4 ms·

Yes. His co-workers reaction to the protest and the fact that he heard other racist stuff during his time there.

SpicyLemonZest 7y ago
Being annoyed by a protest on your commute isn’t racism. It’s certainly true that he could have heard other things which were racist and decided not to share any of them, but I don’t really know how to evaluate that. It’s not fair to demand ironclad proof from anyone sharing their personal experiences, but it’s also not fair to condemn Google based on a nonspecific claim with no details that racism happens there.
- Miner49er 7y ago
  Yes it is. By complaining his co-worker was saying that her commute was more important then Garner's life and more important then fighting the problem of police brutality against black people. It was 100% racist and extremely selfish.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - Aperocky 7y ago
    And there couldn't be anything more exaggerating than your comment here. If tomorrow a climate change protest (which I consider to be of greater importance, by the way) shuts down the whole city, knocking out roads and public transport and prevent me from going to work for a straight week I would be very annoyed. And it's not because my work for this week is greater than the climate change of Earth, it's because these two things are separate and not connected whatsoever. Say anything you want about a subject but never force that into other peoples life.
    - TheOtherHobbes 7y ago
      If you really think those things are separate and not connected whatsoever, just wait until you see how much disruption and inconvenience climate change will create for your work diary.
  - arcticbull 7y ago
    It's not racism to be annoyed by a protest it's the point of protests. The reason you obstruct traffic is to piss people off. You want to irritate them enough to take action to make it stop. It doesn't matter what they're mad at so long as they're mad enough to make the social change you're seeking. If you didn't want to disturb anyone you'd protest in an open field out of sight -- but what good is that?
dekhn 7y ago
I think reasonable people can disagree about whether this is racist. I would be very cautious bandying around huge accusations about racism like this. Certainly it seems very different from actively going and taking actions against people in a class you believe are inferior. Many of us who are reasonable and rational come to different conclusions- for example, while I fully support peaceful protests, I think any protest which blocks traffic is unwise and likely to generate negative responses in people who would otherwise be sympathetic.
- smileysteve 7y ago
  One of the "funnier" pieces of spin and "revisionist history" that eaks of ignorance that came out during the BLM protests was assertions that the 60s civil rights movement "would have never shut down a freeway". The irony of this being said around the anniversary of the march from Selma to Birmingham is particularly loud. https://www.theroot.com/mlk-would-never-shut-down-a-freeway-and-6-other-myths-1790856033 https://www.theroot.com/mlk-would-never-shut-down-a-freeway-...
- will4274 7y ago
  > I think reasonable people can disagree about whether this is racist. I disagree. Reasonable people recognize that being miffed that a protest is disrupting your commute isn't racist. It's only the unreasonable people who think it could be.
  - dekhn 7y ago
    I wouldn't have to try very hard to come up with what I consider to be reasonable opinions that this was a racist action (the opposite of my personal opinion). However reasonable, any of my arguments would be convoluted and probably have to use some sort of philosophical reasoning (such as moral imperative) and would have to resort to systemics, game theory, and probably even postmodern relativism.
    - will4274 7y ago
      Nobody can live those opinions in practice. If the imperative is so strong on this topic, then the imperative would be so strong on so many topics that you'd never be able to go to work.

Being annoyed by a protest on your commute isn’t racism. It’s certainly true that he could have heard other things which were racist and decided not to share any of them, but I don’t really know how to evaluate that. It’s not fair to demand ironclad proof from anyone sharing their personal experiences, but it’s also not fair to condemn Google based on a nonspecific claim with no details that racism happens there.

Miner49er 7y ago
Yes it is. By complaining his co-worker was saying that her commute was more important then Garner's life and more important then fighting the problem of police brutality against black people. It was 100% racist and extremely selfish.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- Aperocky 7y ago
  And there couldn't be anything more exaggerating than your comment here. If tomorrow a climate change protest (which I consider to be of greater importance, by the way) shuts down the whole city, knocking out roads and public transport and prevent me from going to work for a straight week I would be very annoyed. And it's not because my work for this week is greater than the climate change of Earth, it's because these two things are separate and not connected whatsoever. Say anything you want about a subject but never force that into other peoples life.
  - TheOtherHobbes 7y ago
    If you really think those things are separate and not connected whatsoever, just wait until you see how much disruption and inconvenience climate change will create for your work diary.
- arcticbull 7y ago
  It's not racism to be annoyed by a protest it's the point of protests. The reason you obstruct traffic is to piss people off. You want to irritate them enough to take action to make it stop. It doesn't matter what they're mad at so long as they're mad enough to make the social change you're seeking. If you didn't want to disturb anyone you'd protest in an open field out of sight -- but what good is that?

dekhn 7y ago

I think reasonable people can disagree about whether this is racist. I would be very cautious bandying around huge accusations about racism like this. Certainly it seems very different from actively going and taking actions against people in a class you believe are inferior. Many of us who are reasonable and rational come to different conclusions- for example, while I fully support peaceful protests, I think any protest which blocks traffic is unwise and likely to generate negative responses in people who would otherwise be sympathetic.

smileysteve 7y ago
One of the "funnier" pieces of spin and "revisionist history" that eaks of ignorance that came out during the BLM protests was assertions that the 60s civil rights movement "would have never shut down a freeway". The irony of this being said around the anniversary of the march from Selma to Birmingham is particularly loud. https://www.theroot.com/mlk-would-never-shut-down-a-freeway-and-6-other-myths-1790856033 https://www.theroot.com/mlk-would-never-shut-down-a-freeway-...
will4274 7y ago
> I think reasonable people can disagree about whether this is racist. I disagree. Reasonable people recognize that being miffed that a protest is disrupting your commute isn't racist. It's only the unreasonable people who think it could be.
- dekhn 7y ago
  I wouldn't have to try very hard to come up with what I consider to be reasonable opinions that this was a racist action (the opposite of my personal opinion). However reasonable, any of my arguments would be convoluted and probably have to use some sort of philosophical reasoning (such as moral imperative) and would have to resort to systemics, game theory, and probably even postmodern relativism.
  - will4274 7y ago
    Nobody can live those opinions in practice. If the imperative is so strong on this topic, then the imperative would be so strong on so many topics that you'd never be able to go to work.