Google removes its head of diversity after 2007 blog post surfaces • Hacker News Board

Re: Google removes its head of diversity after 2007 blog post surfaces

#211

Post by alichapman » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 3:22 PM UTC

myfavoritedog wrote: post #113

ostenning wrote: post #6

Here is a classic case of someone conflating the state of Israel and Jewish people and lumping it all together. Plenty of Jewish people that live both inside and outside of Israel are critical of the state. People can be critical of the state of Israel, but they should not be antisemitic. His comments are offensive for this reason.

People can be critical of the state of Israel, but they should not be antisemitic. Theoretically, I guess, but it's really strange how the one tiny country in the whole world that has a Jewish-dominated society is so often a target for complete destruction. Many of the same countries that have all but eliminated their own Jewish populations somehow find Israel's very existence to be unpalatable, going after them in t…

I disagree with this. There are certain things that the Israeli government have done that are worthy of being criticised - the same can be said for every government in the world. Brushing off all criticism as antisemitism is unhelpful.

Re: Google removes its head of diversity after 2007 blog post surfaces

#212

Post by londons_explore » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 3:22 PM UTC

busterarm wrote: post #75

londons_explore wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would. As long as he can keep his work and private lives seperate, and doesn't let these opinions infiltrate the work life, all is fine. Just like kinky sex is fine for someone at home, but a fireable offence if done in the office. If I saw him write stuff like this in an internal memo, that would be the time to fire him.

Some people are more sensitive to affected by anti-semitism than others. That's the issue.

Likewise, some people would feel very uncomfortable working with him if they knew he had a massive dildo collection.

But no HR department will recommend firing him for the size of his dildo collection, unless of course he brings it to work...

Re: Google removes its head of diversity after 2007 blog post surfaces

#213

Post by mistermann » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 3:22 PM UTC

literallyWTF wrote: post #57

MattGaiser wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nothing he posted was offensive. > “If I were a Jew I would be concerned about my insatiable appetite for war and killing in defense of myself” How about that?

As I said, Israel conflates being a Jew with the state of Israel. And as such, people associate Israel with Judaism. That’s not offensive if it’s by design. You can’t have your cake and eat it to. Israel is an apartheid state.

> You can’t have your cake and eat it to.

With skillful public relations and political lobbying you can, at least to a very large degree.

Re: Google removes its head of diversity after 2007 blog post surfaces

#214

Post by foolfoolz » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 3:22 PM UTC

droopyEyelids wrote: post #183

foolfoolz wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

still not fired from google. if this post was “if i were black” and anyone not black wrote it they would be fired

If I understand what you're saying, you're setting aside the context that [the state of Israel exists and has a controversial military doctrine], and reading the Google guy's post as specifically targeted at people who share the Jewish faith?

if i understand what you’re saying, your setting aside the direct text from the article which targeted the jewish people and reading the google guys post as specifically being about israel?

Re: Google removes its head of diversity after 2007 blog post surfaces

#215

Post by rriepe » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 3:22 PM UTC

> Instead of firing him, though, Google is moving Bobb into a STEM-focused role.

Other industries: It's who you know

Tech: It's who you hate

Re: Google removes its head of diversity after 2007 blog post surfaces

#216

Post by unethical_ban » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 3:22 PM UTC

bagacrap wrote: post #178

zasz wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's definitely anti-Semitic! He's acting like _all_ Jews are pro-Israel and therefore pro-slaughtering. That kind of stereotyping is bad.

ok, so s/Jew/Zionist in the post and it's all ok? The thrust of the essay seems to be condemning violence in the name of an identity, whether that's a religious, racial or national identity, and it seems to me Zionists don't make a distinction between Jew and Israeli.

Uh, yeah. That's the point. That to be Jewish, to be Israeli, and to be in support of the Israeli government in power are three very distinct things.

Next up, let's write an article critical of Hamas and start with "If I were a Muslim, I would be concerned about my insatiable appetite for war and killing".

