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But people quickly grow tired of needing to be the token spokesperson for their group, and needing to explain the frustrations again and again (without actually

• tcdent 10y ago
  I have a long beard. Nearly every conversation with a new person involves some question about it; often "how long did I take?". I don't get mad at people for behaving predictably, I expect it.
  • mikeyouse 10y ago
    Then again, you chose to have a long beard knowing full-well that it could attract extra attention.
    • tcdent 10y ago
      If there's anything to learn from the diversity conversation, it's that really, we're all quite different, and we shouldn't be afraid to act like it. Participants in monoculture are the real culprit. Notable that in this instance where we're talking about opting-out of a popular practice, akin to sobriety or un-dyed hair, but followers of mainstream culture still treat it as a deliberate act.
      • hasbroslasher 10y ago
        I think you're missing the point - choosing to have a beard (or weird hair, or be sober, or what have you) is a different than being born with a different skin color without any choice of your own.
      • bduerst 10y ago
        If you look at the author's list, you'll notice that the majority of the items aren't "Hey, are you a lumberjack?" It's not a "diversity" issue, it's an issue with prejudice - one which can manifest as an unconscious bias (i.e. dismissing with false equivocations between skin color and facial hair).
      • MaxfordAndSons 10y ago
        Sure, one shouldn't be afraid to express their individual differences. But one also shouldn't be expected to explain a difference that was a) not one of choice or inherent significance, and b) is often fraught with extreme negative emotions because of the treatment one receives from it. I have worn a fairly long beard at times. People did ask me about it. What people didn't do, as far as I could ever tell, was act in a prejudiced way towards me because of it.
  • pm90 10y ago
    You did have a choice to grow the beard though. Race is something that does not involve that luxury.
    • tcdent 10y ago
      Take your analogy and apply it in the other direction; pretend for a second that people were able to choose their race. Are you suggesting that having the option to make that choice is somehow a way out? It's merely symptomatic and utter blasphemy.
      • FLUX-YOU 10y ago
        >Are you suggesting that having the option to make that choice is somehow a way out? It's merely symptomatic and utter blasphemy. This hypothetical doesn't really go anywhere because you can make the beard choice with worldly experience vs. choosing race at birth and growing up as that race. It doesn't even compare. Even if we were to change this around and ask "What if people could change their race only once in adulthood after some life experience?" the racism chart just gets two additional hate columns for the race-changers.
        • tcdent 10y ago
          My point is that nobody should ever have to choose; it's de-humanizing in every regard.
      • pm90 10y ago
        I see your point. I think it wasn't the best counter. You made me realize that its actually certain things that we as a society decide as sacrosanct and not grounds for prejudice. So it can be with race, which involves no choice, but also religion, which does involve choice. Or political affiliation, which also does involve choice.
        • Retra 10y ago
          The only thing that really matters is people's ability to make decisions. Their religious and political views can very easily reflect a failure to make good decisions, and that has a real social cost. Race is nothing like that. Neither is most physical disability, sexual orientation, nor suitably passive statements about political matters or religious affiliation. That's why those things are protected.
  • r00fus 10y ago
    Sorry, that's a weak analogy. You can choose to shave, you can't choose to be/notbe the race you were born into.
  • manachar 10y ago
    What's it like being a bearded programmer?
    • pjdorrell 10y ago
      Also, as a bearded programmer, can you please explain the benefits of going to GPLv3 instead of GPLv2?
      • jra_samba 10y ago
        Here you go ! https://www.fsf.org/blogs/licensing/jeremy-allison-on-why-samba-switched-to-gplv3 https://www.fsf.org/blogs/licensing/jeremy-allison-on-why-sa... http://static.fsf.org/nosvn/linuxcollab-why-samba-went-gplv3.pdf http://static.fsf.org/nosvn/linuxcollab-why-samba-went-gplv3...
  • vacri 10y ago
    Long beards are pretty rare. Being a non-white race or being a woman is not.
    • flubert 10y ago
      >Long beards are pretty rare. In this data mining age of ours, anyone know how to gather statistics on beard length? Like if you wanted to make a histogram of beard lengths with bins like 0-1cm, 1-2cm, 3-4cm, etc.. Or maybe an easier question would be with hair length. Does anyone have a database with those sorts of metrics? For "random" samples, if not an entire population?
