8 ms·

The Diversity agenda of the past 20+ years has created more racism and division than I witnessed in my entire life before then. I have come to conclude that it

The Diversity agenda of the past 20+ years has created more racism and division than I witnessed in my entire life before then. I have come to conclude that it's one of the most misguided movements in modern history. We were making progress (seemingly too slow, I know) by applying Dr. King's prescription for Color Blindness. But, that concept has been rejected (though his name is still used in honor); and sure enough, we've slid horribly backwards.

at_a_remove 5y ago
Now, your race and sex matter more than ever. But consider all of the little slights of hand performed. I recall the unhappy Tweets from feminists when women were considered for the draft, mostly around the theme of "this isn't the equality I wanted." Equality is the whole package, it isn't a pick and choose. It isn't "only the good stuff." And then the shift has been to equity now. You have probably noticed this.
- eplanit 5y ago
  Yes. And, for women the insanity is mind-blowing. Now, being a "woman" is a state of mind and simply a matter of choice -- i.e. it's a meaningless "construct". We spent decades _rightfully_ learning to recognize and respect our differences, in terms of recognizing equal rights. But now, boom that's just bullshit, I guess. But, that's me who's amazed by this. I'd be more interested in the the opinion of women (biological females) on this recent phenomenon.
  - horrified 5y ago
    Funny how feminism often ends up removing female privileges.
enkid 5y ago
MLK was against what people today call colorblindness. Just because he said he wanted people to not judge his children by the color of their skin does not mean he didn't recognize that modern society does and will continue to do so, so we need to put in place compensating measures. Using a dead person's words in the exact opposite way they were intended is bad. https://www.forbes.com/sites/colinseale/2020/01/20/mlks-i-have-a-dream-speech-and-rejecting-colorblindness-for-todays-children/?sh=52e380ad2708 https://www.forbes.com/sites/colinseale/2020/01/20/mlks-i-ha...
- BitwiseFool 5y ago
  "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character," People can be forgiven for thinking this quote by MLK Jr. advocates colorblindness because that's exactly what it seems to say. It is only when you apply a scholarly interpretation do you arrive at his words being used "in the exact opposite way they were intended". This strikes me of "Yes, well it says 'Defund the Police' but what it actually means is.."
  - stickyricky 5y ago
    Appending on to what BitwiseFool said. There is "Martin Luther King Jr." the person and "Martin Luther King Jr." the public figure (or the icon, or the philosophy, or the doctrine, or the movement). MLK could have thought any number of great or terrible things. In some contexts it can be highly appropriate to mention them. In my opinion, when someone mentions MLK in the context of the "I have a dream" speech, its clear to me that the personhood of MLK or his beliefs are really not up for discussion. MLK is a piece of iconography, a historical reference point, for the color-blind, racially-neutral position. Any discussion of MLK's beliefs distract from the point being made and ultimately does not change minds.
    - enkid 5y ago
      And positions that are contrary to what MLK believed shouldn't be advocated by calling on his status as a public figure. Just because people are ignorant doesn't mean they get to say whatever they want. I don't see how this is even being discussed.
      - sieabah 5y ago
        > I don't see how this is even being discussed. It's because people disagree with your assumption that you are completely correct, but I know you're already not here to discuss but to "fact-check". There are reasons why specific pieces of history stick out and resonate. His "I have a dream" speech is what I remembered most because that is what ultimately, I believe, actually played a role in truly removing a lot of pervasive racism and discrimination that used to exist. It certainly helped me from a young age really have a worldview that people are who they advertise themselves as, not by the visual identity I associate them with. It's never been an issue until people like you popped up out of nowhere saying I'm the most racist person alive because I don't treat people differently because of their race.
systemvoltage 5y ago
I am frankly tired of this as a person of color. I work in Silicon Valley and constantly being hassled by HR/PR/Marketing teams to pose as their diversity pawn. Yes, I have a picture of me taken (company owns the rights) to put me at the fore front of their marketing materials.
- Impossible 5y ago
  You can always say no to this. I've seen recruiters do this other places and people got their pictures taken down after the fact.
  - systemvoltage 5y ago
    At the time, it was not so easy to say no (when we had racial tensions in June last year). I'll try reaching out.
- nanis 5y ago
  I don't envy you ... Funny thing is, when I was in academia, I was always annoyed by being passed over in the "token Muslim" photo shoots because I did not fit white liberals' stereotypes of Muslims :-)
president 5y ago
Regardless of what anything thinks about it, it's here to stay as the diversity industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. The people leading this movement have amassed lots of power over corporations and government. EDIT: Downvoted for speaking facts. Amazing this site.
- version_five 5y ago
  I would add that it feeds nicely into the "outrage industry" that is an offshoot of the attention economy. There is a lot of money (power as well) in dividing and enraging people. As long as current ad revenue models (and yes, the associated algorithmic escalation of outrage) persist, I don't see this improving.
- bilvar 5y ago
  No idea as well why you’re getting downvoted. I work in a big tech company where some employees’ sole role of existence is pushing diversity & inclusion and preach wokeness, with the blessings of HR of course.
- adventured 5y ago
