9 ms·
Why do you feel this is? I'm pretty sure the industry skews liberal-to-progressive so I would assume there aren't that many racists in software development.
by beaconstudios 8y ago
Why do you feel this is? I'm pretty sure the industry skews liberal-to-progressive so I would assume there aren't that many racists in software development.
- ascendantlogic 8y agoThe face people put on publicly vs their inner monologue can be vastly different. Words and actions can and do regularly diverge.
- bluGill 8y agohttps://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/11/30/white-liberals-dumb-themselves-down-when-they-speak-black-people-new-study-contends/?utm_term=.d50e0ecb9186 https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/11/30/white-liber...
- ascendantlogic 8y agoHuman psychology and social interaction is infinitely complex and murky.
- graphitezepp 8y agoOh their are plenty of racists in software development don't be fooled by the lip service companies dole out.
- Waterluvian 8y agoOh man. Being liberal doesn't by default make you perfectly non-discriminatory.
- beaconstudios 8y agoI mean, no one on earth is perfectly non discriminatory. But liberal to progressive people at least hold the idea that it is a moral imperative not to discriminate and at least try not to. Of course people will always face a certain level of subconscious discrimination from others, but the way OP described their experience made it seem like they were the target of overt / willing discrimination and I wanted to know what they had experienced to make them feel that way.
- pathseeker 8y ago>But liberal to progressive people at least hold the idea that it is a moral imperative not to discriminate and at least try not to. Someone has lied to you about the differences between liberals and conservatives. A non-negligible portion of the left think more discrimination is the answer to discrimination.
- beaconstudios 8y agoNah dude I know it
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- EpicBlackCrayon 8y agoI wouldn't say that the industry leans left, I'd say the industry more of leans to this murky libertarian brogressive sort of amalgamation where people end up saying one thing and doing another when their bottom line is at stake. See Google.
- rongenre 8y agoBecause it's well-documented.
- rsynnott 8y agoI mean, really you only have to look at the knee-jerk defensiveness against the idea that there could possibly be any racism in Silicon Valley on this Silicon Valley-centric website every time something like this is posted, to come to the conclusion that there might just be a problem. No community is THIS defensive about something that's a non-issue.
- beaconstudios 8y agoHence why I was asking the question...
- antepodius 8y agoYou have a point that it might/could probably be an indicator that something's being repressed- but you can't just jump to conclusions about what that is. It's not like, once in every blue moon, someone says 'tech has a race problem'- people say things like that all the time. So, even if it was a non-issue, the fact lots of people are saying it's an issue makes it an issue for people in tech, for obvious reasons (nobody likes being called evil.) Maybe people are defensive because they do see racism and ignore it- but maybe people are defensive because lots of people say there's racism they're ignoring, and what those people say can affect their jobs. Whether there's a race problem or not, there's a race problem.
- ThrowawayR2 8y ago> No community is THIS defensive about something that's a non-issue. Yes, surely protesting their innocence is strong evidence that they are, in fact, guilty as charged. /s
- Y_Y 8y agoApache Kafkatrapping
- acheron 8y ago> No community is THIS defensive about something that's a non-issue. When did you stop beating your wife?
- 8y ago
- jriot 8y agoThis is one thing I never understood. Im conservative and race rarely crosses my mind. Having grown up military and been in the military you perform your duties and hang out with a range of people. Not once in my 11 years in the military did I see race brought up. After getting out and being in tech, race is brought up all the time that. Those who 'skew liberal to progressive' have an unnatural obsession with race. Why is that?
- beaconstudios 8y agoI don't know. I'm British and classical liberal/mildly conservative so I can't relate to it myself. The overt racism I was contrasting with was more the far right, most of my friends are politically similar to me and they don't care about race either.
- untog 8y agoRace, and racism, is everywhere (note: this does not mean "everyone is racist"). It's kind of absurd to say that it wouldn't be an issue if liberals stopped talking about it - I suspect if you did a survey of minorities they would very, very strongly disagree with that sentiment. You may not see it, others may not see it, but that's why people talk about unconscious bias a lot. You're just not attuned to it. The posts in this thread alone should indicate to you that there are common experiences you aren't aware of.
- antepodius 8y agoBut on the other hand, if you try look for something, you'll find proof of it in abundance. You may not see the influence of the zionist powers ruling the world- but you're not attuned to it. Me, I see it clearly, everywhere. You just have to look hard enough.
- bmelton 8y agoI agree that racism exists. I agree that unconscious bias exists. I agree that work needs to be done to smooth race relations and unconscious bias. That said, I think it's worth considering whether constantly talking about race is doing the job of smoothing race relations, or alienating others to the cause.
- pc86 8y agoIt is disappointing to see what appears on the surface to be a legitimate question downvoted simply because it may not be worded in the best way. The fact that our industry skews to the left (for the US definition of the term) is a fact, and while the assumption that left != racist is wrong, that doesn't warrant downvotes in my opinion.
- beaconstudios 8y agoCheers, it was a legit question as I'm curious as to OPs experience and would think that the industry eschews racism, but at the same time here is a comment from someone who says they have experienced racism so wanted to know more.
- rcatcher 8y agoThe funniest thing is that people calling themselves liberal are often racist (towards white and sometimes asian people). I'm an immigrant from a poor Eastern European country where salaries and quality of life are lower than in many South American countries, and I'm constantly judged based on my skin colour.
- jamesj1980 8y agoIt's anecdotal, but the one company I worked with in the south which had a very conservative, christian, "family" culture was the most diverse team I've ever had the pleasure of working with. My team consisted of 2 black developers, 1 asian female, 3 indian females, 2 indian males and 3 white males(including me). There was never a hint of racism or sexism, we all came together for the mission of the company, and we all loved the different foods, experiences and perspectives we brought to the table. OTOH, I have been with a couple companies and seen racism and sexism in the form of jokes and comments that were done in poor taste, but it was just a group of white/asian progressive males so no harm? Again, all anecdotal. I'm sure other people have had complete opposite experiences, and thats to be expected. Racism is not always about hate or politics, it can show its self through ignorance and unfamiliarity. I've been a lurker for almost the entirety of HN. I created an account just to post this because I believe politics, especially political stereotyping has no business on HN. I would hate to see this forum burned out like Reddit.