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"When a co-worker invited Avery to join a private Slack channel called #Hot-Topics filled with LGBTQ folks and people of color, she was relieved to find that sh
by Ice_cream_suit 7y ago
"When a co-worker invited Avery to join a private Slack channel called #Hot-Topics filled with LGBTQ folks and people of color, she was relieved to find that she wasn’t the only one who felt uncomfortable with Away’s purported mission and company culture.
So when the executive’s name unexpectedly popped into #Hot-Topics the morning of May 16th, 2018, employees knew something was wrong. She’d found out about the channel from Erin Grau, the head of people... “I thought, Damn, she’s gonna see us talking about some stupid stuff, but whatever,” recalls a former marketing manager named Emily*. She hoped Korey would at least find the conversations funny.
That hope evaporated the next day when Korey began calling people into a room one by one. There, flanked by the company’s head of people and general counsel, she told six people they were being let go. “You’ve been discriminatory,” employees remember her saying. “... you no longer have a job at this company.” Emily, who is a person of color, was shocked. “That was jarring — three white people telling me I was racist,” she says.
- ulfw 7y agoWait a second... "Emily, who is a person of color, was shocked. “That was jarring — three white people telling me I was racist,” she says." So erm... only WHITE people can be racist?! Huh?
- jariel 7y agoThis part is perplexing because it seems the employees fail to grasp that not only minorities can be discriminated against. The articles specific wording is: " But employees say she pointed to two comments that called out “cis white men.” " Calling out 'cis white men'? As though it's just a normal thing to do, because, you know, those terrible 'straight white men'? Can you imagine if that statement read 'calling out those gay blacks'? The lack of self awareness among those staffers at least on this issue is shocking. It's definitely racist, and definitely a fireable offence. Obviously, black->white/white->black racism is quite different, but it's still racism in the worst way.
- jessaustin 7y agoSince they're "quite different", only one of them is "the worst".
- stronglikedan 7y agoBut they're not "quite different". All racism is equally "the worst".
- jessaustin 7y agoNo, that's bogus. The century of lynching black men that followed the USA civil war was definitely worse than the cab drivers who are rude to white people in Asia.
- asguy 7y agoWhat ever happened to “two wrongs don’t make a right?”
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- jessaustin 7y agoI haven't heard that since kindergarten. Here in the adult world, we care about justice. Justice is not served when ignorant white yuppies appropriate the struggles of others. Could "Emily" have better catered to the feelings of her managers? Probably! However, we wouldn't all be laughing at Korey if she had said "I'm firing you because you have been rude." She didn't have to pretend that she had suffered some sort of harm because one of her employees didn't worship her.
- asguy 7y agoThere's a reason they teach it in kindergarten: it's a pretty fundamental concept that people who want a functioning society should probably adhere to. Here's another maxim for you: live by the sword, die by the sword. If you want people to be treated equal, stop singling out groups (e.g. "ignorant white yuppies") and playing identity politics.
- quadrifoliate 7y agoI am curious about this aspect of it, you can't join a private channel on Slack even if you're "told about it" as far as I know. Someone must have invited her to it.
- wefarrell 7y agoIt wasn’t a private channel. The article mentions a prohibition on private slack conversations.
- rexpop 7y agoA prohibition on privacy?
- fred_is_fred 7y agoAnd even if it was private, execs can get an admin to join them to the channel - assuming they don't already have that permission.
- tinus_hn 7y ago> “That was jarring — three white people telling me I was racist,” she says. Obviously it is only racist if a white person complains about three black people tell them something, never the other way around. Equality is a one way street!