  It's precisely why big corporations jumped on the woke bandwagon so eagerly over the past few years. They walk around constantly virtue-signal-flogging themselves these days, it's despicable. Coca Cola is an evil company that - in my opinion - has knowingly killed hundreds of thousands of people with its product, by way of health consequences. They're every bit as vile as the tobacco companies, and they've operated in a very similar manner over time. Yet somehow they've become a poster child for woke'ism in corporate America. How is that possible? They certainly do not care about the well-being of people. They see a power angle in taking advantage of it, there is something for them to gain by acting as a parasite riding on cultural trends. Giant corporations like that don't do anything for any other reasons, power and profit.
  - version_five 5y ago
    I read an article that I cant find now about the irony of "evil" organizations - the example they gave was intelligence agencies - going out of their way to be "gay friendly" or some similar pandering to make people feel good. As if it's ok that you're illegally wiretapping and torturing or whatever, because of your commitment to diversity. I'd also add that it seems that many of the most zealous virtue signaling orgs are monopolies / oligopolies that don't have a lot of real business needs to focus on. Check out the Canadian banks for an example. I feel like there's some animal kingdom example I'm not remembering about large antlers or something that signal fitness because only a strong, well fed reindeer could expend the energy growing them. You get the idea. And it ends up having the evolutionary advantages that it crowds out those who are struggling to make ends meet and can't grow the big antlers, and eventually we're left with some ridiculous relics that can barely lift their heads.
kenjackson 5y ago
“The Diversity agenda of the past 20+ years has created more racism and division than I witnessed in my entire life before then.” This could only be said from someone in a group that benefitted from the racism of the past. Edit: Love the downvotes, but not unexpected given the demographic.
- alphabettsy 5y ago
  It’s nearly impossible to have a discussion about race here, and the most popular articles always seem to have the same point of view.
AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
> The Diversity agenda of the past 20+ years has created more racism and division than I witnessed in my entire life before then I am forced to wonder if this isn't precisely because the "diversity agenda" has simply called attention to something already lurking in the background. In other words, it's not that there is more racism and division than there used to be, only that you're more aware of it now.
- kenjackson 5y ago
  This. There is way less racism now than their used to be. At the same time we have more awareness of the issues. The only people I know who are really bothered by this are those who liked the old world where people knew their place.
- stickyricky 5y ago
  I don't think the "diversity agenda" has contributed to awareness. Awareness of the problem probably comes from the internet and the democratization of media. People couldn't watch Rodney King on YouTube. Now they can and thousands of other similar incidents. No amount of racial sensitivity trainings could ever amount to watching a single YouTube video of an unarmed black man being shot by the police.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - horrified 5y ago
    Somehow there is little reaction when white people are being shot, though (or killed in general, like the white guy who died in the same way as Georg Floyd sometime before). I think there is more to it than just accessibility.
- horrified 5y ago
  I don't think that is the case, unless you want to claim black people have always been this racist. I can say that for me it makes dealing with black people more difficult, because I have to be more on guard. I have to assume they have an increased probability of having been indoctrinated by BLM or CRT and are therefore resentful against me. No doubt this will give me downvotes (and spare me the "after zillions of years of slavery, they are in their rights to feel that way yadda yadda"), but I am just telling it honestly as it is. There is a push to prefer "black owned businesses", for example, so how should I not feel that a black person is less likely to want to do business with me than before? I assume other white people feel the same - which in turn might lead to more actual discrimination when white people prefer to not deal with black people because of the aforementioned issue.
guyzero 5y ago
"The Diversity agenda of the past 20+ years has created more racism and division than I witnessed in my entire life before then." Are your children being taken from you, forced to speak a different language in a state-mandated school where they're underfed and not given medical treatment, leading to high death rates from preventable diseases? Or do you just love pretending being persecuted?
- ryan93 5y ago
  Are you taking about Canada?
  - adventured 5y ago
    They might be talking about the Muslim cultural eradication program going on in Denmark, the description fits.
- defen 5y ago
  I'm struggling to understand your point - is it that so long as that's not happening, people aren't allowed to complain?
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
tossmeaway12345 5y ago
The racism and division was being intentionally enflamed the past few years. Muslims being banned from the US (until the courts shot it down). Anti-immigrant rhetoric. "Build the wall." "When the looting starts, the shooting starts." It's easy to have a short memory nowadays, but you're taking something that's local temporally and acting like it was always this way.
- jwond 5y ago
  Why not mention the Biden administration attempting to distribute COVID relief money based on race? https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/joe-bidens-covid-debt-relief-for-farms-doesnt-apply-to-white-farmers-thats-wrong/ar-AAKOiiW https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/joe-bidens-covid-debt-reli...
  - traloid 5y ago
    This wouldnt be even legally possible in vast majority of western countries. Americans are weird.
ericmcer 5y ago
It has just become a very combative and partisan issue. Take the statement "women make 70% of what men do". This statement has been thoroughly debunked, but if someone made that statement and you challenged it, even with something reasonable like: "There is a gap but it is not that large", you would be risking ostracization by longtime friends, loss of career, etc. Are we supposed to feel like we are making forward progress when objecting to bad statistics, or any reasonable discussion around certain issues will result in an insanely hostile response?

