that person if reading the ticket. My father when travelling in the US gets pulled out for random searches 4 out of 5 times when boarding. I would think a grey haired suited Scandinavian businessman in his 60ies is less likely search candidate by looks. But our family name has a…
That makes me wonder, what does it mean to be a NATO officer, and is that how he would describe himself? Or would he be an officer of country X who is assigned to NATO duties at the time? Like, does he wear a NATO uniform? Or the uniform of his nationality? Are you in your countries military org chart and NATO's, or just NATO's? Or does NATO even have an independent org chart or officer hierarchy? Are there units permanently dedicated to NATO service, or is it just mapped on to national units in an ad hoc manner when needed?