> How you can read the original article as an attack on white people is astonishing.
He probably had that reaction because that's almost always the undertone in American discussions about diversity. It's never actually about reaching relative demographic parity.
Example: Google's charts show whites as slightly underrepresented compared to the working-age population at large and Asians as vastly overrepresented. Despite that, on their brand-new diversity-at-google page[1], what group do they choose to highlight? Asian Googler Network (AGN), under the banner "Connecting and advancing the Asian community at Google".
Interesting, huh?
I hate making comments like this, because it sounds like I'm resentful toward Asian people for their success. I'm not. I love it. Keep at it, guys and gals.
I'm simply pointing out the absurdity of the situation.
> It is beyond question (although I'm sure you question it) that white people are by far the most privileged group of people around today.
"Beyond question"? That's a quasi-religious thing to say. What about Asian-Americans? And what happens when you separate Jewish White Americans from non-Jewish White Americans? Do things change in your mind?
> You may have been disadvantaged in other ways, but by being white you do have an advantage, whether you like it or not.
It's complicated. In many ways, for a given income level, White American children do have it worse than American children of other ethnicities. One minor (but personal) example: They are the only children repeatedly and harshly conditioned to feel guilt and shame toward their ethnicity's success. That really messes you up as you're growing up.
Back to Google. According to your HN profile, you work there. What is the extent to which employees' lives at work are affected by Google's new-found focus on demographic diversity, and how has this cultural shift effected the company's output?
[1]: http://www.google.com/diversity/at-google.html