at_a_remove 5y ago

Now, your race and sex matter more than ever. But consider all of the little slights of hand performed. I recall the unhappy Tweets from feminists when women were considered for the draft, mostly around the theme of "this isn't the equality I wanted." Equality is the whole package, it isn't a pick and choose. It isn't "only the good stuff." And then the shift has been to equity now. You have probably noticed this.

eplanit 5y ago
Yes. And, for women the insanity is mind-blowing. Now, being a "woman" is a state of mind and simply a matter of choice -- i.e. it's a meaningless "construct". We spent decades _rightfully_ learning to recognize and respect our differences, in terms of recognizing equal rights. But now, boom that's just bullshit, I guess. But, that's me who's amazed by this. I'd be more interested in the the opinion of women (biological females) on this recent phenomenon.
- horrified 5y ago
  Funny how feminism often ends up removing female privileges.

enkid 5y ago

MLK was against what people today call colorblindness. Just because he said he wanted people to not judge his children by the color of their skin does not mean he didn't recognize that modern society does and will continue to do so, so we need to put in place compensating measures. Using a dead person's words in the exact opposite way they were intended is bad. https://www.forbes.com/sites/colinseale/2020/01/20/mlks-i-have-a-dream-speech-and-rejecting-colorblindness-for-todays-children/?sh=52e380ad2708 https://www.forbes.com/sites/colinseale/2020/01/20/mlks-i-ha...

