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Ridiculous and juvenile corporate culture aside, the irony of the author's narrative is slapping the reader right in the face. Hard. So hard it hurts. If you a

Ridiculous and juvenile corporate culture aside, the irony of the author's narrative is slapping the reader right in the face. Hard. So hard it hurts. If you are going to take exception to racist, sexist and stereotypical joking - which is most certainly your right in a professional work environment, you may want to re-evaluate your own notions of "the evil white oppressor" and recognize it for the racism that it is. I wish I could take this tale at face value, but the author is clearly looking for oppression whether it exists or not. I'm not sure at this point one could expect that this telling is even remotely close to accurate.

MartinCron 14y ago
clearly looking for oppression whether it exists or not Is there an explanation for the events in the story that aren't clear examples of oppression? I can't find one.
- run4yourlives 14y ago
  The big assumption is that things happened exactly as they are being presented. While I normally don't think a particular view would be that far from reality, in this case the author's clear bias - to the point of railing against a woman that made the cardinal sin of comparing his necklace to a calculator somehow equating to racism - I'm not so sure.
- dmorgan 14y ago
  >Is there an explanation for the events in the story that aren't clear examples of oppression? I can't find one. Really? How about some guys talking BS and making irreverent jokes? You keep using this word "oppression". I don't think it means what you think it means.
  - MartinCron 14y ago
    I think the word "oppression" perfectly applies to multiple unwelcome instances of strong verbal abuse coming from someone in a privileged class directed at someone in a non-privileged class. If there's a better word, I haven't found it yet. Even if we take the most charitable interpretation possible, that this wasn't anything more than "talking BS" and "irreverent jokes" and that the person making jokes was just clueless and not trying to be deliberately hurtful, that still doesn't make this kind of behavior OK. Ignorance of common decency is no excuse not to be decent.
    - dmorgan 14y ago
      >I think the word "oppression" perfectly applies to multiple unwelcome instances of strong verbal abuse coming from someone in a privileged class directed at someone in a non-privileged class. If there's a better word, I haven't found it yet. Are white people supposed to be privileged in a company and black people non-privileged? Was he denied changes to get a promotion, or had he to make do with less wage? What was his "under-privileged" status? If two white guys, say an Irish and a Southern, exchange Irish and Redneck jokes at one another, does that count as "verbal abuse" too? Or is it only verbal abuse when they turn and address similar stuff to a black co-worker?
      - MartinCron 14y ago
        Are you seriously asking these questions? Do you realize that you're coming across as defending deplorable behavior? Do you care? Would you say these sorts of things to the author's face? There's a large sea of historical context that we're all swimming in. You can pretend it doesn't exist and make your cute little conjectures about Irish and Redneck jokes.
        dmorgan 14y ago
        >Are you seriously asking these questions? Do you realize that you're coming across as defending deplorable behavior? Do you care? Would you say these sorts of things to the author's face? I sure would. He comes off as a judgemental, reverse-racist (I lost count of the "anti-white-in-general" references), and unable to take a joke guy with an axe to grind. I care far more for actual cases of racism, like an over-representation of the black population being in prison, or the government (and the country) pissing all over native american rights, that for some guy crying over some jokes said in his office without any links to actual facts of racism (like, I was paid less because I was black, I was not promoted because I was black, etc). >There's a large sea of historical context that we're all swimming in. You can pretend it doesn't exist and make your cute little conjectures about Irish and Redneck jokes. YOU might be swimming in. This is the internet, it's global. My country didn't trade in black slaves, so I could care less for that hypocritical "after the fact" guilt.

MartinCron 14y ago

clearly looking for oppression whether it exists or not Is there an explanation for the events in the story that aren't clear examples of oppression? I can't find one.

run4yourlives 14y ago
The big assumption is that things happened exactly as they are being presented. While I normally don't think a particular view would be that far from reality, in this case the author's clear bias - to the point of railing against a woman that made the cardinal sin of comparing his necklace to a calculator somehow equating to racism - I'm not so sure.
dmorgan 14y ago
>Is there an explanation for the events in the story that aren't clear examples of oppression? I can't find one. Really? How about some guys talking BS and making irreverent jokes? You keep using this word "oppression". I don't think it means what you think it means.
- MartinCron 14y ago
  I think the word "oppression" perfectly applies to multiple unwelcome instances of strong verbal abuse coming from someone in a privileged class directed at someone in a non-privileged class. If there's a better word, I haven't found it yet. Even if we take the most charitable interpretation possible, that this wasn't anything more than "talking BS" and "irreverent jokes" and that the person making jokes was just clueless and not trying to be deliberately hurtful, that still doesn't make this kind of behavior OK. Ignorance of common decency is no excuse not to be decent.
  - dmorgan 14y ago
    >I think the word "oppression" perfectly applies to multiple unwelcome instances of strong verbal abuse coming from someone in a privileged class directed at someone in a non-privileged class. If there's a better word, I haven't found it yet. Are white people supposed to be privileged in a company and black people non-privileged? Was he denied changes to get a promotion, or had he to make do with less wage? What was his "under-privileged" status? If two white guys, say an Irish and a Southern, exchange Irish and Redneck jokes at one another, does that count as "verbal abuse" too? Or is it only verbal abuse when they turn and address similar stuff to a black co-worker?
    - MartinCron 14y ago
      Are you seriously asking these questions? Do you realize that you're coming across as defending deplorable behavior? Do you care? Would you say these sorts of things to the author's face? There's a large sea of historical context that we're all swimming in. You can pretend it doesn't exist and make your cute little conjectures about Irish and Redneck jokes.
      - dmorgan 14y ago
        >Are you seriously asking these questions? Do you realize that you're coming across as defending deplorable behavior? Do you care? Would you say these sorts of things to the author's face? I sure would. He comes off as a judgemental, reverse-racist (I lost count of the "anti-white-in-general" references), and unable to take a joke guy with an axe to grind. I care far more for actual cases of racism, like an over-representation of the black population being in prison, or the government (and the country) pissing all over native american rights, that for some guy crying over some jokes said in his office without any links to actual facts of racism (like, I was paid less because I was black, I was not promoted because I was black, etc). >There's a large sea of historical context that we're all swimming in. You can pretend it doesn't exist and make your cute little conjectures about Irish and Redneck jokes. YOU might be swimming in. This is the internet, it's global. My country didn't trade in black slaves, so I could care less for that hypocritical "after the fact" guilt.