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> I have a difficult time working with racists Racists is such an overloaded term that this means basically nothing. It could mean that you refuse to work with

> I have a difficult time working with racists Racists is such an overloaded term that this means basically nothing. It could mean that you refuse to work with people who burn crosses in black people's yards in which case basically everyone would agree with you, but it could mean that you refuse to work with people who made an ok-sign once without knowing that it had been adopted by white supremacists in which case most people would think you are ridiculous. When people say that we should leave politics outside of it they mean the second kind. In more remote open source projects some people advocate for the "everyone is anonymous" variant, in which case they think that nothing matters if the technical parts are good since they wont even know what they do outside of the project. But afaik not a lot of people argue for that in a normal workplace or for conferences.

jmcqk6 7y ago
What exactly does 'politics' mean in this case? Any concerns that aren't related to code? Can you define it in simple terms that leaves no gray areas? Completely anonymous systems leads to abuse. This has been demonstrated over and over again. The most insidious kinds of racism do not involve burning crosses. Obviously just flashing the ok-sign doesn't make you a racist. But society has clearly demonstrated that we are perfectly willing to tolerate the more subtle instances of racism for many reasons. In an environment like that, it's no surprise that the targets of that behavior become incredibly suspicious and distrusting. The way to solve that problem is not to "leave politics out of it" or to complain that they are too sensitive. The way to solve that problem is to address the underlying problem.
- belorn 7y ago
  I find people who assume men are prone to violence to be sexists. I also find people who dismisses struggles because someones skin is white and thus assumed "privileged" to be racists. I would prefer to not have to work with people who express such views but I can live with it if people just keep politics out of work and professional settings. Trying to address the underlying problem of why people has such views is a complex proposition and involves deep discussions based on evidence from neuroendocrinology, primatology, sociology, gender roles, social stratification, historical causes regarding each, and so on. It might very well be impossible if people are not open minded to the idea in the first place.

jmcqk6 7y ago

What exactly does 'politics' mean in this case? Any concerns that aren't related to code? Can you define it in simple terms that leaves no gray areas? Completely anonymous systems leads to abuse. This has been demonstrated over and over again. The most insidious kinds of racism do not involve burning crosses. Obviously just flashing the ok-sign doesn't make you a racist. But society has clearly demonstrated that we are perfectly willing to tolerate the more subtle instances of racism for many reasons. In an environment like that, it's no surprise that the targets of that behavior become incredibly suspicious and distrusting. The way to solve that problem is not to "leave politics out of it" or to complain that they are too sensitive. The way to solve that problem is to address the underlying problem.

belorn 7y ago
I find people who assume men are prone to violence to be sexists. I also find people who dismisses struggles because someones skin is white and thus assumed "privileged" to be racists. I would prefer to not have to work with people who express such views but I can live with it if people just keep politics out of work and professional settings. Trying to address the underlying problem of why people has such views is a complex proposition and involves deep discussions based on evidence from neuroendocrinology, primatology, sociology, gender roles, social stratification, historical causes regarding each, and so on. It might very well be impossible if people are not open minded to the idea in the first place.