BitwiseFool 5y ago
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character," People can be forgiven for thinking this quote by MLK Jr. advocates colorblindness because that's exactly what it seems to say. It is only when you apply a scholarly interpretation do you arrive at his words being used "in the exact opposite way they were intended". This strikes me of "Yes, well it says 'Defund the Police' but what it actually means is.."
- stickyricky 5y ago
  Appending on to what BitwiseFool said. There is "Martin Luther King Jr." the person and "Martin Luther King Jr." the public figure (or the icon, or the philosophy, or the doctrine, or the movement). MLK could have thought any number of great or terrible things. In some contexts it can be highly appropriate to mention them. In my opinion, when someone mentions MLK in the context of the "I have a dream" speech, its clear to me that the personhood of MLK or his beliefs are really not up for discussion. MLK is a piece of iconography, a historical reference point, for the color-blind, racially-neutral position. Any discussion of MLK's beliefs distract from the point being made and ultimately does not change minds.
  - enkid 5y ago
    And positions that are contrary to what MLK believed shouldn't be advocated by calling on his status as a public figure. Just because people are ignorant doesn't mean they get to say whatever they want. I don't see how this is even being discussed.
    - sieabah 5y ago
      > I don't see how this is even being discussed. It's because people disagree with your assumption that you are completely correct, but I know you're already not here to discuss but to "fact-check". There are reasons why specific pieces of history stick out and resonate. His "I have a dream" speech is what I remembered most because that is what ultimately, I believe, actually played a role in truly removing a lot of pervasive racism and discrimination that used to exist. It certainly helped me from a young age really have a worldview that people are who they advertise themselves as, not by the visual identity I associate them with. It's never been an issue until people like you popped up out of nowhere saying I'm the most racist person alive because I don't treat people differently because of their race.

systemvoltage 5y ago

I am frankly tired of this as a person of color. I work in Silicon Valley and constantly being hassled by HR/PR/Marketing teams to pose as their diversity pawn. Yes, I have a picture of me taken (company owns the rights) to put me at the fore front of their marketing materials.

Impossible 5y ago
You can always say no to this. I've seen recruiters do this other places and people got their pictures taken down after the fact.
- systemvoltage 5y ago
  At the time, it was not so easy to say no (when we had racial tensions in June last year). I'll try reaching out.
nanis 5y ago
I don't envy you ... Funny thing is, when I was in academia, I was always annoyed by being passed over in the "token Muslim" photo shoots because I did not fit white liberals' stereotypes of Muslims :-)

president 5y ago

Regardless of what anything thinks about it, it's here to stay as the diversity industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. The people leading this movement have amassed lots of power over corporations and government. EDIT: Downvoted for speaking facts. Amazing this site.

version_five 5y ago
I would add that it feeds nicely into the "outrage industry" that is an offshoot of the attention economy. There is a lot of money (power as well) in dividing and enraging people. As long as current ad revenue models (and yes, the associated algorithmic escalation of outrage) persist, I don't see this improving.
bilvar 5y ago
No idea as well why you’re getting downvoted. I work in a big tech company where some employees’ sole role of existence is pushing diversity & inclusion and preach wokeness, with the blessings of HR of course.
adventured 5y ago
It's precisely why big corporations jumped on the woke bandwagon so eagerly over the past few years. They walk around constantly virtue-signal-flogging themselves these days, it's despicable. Coca Cola is an evil company that - in my opinion - has knowingly killed hundreds of thousands of people with its product, by way of health consequences. They're every bit as vile as the tobacco companies, and they've operated in a very similar manner over time. Yet somehow they've become a poster child for woke'ism in corporate America. How is that possible? They certainly do not care about the well-being of people. They see a power angle in taking advantage of it, there is something for them to gain by acting as a parasite riding on cultural trends. Giant corporations like that don't do anything for any other reasons, power and profit.
- version_five 5y ago
  I read an article that I cant find now about the irony of "evil" organizations - the example they gave was intelligence agencies - going out of their way to be "gay friendly" or some similar pandering to make people feel good. As if it's ok that you're illegally wiretapping and torturing or whatever, because of your commitment to diversity. I'd also add that it seems that many of the most zealous virtue signaling orgs are monopolies / oligopolies that don't have a lot of real business needs to focus on. Check out the Canadian banks for an example. I feel like there's some animal kingdom example I'm not remembering about large antlers or something that signal fitness because only a strong, well fed reindeer could expend the energy growing them. You get the idea. And it ends up having the evolutionary advantages that it crowds out those who are struggling to make ends meet and can't grow the big antlers, and eventually we're left with some ridiculous relics that can barely lift their heads.

