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It’s a symbolic gesture relax. While it irks you it might inspire a young black kid to become an astronomer or phisicist or astronaut. As a white there are plen

It’s a symbolic gesture relax. While it irks you it might inspire a young black kid to become an astronomer or phisicist or astronaut. As a white there are plenty of inspiring people. Some of them have been power hungry and ruthless and nobody knows how many people they trampled on. Some of those are white symbols. Why not let balcks have their own?

cyberlurker 6y ago
As a white person who has experienced imposter syndrome at times in the tech world, I think I would have had a harder time overcoming it if I looked around and never saw another white person. Obviously that is not the case. I suspect giving young black girls someone to look up to is more powerful than people realize. If naming a building helps with that, why not do it? Also, if we are really going to suddenly be meritocratic above all else, we must immediately remove a lot of names from things. I don't want to get too far removed from engineering, but it's a great argument for getting rid of Confederate names.
- tartoran 6y ago
  Exactly!
- SenHeng 6y ago
  Reminds me of what Neil deGrasse Tyson said about being a visible black authority figure of science and knowledge. > In an undated interview at Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Tyson talked about being black and one of the most visible and well-known scientists in the world. He told a story about being interviewed about a plasma burst from the sun on a local Fox affiliate in 1989. "I'd never before in my life seen an interview with a black person on television for expertise that had nothing to do with being black. And at that point, I realized that one of the last stereotypes that prevailed among people who carry stereotypes is that, sort of, black people are somehow dumb. I wondered, maybe ... that's a way to undermine this sort of, this stereotype that prevailed about who's smart and who's dumb. I said to myself, 'I just have to be visible, or others like me, in that situation.' That would have a greater force on society than anything else I could imagine." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_deGrasse_Tyson#Race_and_social_justice https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_deGrasse_Tyson#Race_and_s...
Thorentis 6y ago
I find it interesting when race is pointed out as a positive trait in some contexts but not others. E.g. a black engineer is a good inspiration for a black child because they are both black. Whereas if I showed my child a great white engineer because the engineer was white, I'd be criticised for being a racist. If race doesn't matter, why do we need more of x race as engineers? If race does matter, why isn't the current majority race allowed to have the same preferences/inspirations (consciously at least)?
- saagarjha 6y ago
  The issue is that children are much more likely to see a white engineer and a black one, so you’re not really showing your child anything new.
- cyberlurker 6y ago
  Who would say you're racist for showing that white engineer? Also...I'm not a minority, but I can imagine that if I looked around and there were none of my kind in a position of power, I'd start to think maybe I shouldn't be there. You can show a white child a picture of a white professional all day long and personally I wouldn't call you a racist.
- tzs 6y ago
  It's the same reason we have a black history month in the US but not a white history month, or the same reason we have gay pride month but not straight pride month. It's because every month is a white history month, and every month is a straight pride month. A white child in the US is very unlikely to get the impression that their race might make it hard or impossible for them to become an engineer, so there is no need or benefit to specifically pointing out to your child that some great engineer is white. Not so for a black child. There is a very real possibility that their being black will make it harder for them to become an engineer. Being show other people who faced the same hardships and overcame them can help keep them from getting discouraged.
  - luckylion 6y ago
    > Not so for a black child. There is a very real possibility that their being black will make it harder for them to become an engineer. There's also the very clear benefit of affirmative action that makes it easier to become an engineer, preferential treatment at top schools etc. While a white child, and even more so an Asian one, might look at laws and statistics and Harvard and realize that, indeed, it is provably harder for them to become an engineer.

cyberlurker 6y ago

As a white person who has experienced imposter syndrome at times in the tech world, I think I would have had a harder time overcoming it if I looked around and never saw another white person. Obviously that is not the case. I suspect giving young black girls someone to look up to is more powerful than people realize. If naming a building helps with that, why not do it? Also, if we are really going to suddenly be meritocratic above all else, we must immediately remove a lot of names from things. I don't want to get too far removed from engineering, but it's a great argument for getting rid of Confederate names.

tartoran 6y ago
Exactly!
SenHeng 6y ago
Reminds me of what Neil deGrasse Tyson said about being a visible black authority figure of science and knowledge. > In an undated interview at Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Tyson talked about being black and one of the most visible and well-known scientists in the world. He told a story about being interviewed about a plasma burst from the sun on a local Fox affiliate in 1989. "I'd never before in my life seen an interview with a black person on television for expertise that had nothing to do with being black. And at that point, I realized that one of the last stereotypes that prevailed among people who carry stereotypes is that, sort of, black people are somehow dumb. I wondered, maybe ... that's a way to undermine this sort of, this stereotype that prevailed about who's smart and who's dumb. I said to myself, 'I just have to be visible, or others like me, in that situation.' That would have a greater force on society than anything else I could imagine." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_deGrasse_Tyson#Race_and_social_justice https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_deGrasse_Tyson#Race_and_s...

Thorentis 6y ago

I find it interesting when race is pointed out as a positive trait in some contexts but not others. E.g. a black engineer is a good inspiration for a black child because they are both black. Whereas if I showed my child a great white engineer because the engineer was white, I'd be criticised for being a racist. If race doesn't matter, why do we need more of x race as engineers? If race does matter, why isn't the current majority race allowed to have the same preferences/inspirations (consciously at least)?

saagarjha 6y ago
The issue is that children are much more likely to see a white engineer and a black one, so you’re not really showing your child anything new.
cyberlurker 6y ago
Who would say you're racist for showing that white engineer? Also...I'm not a minority, but I can imagine that if I looked around and there were none of my kind in a position of power, I'd start to think maybe I shouldn't be there. You can show a white child a picture of a white professional all day long and personally I wouldn't call you a racist.
tzs 6y ago
It's the same reason we have a black history month in the US but not a white history month, or the same reason we have gay pride month but not straight pride month. It's because every month is a white history month, and every month is a straight pride month. A white child in the US is very unlikely to get the impression that their race might make it hard or impossible for them to become an engineer, so there is no need or benefit to specifically pointing out to your child that some great engineer is white. Not so for a black child. There is a very real possibility that their being black will make it harder for them to become an engineer. Being show other people who faced the same hardships and overcame them can help keep them from getting discouraged.
- luckylion 6y ago
  > Not so for a black child. There is a very real possibility that their being black will make it harder for them to become an engineer. There's also the very clear benefit of affirmative action that makes it easier to become an engineer, preferential treatment at top schools etc. While a white child, and even more so an Asian one, might look at laws and statistics and Harvard and realize that, indeed, it is provably harder for them to become an engineer.