5 ms·

What’s an example of a real issue, if changing terminology to make underrepresented engineers feel less uncomfortable isn’t one?

Yetanfou 6y ago
I have yet to hear from an under-represented engineer who felt uncomfortable from the use of the term master in git and github. I have heard a number of activists claim this to be the case but judging by the reactions from those who supposedly were to feel uncomfortable - some of them right here in this thread - this was a non-problem and the change is purely theatrical.
627467 6y ago
Are you implying that only non-underrepresented engineers are capable of uncomfortable speech? I'm sure any terminology can make some engineer (underrepresented or not) uncomfortable. Therapy may help if it becomes recurrent and hard to manage. I'm pretty sure most engineers, underrepresented or not, would appreciate a healthy, dignifying and diverse management structure and workplace so that uncomfortable language not only is less likely to naturally happen, but when it does happen everyone (underrepresented or not) is adult enough to know if a line was crossed. I'm pretty sure that underrepresented groups would prioritize stopped being randomly killed, be evicted, be massively encarcerated, be without healthcare and be in a constant dog-eat-dog environment.
- spikeseltzer 6y ago
  Not implying that at all — although I do think we should prioritize the concerns of those who are currently underrepresented, especially when they regularly observe racism in our industry on that basis. > I'm pretty sure that underrepresented groups would prioritize stopped being randomly killed, be evicted, be massively encarcerated, be without healthcare and be in a constant dog-eat-dog environment. Regarding this I’m not sure what mechanism you had in mind for github to solve these issues, but it sounds like the sort of thing I’d support as well. I’ve campaigned for them to drop their contract with ICE for some time now, maybe you have too.

Yetanfou 6y ago

I have yet to hear from an under-represented engineer who felt uncomfortable from the use of the term master in git and github. I have heard a number of activists claim this to be the case but judging by the reactions from those who supposedly were to feel uncomfortable - some of them right here in this thread - this was a non-problem and the change is purely theatrical.

627467 6y ago

Are you implying that only non-underrepresented engineers are capable of uncomfortable speech? I'm sure any terminology can make some engineer (underrepresented or not) uncomfortable. Therapy may help if it becomes recurrent and hard to manage. I'm pretty sure most engineers, underrepresented or not, would appreciate a healthy, dignifying and diverse management structure and workplace so that uncomfortable language not only is less likely to naturally happen, but when it does happen everyone (underrepresented or not) is adult enough to know if a line was crossed. I'm pretty sure that underrepresented groups would prioritize stopped being randomly killed, be evicted, be massively encarcerated, be without healthcare and be in a constant dog-eat-dog environment.

spikeseltzer 6y ago
Not implying that at all — although I do think we should prioritize the concerns of those who are currently underrepresented, especially when they regularly observe racism in our industry on that basis. > I'm pretty sure that underrepresented groups would prioritize stopped being randomly killed, be evicted, be massively encarcerated, be without healthcare and be in a constant dog-eat-dog environment. Regarding this I’m not sure what mechanism you had in mind for github to solve these issues, but it sounds like the sort of thing I’d support as well. I’ve campaigned for them to drop their contract with ICE for some time now, maybe you have too.