kenjackson 5y ago

“The Diversity agenda of the past 20+ years has created more racism and division than I witnessed in my entire life before then.” This could only be said from someone in a group that benefitted from the racism of the past. Edit: Love the downvotes, but not unexpected given the demographic.

alphabettsy 5y ago
It’s nearly impossible to have a discussion about race here, and the most popular articles always seem to have the same point of view.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago

> The Diversity agenda of the past 20+ years has created more racism and division than I witnessed in my entire life before then I am forced to wonder if this isn't precisely because the "diversity agenda" has simply called attention to something already lurking in the background. In other words, it's not that there is more racism and division than there used to be, only that you're more aware of it now.

kenjackson 5y ago
This. There is way less racism now than their used to be. At the same time we have more awareness of the issues. The only people I know who are really bothered by this are those who liked the old world where people knew their place.
stickyricky 5y ago
I don't think the "diversity agenda" has contributed to awareness. Awareness of the problem probably comes from the internet and the democratization of media. People couldn't watch Rodney King on YouTube. Now they can and thousands of other similar incidents. No amount of racial sensitivity trainings could ever amount to watching a single YouTube video of an unarmed black man being shot by the police.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- horrified 5y ago
  Somehow there is little reaction when white people are being shot, though (or killed in general, like the white guy who died in the same way as Georg Floyd sometime before). I think there is more to it than just accessibility.
horrified 5y ago
I don't think that is the case, unless you want to claim black people have always been this racist. I can say that for me it makes dealing with black people more difficult, because I have to be more on guard. I have to assume they have an increased probability of having been indoctrinated by BLM or CRT and are therefore resentful against me. No doubt this will give me downvotes (and spare me the "after zillions of years of slavery, they are in their rights to feel that way yadda yadda"), but I am just telling it honestly as it is. There is a push to prefer "black owned businesses", for example, so how should I not feel that a black person is less likely to want to do business with me than before? I assume other white people feel the same - which in turn might lead to more actual discrimination when white people prefer to not deal with black people because of the aforementioned issue.

guyzero 5y ago

"The Diversity agenda of the past 20+ years has created more racism and division than I witnessed in my entire life before then." Are your children being taken from you, forced to speak a different language in a state-mandated school where they're underfed and not given medical treatment, leading to high death rates from preventable diseases? Or do you just love pretending being persecuted?

ryan93 5y ago
Are you taking about Canada?
- adventured 5y ago
  They might be talking about the Muslim cultural eradication program going on in Denmark, the description fits.
defen 5y ago
I'm struggling to understand your point - is it that so long as that's not happening, people aren't allowed to complain?
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

tossmeaway12345 5y ago

The racism and division was being intentionally enflamed the past few years. Muslims being banned from the US (until the courts shot it down). Anti-immigrant rhetoric. "Build the wall." "When the looting starts, the shooting starts." It's easy to have a short memory nowadays, but you're taking something that's local temporally and acting like it was always this way.

jwond 5y ago
Why not mention the Biden administration attempting to distribute COVID relief money based on race? https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/joe-bidens-covid-debt-relief-for-farms-doesnt-apply-to-white-farmers-thats-wrong/ar-AAKOiiW https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/joe-bidens-covid-debt-reli...
- traloid 5y ago
  This wouldnt be even legally possible in vast majority of western countries. Americans are weird.

ericmcer 5y ago

It has just become a very combative and partisan issue. Take the statement "women make 70% of what men do". This statement has been thoroughly debunked, but if someone made that statement and you challenged it, even with something reasonable like: "There is a gap but it is not that large", you would be risking ostracization by longtime friends, loss of career, etc. Are we supposed to feel like we are making forward progress when objecting to bad statistics, or any reasonable discussion around certain issues will result in an insanely hostile response?