4 ms·

This isn't racism. This is bullying, using, amongst many other things, marginally racist remarks as a weapon. That kind of stuff is as much racism as tasteless

by rickmb 14y ago

This isn't racism. This is bullying, using, amongst many other things, marginally racist remarks as a weapon. That kind of stuff is as much racism as tasteless jokes about wife-beating constitute actual domestic violence. This is clearly a very disfunctional and unhealthy work environment, but with the aggressively paranoid reaction to it is equally unhealthy and most of all, fails to address the actual problem. After firing the "racists", this is likely to remain a toxic environment who's next "victim" could very well be a white heterosexual male who for some other reason forms an easy target.

MartinCron 14y ago
While I don't agree with your "this isn't real racism" premise, I agree that the dysfunctions probably run deeper than that. I'm reminded of Bob Sutton's great book "The No Asshole Rule". The actions outlined in the blog post are undeniably asshole behaviors, and shouldn't be tolerated in any civilized workplace, with our without the racial implications.
- 23david 14y ago
  Thanks for the reference to Bob Sutton. I hadn't heard of his book before, and after some research I dug up some great info and articles. http://bobsutton.typepad.com/my_weblog/the_no_asshole_rule/ http://bobsutton.typepad.com/my_weblog/the_no_asshole_rule/ http://blogs.hbr.org/sutton/2007/03/why_i_wrote_the_no_asshole_rule.html http://blogs.hbr.org/sutton/2007/03/why_i_wrote_the_no_assho... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-sutton/the-no-asshole-rule-part-_b_49678.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-sutton/the-no-asshole-r... The Kixeye CEO may have not intended to let things go this far, but from his remarks ( part 1: http://www.twitlonger.com/show/jgntgj http://www.twitlonger.com/show/jgntgj, part 2: http://www.twitlonger.com/show/jh72ja http://www.twitlonger.com/show/jh72ja ) he shows a stunning lack of empathy. One big red flag for me was how he doesn't say how he is planning to make amends with the black contractor and the black community. So it's pretty clear to me that Will Harbin is part of the problem here, and likely is an asshole himself. The company's investors and leaders should take this as a wake-up call and either demote or fire him. They won't reach their potential with 'asshole leadership' in place. A fish rots from the head down.
wonderzombie 14y ago
Sorry, no. This about as cut and dried as you get short of slurs (and there were slurs in the original piece, just not directed at the author). Actually, I'm not really sure if much beyond the most extreme forms of racism actually count, according to your definition. If racist language is not in itself a signifier of racism, then what the heck is? And at a minimum it ought to be a firing offense. Social censure is ostensibly better, but in an environment where someone defends their remarks with "whoa whoa whoa this isn't racism--- it's jokes!", censure has obviously failed. The day when white people are a persecuted minority is the day I'll line up right there with you. But we're not even close to that point, no matter how much white dudes like to think their rights (read: privilege) are under siege.
r00fus 14y ago
Most racism is an directed form of bullying. When the attacker feels weaker, the result is passive aggressive otherwise it's plain just aggression.

by rickmb 14y ago

MartinCron 14y ago

While I don't agree with your "this isn't real racism" premise, I agree that the dysfunctions probably run deeper than that. I'm reminded of Bob Sutton's great book "The No Asshole Rule". The actions outlined in the blog post are undeniably asshole behaviors, and shouldn't be tolerated in any civilized workplace, with our without the racial implications.

23david 14y ago
Thanks for the reference to Bob Sutton. I hadn't heard of his book before, and after some research I dug up some great info and articles. http://bobsutton.typepad.com/my_weblog/the_no_asshole_rule/ http://bobsutton.typepad.com/my_weblog/the_no_asshole_rule/ http://blogs.hbr.org/sutton/2007/03/why_i_wrote_the_no_asshole_rule.html http://blogs.hbr.org/sutton/2007/03/why_i_wrote_the_no_assho... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-sutton/the-no-asshole-rule-part-_b_49678.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-sutton/the-no-asshole-r... The Kixeye CEO may have not intended to let things go this far, but from his remarks ( part 1: http://www.twitlonger.com/show/jgntgj http://www.twitlonger.com/show/jgntgj, part 2: http://www.twitlonger.com/show/jh72ja http://www.twitlonger.com/show/jh72ja ) he shows a stunning lack of empathy. One big red flag for me was how he doesn't say how he is planning to make amends with the black contractor and the black community. So it's pretty clear to me that Will Harbin is part of the problem here, and likely is an asshole himself. The company's investors and leaders should take this as a wake-up call and either demote or fire him. They won't reach their potential with 'asshole leadership' in place. A fish rots from the head down.

wonderzombie 14y ago

Sorry, no. This about as cut and dried as you get short of slurs (and there were slurs in the original piece, just not directed at the author). Actually, I'm not really sure if much beyond the most extreme forms of racism actually count, according to your definition. If racist language is not in itself a signifier of racism, then what the heck is? And at a minimum it ought to be a firing offense. Social censure is ostensibly better, but in an environment where someone defends their remarks with "whoa whoa whoa this isn't racism--- it's jokes!", censure has obviously failed. The day when white people are a persecuted minority is the day I'll line up right there with you. But we're not even close to that point, no matter how much white dudes like to think their rights (read: privilege) are under siege.

r00fus 14y ago

Most racism is an directed form of bullying. When the attacker feels weaker, the result is passive aggressive otherwise it's plain just aggression.