      • mindcrime 10y ago
        I don't know of any existing data on that, although there's a remote chance it could be part of something like the GSS[1]. If not, you could propose it as an addition to the GSS for future years[2]. If you're willing to fund[3] the collection of the extra data, so much the better. [1]: http://gss.norc.org/ http://gss.norc.org/ [2]: http://gss.norc.org/Pages/Faq.aspx http://gss.norc.org/Pages/Faq.aspx [3]: http://gss.norc.org/Documents/other/Paid%20Supplements%202015.pdf http://gss.norc.org/Documents/other/Paid%20Supplements%20201...
  • danso 10y ago
    The decision to grow a beard is (I imagine) one that takes some commitment. I think some people are genuinely interested and will attempt to use it as a conversation piece to get to know you. I've actually liked talking to strangers who were vets and want to talk about what Vietnam (the country, not so much the war) was like. I can't speak for the OP but I'd like to believe he would happily accept the annoying conversation starters you deal with, as a trade for all the conversations he believes he is shut out of because of his race.
    • tcdent 10y ago
      > The decision to grow a beard is (I imagine) one that takes some commitment. This is in danger of getting too specific, but perhaps it is relatable to the topic. I don't understand the common perception that any amount of commitment would be involved. However, daily routines, product consumption and professional requirements all sound like commitments to me.
      • pessimizer 10y ago
        > I don't understand the common perception that any amount of commitment would be involved. I might be misunderstanding you, but I'm sure that you understand that it takes more commitment to grow and maintain a beard than to simply exist.
        • tcdent 10y ago
          Physically, absolutely not. Socially, yes, but only enough to stave off complaisance.
• r00fus 10y ago
  Exactly - And lets look at the opposite outcome - if you agree become a standard bearer for your group, you risk getting looked on as a clown by both insiders and outsiders (you may not have street cred / who TF wants to talk about this stuff all the time?) So yeah, fielding this kind of innocuous question on a daily basis either tires you or (if you take the bait) puts you on a pedestal where others wonder who made you king. Mental exercise: replace "black/asian" with "female" and you'll see why it sounds wrong.
• hinkley 10y ago
  It's fairly common for invisible minorities to be asked why they didn't disclose that they were X, in some instances it's fairly clear that the person asking is trying to make a case that the person is embarrassed or ashamed of being X. The best answer I've heard to that question is, "Because X isn't the most interesting thing about me."
• smsm42 10y ago
  > No one ever asks me (a white guy) what it's like to be a white programmer. True, but also you won't see any blogs "what it's really like to be a white programmer" either. It's just not a topic that is popular or being discussed as such, so people do not ask about it. People are discussing why there are so few Black programmers in SV all the time in the media, and make declarations and actions and establish programs, etc. So when they meet somebody that they feel belongs to the group they heard so much about, they feel curious. It can be annoying to a specific person to be treated as a representative of a group, but I think that's natural. If the topic of riding bikes was discussed constantly, then at least some bike riders would get asked such questions, because people's curiosity is primed by the discussions. It's just that "white programmers in SV" is not a particularly interesting group one would seek some special insights about. But if you visit some place where being programmer from SV is unusual, you could very well be asked what it's like to be a programmer in SV. > her response eventually became, "It's a lot like being a male musician, I think the point of the article is kind of that it's not "like the male musician", at least not entirely like - or, in this case, white programmer. And the point is these differences are specifically linked to being black. There's a community founded by the same person who founded the blog, http://www.devcolor.org/ http://www.devcolor.org/. Obviously, there's something common on which this community is based, or at least it exists for some people that participate in this community.
  • tibbon 10y ago
    I kinda wanna start a Medium blog where I to tell people what it's like to be a white guy programmer, and pointing out the places where I uncomfortably recognize the benefits I gain simply from being 33, white and male... with a beard. I get way too much credit for my ability simply based on how I look, whereas I know far better qualified minority women who get very little in comparison.
    • smsm42 10y ago
      But can you write about something about the topic that wasn't already written 20 times? If you think you can, by all means start the blog.