Re: Google removes its head of diversity after 2007 blog post surfaces

#217

Post by unbroken » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 3:23 PM UTC

donatj wrote: post #55

What I have learned in recent years is how shockingly accepting of antisemitism people apparently are on both sides of aisle. Growing up in a prominently Jewish neighborhood in Minnesota I never really encountered it until maybe ten years ago. The fact that he was just shifted rather than fired in this political environment speaks volumes.

[flagged]

Re: Google removes its head of diversity after 2007 blog post surfaces

#218

Post by lawnchair_larry » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 3:23 PM UTC

bitcharmer wrote: post #13

ostenning wrote: post #6

Here is a classic case of someone conflating the state of Israel and Jewish people and lumping it all together. Plenty of Jewish people that live both inside and outside of Israel are critical of the state. People can be critical of the state of Israel, but they should not be antisemitic. His comments are offensive for this reason.

> People can be critical of the state of Israel Sadly the moment you call out Israel's human rights violations and ethnic cleansing you get automatically branded as antisemitic on all major social media and by most mainstream outlets too.

I know it’s fashionable to support the perceived “oppressed”, but you really have to be at the pinnacle of ignorance to think it’s Israel, the target of ethnic cleansing, is the perpetrator. Palestinians are welcome in Israel with full rights, and they make up about 20% of the population. There are zero jews welcome in Palestinian territory.

I don’t think people who criticize Israel are anti-semetic, but they seem to be almost always completely ignorant of the situation and history of the region, so their comments are unintentionally offensive to anyone even vaguely familiar with it.

Re: Google removes its head of diversity after 2007 blog post surfaces

#219

Post by loveistheanswer » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 3:23 PM UTC

Aunche wrote: post #144

ostenning wrote: post #6

Here is a classic case of someone conflating the state of Israel and Jewish people and lumping it all together. Plenty of Jewish people that live both inside and outside of Israel are critical of the state. People can be critical of the state of Israel, but they should not be antisemitic. His comments are offensive for this reason.

The author may have a valid point, but expressed it in a condescending manner. If a Jewish diversity officer wrote a blog post saying "If I were black, I would prioritize fixing black-on-black crime" as a criticism of BLM, would you give them the same defense? That said, it's still a dumb thing to be cancelled over. Everyone has been an asshole to someone else at some point in our lives. Why do people feel the need t…

>Why do people feel the need to socially shame people publicly for an offense over a decade ago?

Because they're playing a game of Moral Supremacy one-upsmanship. In the long run, everyone who plays this game must lose, because were all humans. But in the short term this game can be quite lucrative in terms of attention getting, internet points, and money.

Re: Google removes its head of diversity after 2007 blog post surfaces

#220

Post by bagacrap » Thu, Jun 03, 2021, 3:23 PM UTC

wonderwonder wrote: post #109

mikewarot wrote: post #78

So, it took some digging, but here is the text https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:luIscB... As you can see, it's a quite well written critique of Israel, and it is definitely NOT anti-Semitic. I find it quite ironic that it took Google's cache to find the thing Google itself wants canceled

It is Anti-Semitic in that he is lumping all jews in with Israel. I am a Jew, America is my homeland. I live here and am an American. I am not an Israeli. I give almost zero thought to Israel in my day to day. Jews are consistently labeled with an "other" tag, we are not Americans, we are Jews and Israel is our country. Also "If I were a Jew I would be concerned about my insatiable appetite for war and killing in def…

the group that called him out on Twitter are clearly Zionists, though, not Jews who want nothing to do with Israel. I think a Jew who never thinks about Israel is likely to read that essay and think it doesn't apply to them.

If someone wrote "man, people in Colorado like to go on shooting rampages" I would think to myself, "yeah, that's right, we should not sell ar15s to folks; also, what is it about this place that affects mental health?" I would not take offense just because I happen to live there.