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GitHub employee fired for saying ‘Nazi’ declines to take his job back

21 points by kumarharsh 6y ago

cwitty88 6y ago
I've been guilty of using this term somewhat frequently and have always wondered if it would actually get someone in trouble…now I know.
- dekhn 6y ago
  Put a little more carefully: somebody at a job used the term nazi in a situation where there were people doing things very close to what the nazis did, meant it in good faith about people being safe. A coworker reported them to HR, it went to the head of HR who fired the nazi-invoking individual. After an investigation, the HR head was fired and the individual wisely declined the employer's offer to return. This not a typical outcome.
zackees 6y ago
Imagine going to Germany and warning that “neo confederates” were planning on storming the capital. People actually think there is a nazi movement here in the united states. It’s one of the Big lies in our culture and media now. Sad.
- h2odragon 6y ago
  There is an actual, dedicated Nazi movement in the US. I don't know how many people there actually are involved in it, but it's dozens. Some of them are True Believers and crazy as saints, and some are just hucksters looking for a quick buck. IMO, they're neither effective, nor dangerous; the honest advocates of white supremacy and Nazi national socialism just show how flawed those ideas were and still are. The business of "monitoring nazis online" and fundraising on that effort, I strongly suspect, outweighs the actual Nazis by a factor of 10:1 or so.
  - LinuxBender 6y ago
    I agree with most of that except the dangerous part. I know of some neo-nazi's that harm people physically and their community support it. They are in a rural part of Ohio. I am not part of their circle. I am not going to repeat here some of the things they do but I will say that it would not be allowed on sites like 4chan.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - h2odragon 6y ago
      Granted; however are they especially dangerous because they are neo-nazis, or because they are petty criminals? I'm far more concerned about the people that employ tactical lawsuits than those that discuss "tactical gear".
      - LinuxBender 6y ago
        These guys are extremely violent outlaws and lawsuits are not a part of their world. Being a neonazi is part of what reinforces their beliefs but their behavior is inherited from their parents and grandparents. But I agree with you, tactical lawsuits are bad too.
  - SideburnsOfDoom 6y ago
    > IMO, they're neither effective, nor dangerous; Are you disputing that 5 people died in the Capitol insurrection on January 6, or that it was caused by the far right? This is a clear example of "dangerous", is it not? These were the people that the GitHub employee was referring to as "Nazis", although not 100% literally: I'm sure that not all of them were actual Nazis, many were likely only Nazi sympathisers or other violent authoritarian fellow-travellers.
    - ryho 6y ago
      Four died of health problems, one was killed by the police, and one police officer was killed by the crowd. It’s only fair to say they killed one IMO. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/08/capitol-attack-police-officer-five-deaths https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/08/capitol-atta... At least 25 people were killed during the “peaceful” BLM protests this year. The article implies that 11 is a more accurate number. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/31/americans-killed-protests-political-unrest-acled https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/31/americans-kill... Both of these numbers are minuscule, on the order of people killed by vending machines and bath tubs. So they are dangerous in the sense that bathtubs are dangerous. https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2010/dec/07/things-likely-kill-than-shark https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2010/dec/07/things-l...
- SideburnsOfDoom 6y ago
  > Imagine going to Germany and warning that “neo confederates” So ... you're saying that there's no link, no one in 1940s Germany who could be described as a ""neo confederate" at the time? FYI: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/30/how-american-racism-influenced-hitler https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/30/how-american-r... https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/11/what-america-taught-the-nazis/540630/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/11/what-am... https://www.history.com/news/how-the-nazis-were-inspired-by-jim-crow https://www.history.com/news/how-the-nazis-were-inspired-by-... https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691172422/hitlers-american-model https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691172422/hi... https://time.com/4703586/nazis-america-race-law/ https://time.com/4703586/nazis-america-race-law/

21 points by kumarharsh 6y ago

I've been guilty of using this term somewhat frequently and have always wondered if it would actually get someone in trouble…now I know.

dekhn 6y ago
Put a little more carefully: somebody at a job used the term nazi in a situation where there were people doing things very close to what the nazis did, meant it in good faith about people being safe. A coworker reported them to HR, it went to the head of HR who fired the nazi-invoking individual. After an investigation, the HR head was fired and the individual wisely declined the employer's offer to return. This not a typical outcome.

zackees 6y ago

Imagine going to Germany and warning that “neo confederates” were planning on storming the capital. People actually think there is a nazi movement here in the united states. It’s one of the Big lies in our culture and media now. Sad.

h2odragon 6y ago
There is an actual, dedicated Nazi movement in the US. I don't know how many people there actually are involved in it, but it's dozens. Some of them are True Believers and crazy as saints, and some are just hucksters looking for a quick buck. IMO, they're neither effective, nor dangerous; the honest advocates of white supremacy and Nazi national socialism just show how flawed those ideas were and still are. The business of "monitoring nazis online" and fundraising on that effort, I strongly suspect, outweighs the actual Nazis by a factor of 10:1 or so.
- LinuxBender 6y ago
  I agree with most of that except the dangerous part. I know of some neo-nazi's that harm people physically and their community support it. They are in a rural part of Ohio. I am not part of their circle. I am not going to repeat here some of the things they do but I will say that it would not be allowed on sites like 4chan.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - h2odragon 6y ago
    Granted; however are they especially dangerous because they are neo-nazis, or because they are petty criminals? I'm far more concerned about the people that employ tactical lawsuits than those that discuss "tactical gear".
    - LinuxBender 6y ago
      These guys are extremely violent outlaws and lawsuits are not a part of their world. Being a neonazi is part of what reinforces their beliefs but their behavior is inherited from their parents and grandparents. But I agree with you, tactical lawsuits are bad too.
- SideburnsOfDoom 6y ago
  > IMO, they're neither effective, nor dangerous; Are you disputing that 5 people died in the Capitol insurrection on January 6, or that it was caused by the far right? This is a clear example of "dangerous", is it not? These were the people that the GitHub employee was referring to as "Nazis", although not 100% literally: I'm sure that not all of them were actual Nazis, many were likely only Nazi sympathisers or other violent authoritarian fellow-travellers.
  - ryho 6y ago
    Four died of health problems, one was killed by the police, and one police officer was killed by the crowd. It’s only fair to say they killed one IMO. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/08/capitol-attack-police-officer-five-deaths https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/08/capitol-atta... At least 25 people were killed during the “peaceful” BLM protests this year. The article implies that 11 is a more accurate number. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/31/americans-killed-protests-political-unrest-acled https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/31/americans-kill... Both of these numbers are minuscule, on the order of people killed by vending machines and bath tubs. So they are dangerous in the sense that bathtubs are dangerous. https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2010/dec/07/things-likely-kill-than-shark https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2010/dec/07/things-l...
SideburnsOfDoom 6y ago
> Imagine going to Germany and warning that “neo confederates” So ... you're saying that there's no link, no one in 1940s Germany who could be described as a ""neo confederate" at the time? FYI: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/30/how-american-racism-influenced-hitler https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/30/how-american-r... https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/11/what-america-taught-the-nazis/540630/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/11/what-am... https://www.history.com/news/how-the-nazis-were-inspired-by-jim-crow https://www.history.com/news/how-the-nazis-were-inspired-by-... https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691172422/hitlers-american-model https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691172422/hi... https://time.com/4703586/nazis-america-race-law/ https://time.com/4703586/nazis-america-race-law/