4 ms·

White doesn't mean anything in Europe. It's very much an American concept that's only valid there. If you subdivide the "white" population in London by their cu

by m_a_g 2y ago

White doesn't mean anything in Europe. It's very much an American concept that's only valid there. If you subdivide the "white" population in London by their culture, you'll see what I mean. Of course, if you measure diversity by the color of people's skin, then that's different. Otherwise, London might be the most diverse city on Earth, sharing the number one spot with New York.

lwansbrough 2y ago
Americans struggle deeply with their axiom of whiteness. Whiteness in America comes from the unification of caucasians from broad cultural and economic backgrounds against the black slaves that were being raped, tortured and dehumanized systematically over generations. And instead of rectifying the problem by dismantling the concept of whiteness (because it reenforces the power of racial division & hierarchy), it gets promoted as truth and vilified in the name of equality. From an outside perspective, even as close as Canada, this appears regressive. As for the choice to highlight black and brown people in this project that others in the GP are complaining about.. maybe they’re under represented in these fields in the UK and the government wants to fix that? I have to say if you get upset about minorities being over-represented you need to find a better use of your limited time on Earth.
- wizzwizz4 2y ago
  > maybe they’re under represented in these fields in the UK and the government wants to fix that? Or maybe they're not, and this is a representative sample? Academics move around a lot: seemingly half the faculty at my local university are immigrants, and a good chunk of the graduates become emigrants. You might be right, but I get unreasonably annoyed when people insist that the existence of women or members of minority groups must be a diversity initiative. The mere existence of people is not a political statement.
  - lwansbrough 2y ago
    Fair point, that was indeed a biased assumption. Cheers.
- pvaldes 2y ago
  > As for the choice to highlight black and brown people in this project that others in the GP are complaining about.. maybe they’re under represented in these fields in the UK and the government wants to fix that? This is not the real problem here. Black scientists are perfectly okay.

by m_a_g 2y ago

lwansbrough 2y ago

Americans struggle deeply with their axiom of whiteness. Whiteness in America comes from the unification of caucasians from broad cultural and economic backgrounds against the black slaves that were being raped, tortured and dehumanized systematically over generations. And instead of rectifying the problem by dismantling the concept of whiteness (because it reenforces the power of racial division & hierarchy), it gets promoted as truth and vilified in the name of equality. From an outside perspective, even as close as Canada, this appears regressive. As for the choice to highlight black and brown people in this project that others in the GP are complaining about.. maybe they’re under represented in these fields in the UK and the government wants to fix that? I have to say if you get upset about minorities being over-represented you need to find a better use of your limited time on Earth.

wizzwizz4 2y ago
> maybe they’re under represented in these fields in the UK and the government wants to fix that? Or maybe they're not, and this is a representative sample? Academics move around a lot: seemingly half the faculty at my local university are immigrants, and a good chunk of the graduates become emigrants. You might be right, but I get unreasonably annoyed when people insist that the existence of women or members of minority groups must be a diversity initiative. The mere existence of people is not a political statement.
- lwansbrough 2y ago
  Fair point, that was indeed a biased assumption. Cheers.
pvaldes 2y ago
> As for the choice to highlight black and brown people in this project that others in the GP are complaining about.. maybe they’re under represented in these fields in the UK and the government wants to fix that? This is not the real problem here. Black scientists are perfectly okay.