5 ms·

There are smart people of both sexes and all races, and I always assumed that an organization as focused on problem solving as NASA would employ the smartest pe

There are smart people of both sexes and all races, and I always assumed that an organization as focused on problem solving as NASA would employ the smartest people and ignore the discrimination that was all too commonplace at the time this occurred. While I'm glad to see that my assumption was grounded in facts, articles like this, in 2016, seem divisive to me.

zappo2938 11y ago
Neil deGrasse Tyson will not answer any questions about his race for this reason.
Wingman4l7 11y ago
It would certainly be hoped, but NASA was run by fallible human beings.
PhasmaFelis 11y ago
> articles like this, in 2016, seem divisive to me. I dunno, this seems kinda like the "racism is over" argument. As long as there are many, many people who (consciously or unconsciously) believe that nothing of value was ever accomplished by a non-white non-male, there's value in pointing out that they're wrong.
- zo1 11y ago
  >"As long as there are many, many people who (consciously or unconsciously) believe that nothing of value was ever accomplished by a non-white non-male" Nothing good will come of trying to forcefully change those peoples' minds. Because such actions are incredibly divisive, even if you sugar-coat it with noble ideals.
  - kaitai 11y ago
    An article on the internet is "trying to change someone's mind by force"?
    - mahouse 11y ago
      No, but an article will hardly change my opinion on black people.
    - zo1 11y ago
      The old expression about bringing a horse to water comes to mind. Doing divisive things that constantly beat the war-drum of past wrongs is "physically" forcing the horse to drink. Living peacefully and treating everyone around you equally (including those with views you disagree with) is akin to bringing them to the water and drinking it next to them.
      - DanBC 11y ago
        Your use of the word "force" when talking about race is an odd choice when we consider the huge amounts of force coming from the other side - the armed militarised police who seem to want to escalate every confrontation; the lynchings; the red lining; the jim crow laws; the terrorist racist groups who firebomb churches; the "lone wolf" extremists who murder people. "someone wrote a blog post" seems pretty mild in response.
        zo1 11y ago
        It is an appropriate choice of word in the context of my post regarding changing peoples' attitude towards race, and their prejudices.
      - PhasmaFelis 11y ago
        So mentioning that black women accomplished cool stuff one time is "beating the war drum of past wrongs" and "trying to forcefully change peoples' minds"? Basically, you're saying we should cover up any history that might make people uncomfortable?
tn13 11y ago
Any organization where bosses care about results will discriminate far less than others. I am not surprised about NASA because you either send a rocket to moon or you do not. But local DMV office might discriminant without impunity. But given the smartness thing, it turns out that IQ varies a lot by race. African Americans are the only race where IQ of women is on an average far better than man. (I don't vouch for the science here, I come from a country without concept of race and hence cant read racist context in academic articles).
- abstractalgebra 11y ago
  > I come from a country without concept of race I apologize for being nosy, but what country is that?
DanBC 11y ago
> While I'm glad to see that my assumption was grounded in facts Sadly, you're wrong. For years the route to become a NASA astronaut included being a military test pilot. That position was not available to women, and so NASA prevented women from becoming astronauts. They continued to do so even when testing showed that women were at least as good as men, and often better, and had other advantages. (Smaller, and thus lighter, and thus considerably less expensive to send into space). http://history.nasa.gov/printFriendly/flats.html http://history.nasa.gov/printFriendly/flats.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_13 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_13
- downandout 11y ago
  I was just referring to the article. Apparently the "computer" position was open to the best applicants, regardless of sex or race. You know, the way things are supposed to be.
GBond 11y ago
Some would say calling an article that highlights history and achievements of an underrepresented group "divisive" is an example of unintended systemic racism.

zappo2938 11y ago

Neil deGrasse Tyson will not answer any questions about his race for this reason.

Wingman4l7 11y ago

It would certainly be hoped, but NASA was run by fallible human beings.

PhasmaFelis 11y ago

> articles like this, in 2016, seem divisive to me. I dunno, this seems kinda like the "racism is over" argument. As long as there are many, many people who (consciously or unconsciously) believe that nothing of value was ever accomplished by a non-white non-male, there's value in pointing out that they're wrong.

zo1 11y ago
>"As long as there are many, many people who (consciously or unconsciously) believe that nothing of value was ever accomplished by a non-white non-male" Nothing good will come of trying to forcefully change those peoples' minds. Because such actions are incredibly divisive, even if you sugar-coat it with noble ideals.
- kaitai 11y ago
  An article on the internet is "trying to change someone's mind by force"?
  - mahouse 11y ago
    No, but an article will hardly change my opinion on black people.
  - zo1 11y ago
    The old expression about bringing a horse to water comes to mind. Doing divisive things that constantly beat the war-drum of past wrongs is "physically" forcing the horse to drink. Living peacefully and treating everyone around you equally (including those with views you disagree with) is akin to bringing them to the water and drinking it next to them.
    - DanBC 11y ago
      Your use of the word "force" when talking about race is an odd choice when we consider the huge amounts of force coming from the other side - the armed militarised police who seem to want to escalate every confrontation; the lynchings; the red lining; the jim crow laws; the terrorist racist groups who firebomb churches; the "lone wolf" extremists who murder people. "someone wrote a blog post" seems pretty mild in response.
      - zo1 11y ago
        It is an appropriate choice of word in the context of my post regarding changing peoples' attitude towards race, and their prejudices.
    - PhasmaFelis 11y ago
      So mentioning that black women accomplished cool stuff one time is "beating the war drum of past wrongs" and "trying to forcefully change peoples' minds"? Basically, you're saying we should cover up any history that might make people uncomfortable?

tn13 11y ago

Any organization where bosses care about results will discriminate far less than others. I am not surprised about NASA because you either send a rocket to moon or you do not. But local DMV office might discriminant without impunity. But given the smartness thing, it turns out that IQ varies a lot by race. African Americans are the only race where IQ of women is on an average far better than man. (I don't vouch for the science here, I come from a country without concept of race and hence cant read racist context in academic articles).

abstractalgebra 11y ago
> I come from a country without concept of race I apologize for being nosy, but what country is that?

DanBC 11y ago

> While I'm glad to see that my assumption was grounded in facts Sadly, you're wrong. For years the route to become a NASA astronaut included being a military test pilot. That position was not available to women, and so NASA prevented women from becoming astronauts. They continued to do so even when testing showed that women were at least as good as men, and often better, and had other advantages. (Smaller, and thus lighter, and thus considerably less expensive to send into space). http://history.nasa.gov/printFriendly/flats.html http://history.nasa.gov/printFriendly/flats.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_13 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_13

downandout 11y ago
I was just referring to the article. Apparently the "computer" position was open to the best applicants, regardless of sex or race. You know, the way things are supposed to be.

GBond 11y ago

Some would say calling an article that highlights history and achievements of an underrepresented group "divisive" is an example of unintended systemic racism.