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The policies on "reverse racism" and "reverse sexism" are mostly to stop arguments that many consider to be trolling. Some people make the argument that initiat

The policies on "reverse racism" and "reverse sexism" are mostly to stop arguments that many consider to be trolling. Some people make the argument that initiatives like http://www.blackgirlscode.com http://www.blackgirlscode.com and http://www.pyladies.com http://www.pyladies.com are racist and sexist because they exclude whites/men. GitHub is not interested in having that debate.

cperciva 11y ago
Thanks for the background. In Canada the laws against discrimination exempt "programs designed to ameliorate the conditions of disadvantaged individuals or groups", so initiatives like those you mention would be perfectly acceptable; but discrimination in other contexts (say, out of simple bigotry, without having an ameliorative intent) is still covered.
tzs 11y ago
I have doubts about that explanation. If someone tried to argue that blackgirlscode was practicing reverse racism and reverse sexism, they would not be bringing it up as a code of conduct violation. The code of conduct covers how members of the community behave, not how the organization behaves. BTW, pyladies' code of conduct does not have language like that in it, and I cannot find a blackgirlscode code of conduct at all. Of the six sources they cite as inspiration, the only one that has that kind of language in its code of conduct is Geek Feminism, which states that the reason for the policy is that "these things don’t exist". It's pretty clear it was from Geek Feminism that they have identical language, including the lead in, except that they omitted the "don't exist" language. Of the five entities listed in their FAQ as having adopted this, only GitHub left that in. The others all took it out. Also...why is that under "Definitions"? It should be under "Reporting Issues".

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The policies on "reverse racism" and "reverse sexism" are mostly to stop arguments that many consider to be trolling. Some people make the argument that initiat

by onewaystreet 11y ago

cperciva 11y ago
Thanks for the background. In Canada the laws against discrimination exempt "programs designed to ameliorate the conditions of disadvantaged individuals or groups", so initiatives like those you mention would be perfectly acceptable; but discrimination in other contexts (say, out of simple bigotry, without having an ameliorative intent) is still covered.
tzs 11y ago
I have doubts about that explanation. If someone tried to argue that blackgirlscode was practicing reverse racism and reverse sexism, they would not be bringing it up as a code of conduct violation. The code of conduct covers how members of the community behave, not how the organization behaves. BTW, pyladies' code of conduct does not have language like that in it, and I cannot find a blackgirlscode code of conduct at all. Of the six sources they cite as inspiration, the only one that has that kind of language in its code of conduct is Geek Feminism, which states that the reason for the policy is that "these things don’t exist". It's pretty clear it was from Geek Feminism that they have identical language, including the lead in, except that they omitted the "don't exist" language. Of the five entities listed in their FAQ as having adopted this, only GitHub left that in. The others all took it out. Also...why is that under "Definitions"? It should be under "Reporting Issues".