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So, I'll start off by saying - I work at google, in cloud, but not for this person, I don't know anything about him, and this is my own opinion. I think if som
by mattzito 5y ago
So, I'll start off by saying - I work at google, in cloud, but not for this person, I don't know anything about him, and this is my own opinion.
I think if someone had asked him at an all hands for his position on the israel palestine conflict, and he said something like:
"I grew up in a strict Egyptian Muslim household, indoctrinated to hate Israel and Jews, and it wasn't until I was exposed to jewish people and became friends with them that I realized how toxic those ideas were, and I regret that I ever held those ideas and no longer do. And now I hope that everyone on both sides of that conflict can have the same realizations that I did, and realize that we are all human and just want to live in peace"
I don't think it would have been an issue, or at least not to this degree. It's possible to acknowledge a past flaw, talk about how you've taken steps to address, and move on in a productive way. But that's not what he did.
If you read the entire LinkedIn post, it's pretty cringey. It starts off going deep into how much he hated Jews, then talks about how long it took him to not hate Jews, then he takes a sharp right turn to point out that because he is .1% Ashkenazi according to 23andme, he's technically also Jewish, so isn't this whole thing just an idea? Aren't these political and cultural boundaries just ridiculous ideas we need to get past? Then he takes a swing at Zionism that I don't quite follow, and he wraps things up.
First off, no one asked him to share his thoughts on the subject. Second, it's easy to find someone attempting to co-opt your identity via a saliva DNA test offensive. Third, by trying to talk about how made-up these groups and identities are, it can come across as erasing them. Fourth, and finally, his political views on solving the Israel-Palestine conflict have nothing to do with his previous beliefs.
Again, if he stuck to what he used to believe, and how he sees that's wrong, that's less controversial. But he uses it as a springboard to offer up a grand unified theory of racial identity which, again, no one asked him for his ideas and solutions to this extremely complex problem.
Then, from the article, apparently he continued to espouse these views in public, defending them, referencing his .1% jewish heritage as a defense.
But setting aside all of the exact specifics - if you're a VP at any large company, you should know this is not acceptable. You have to be able to read the room, you have to listen to feedback, and you have to know how to communicate with others. You have to be able to build trust and rapport with your team, it's not about being "right". If he was unable to do that, as it seems like was the case, then he's not a good fit.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- xrd 5y agoThank you for posting this. I learned a lot. You've added a lot of context that wasn't there for me before.
- flockonus 5y agoPerfect quote paragraph you have there, it would have been ideal indeed. However i agree he's not there yet, but trying to make the transition in public, while boosting his ego = recipe for disaster. Another way i was thinking about it, is someone on such a high position can't be such a dummy, therefore he might have unconsciously chose to spend some of his accumulated status/power to stoke some awareness to some factor that he believes it should be more spread; and managed to do a terrible job a communication whatever was his thorn.
- passivate 5y agoI didn't see it that way at all. Maybe because my home country has border issues and we've dealt with otherization from a young age. Certainly, nothing like the conflict he refers to, but I guess I have some personal context. I see someone who was genuinely baffled at the thought that there are good people of a particular ethnicity, when he was brainwashed completely to the opposite. The point about the 0.1% DNA is actually quite interesting. years back, I remember this white supremacist on oprah undergoing a DNA test and learning he had some black ancestors. It was a crazy moment where they realized that they were hating a part of their own identity - no matter how small it was. IMHO, most of the so called "manifesto" - can't we just call it a blog? - is milquetoast feel-good kumbayah stuff that has been said uncontroversially by other authors for decades. As an aside, I think telling someone "nobody asked you for your opinion" is pretty rude. I don't think its constructive to put limits on people's freedom of personal expression in that way. It was a personal message/blog that they felt like getting off their chest. Google firing him just for this (if that is the case, I guess we don't know for sure) is absurd IMO. My sense is that it became a PR issue and Google just got rid of him rather than actually fostering a place where differing opinions are welcomed. This cancel culture is getting crazy.