10 ms·

> The racism and the provocations were always there Were they? Can you cite an example? Because I also grew up with Dilbert, and I was never aware of it.

by lisper 9mo ago

cosmicgadget 9mo ago
Dilbert May 2, 2022 is provocative.
- lisper 9mo ago
  Can't argue with that, but Dilbert first appeared in 1989, and Adams publicly jumped the shark in February 2023. So May 2022 is hardly "always there".
  - cosmicgadget 9mo ago
    I think you are right on the "wasn't always there" front, though perhaps the commenter making the claim has some early work in mind. Personally, the Reddit AMAs (including sock puppets) were a pre-2023 indicator of his enKanyefication. Endorsing Donald Trump (who encompasses the stupidity and lack of self-awareness of the Dilbert antagonists) was another, though this may have been driven by a need for money/relevance.
- nobody_r_knows 9mo ago
  What was it?
  - cosmicgadget 9mo ago
    https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=The+One+joke https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=The+One+joke
  - criddell 9mo ago
    https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2022/05/03/dilbert-presents-black-character-gets-dragged/ https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2022/05/03/dilbert...
    - stickfigure 9mo ago
      Provocative, yes. Can someone ELI5 for me why this is racist? I read it as mostly anti-trans (or at the very least, anti-"you pick your pronouns").
      - ndsipa_pomu 9mo ago
        The new hire appears to have been hired just purely because of the colour of his skin - apparently because of a diversity initiative. That strikes me as racist because it implies that they've never hired any non-white engineers due to their performance without addressing the inherent bias in the system that would only hire white engineers even when more qualified engineers of different ethnic backgrounds are available. There's also the dig at people who wish to be known by certain pronouns/titles/names (e.g. "Ted" Cruz)
        terminalshort 9mo ago
        Typical DEI bullshit. They claim that DEI is critical to hire minorities, but then if you claim any one person was hired because of that policy the call you racist.
        stickfigure 9mo ago
        > The new hire appears to have been hired just purely because of the colour of his skin It's explicitly stated. But isn't that the whole Dilbert schtick? The PHB is not supposed to be good. He represents the stupid side of Corporate America. And then when the black guy says "I identify as white", Corporate America doubles down on the stupidity. "implies they've never hired..." seems to be reading an awful lot into it.
        ndsipa_pomu 9mo ago
        > "implies they've never hired..." seems to be reading an awful lot into it. I believe that that was the first coloured person in the whole Dilbert strips, though I haven't checked that. I was a fan of Dilbert many years ago, but I suspect that if I re-read them that I'd be thinking of Scott Adams' later politics and looking for early signs. There's probably a lot of suspect cartoons that featured the Elbonians.
- culi 9mo ago
  Didn't he get dropped a year after that? The quote "the best advice I would give to white people is to get the hell away from black people, just get the f*k away... because there is no fixing this" happened in 2023.
- tbrownaw 9mo ago
  Huh. I would have thought something like that would be in response to Rachel Dolezal, but the Wikipedia page for "Transracial (identity)" says her fifteen minutes of fame was way back in 2015.
rchaud 9mo ago
It's in Chapter 1 of his autobiography. He used to work at a bank in the 80s, and was turned down for a managerial or executive position (can't remember) which went to an Asian candidate. He was certain it was due to DEI (in the 80s!) and quit the corporate world to become a cartoonist. The strip that got him dropped in 2022 featured a black character (first in the history of the cartoon) who "identifies as white".
- sanity 9mo ago
  > He was certain it was due to DEI He was told explicitly by his boss that they weren't promoting white men. > The strip that got him dropped in 2022 featured a black character (first in the history of the cartoon) who "identifies as white". That wasn't what got him dropped, he did an interview with Chris Cuomo where he explained what actually happened and why: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_bv1jfYYu4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_bv1jfYYu4
  - wedog6 9mo ago
    Both of these rebuttals seem they rely on taking Adams' word for it?
    - sanity 9mo ago
      If we’re talking about what he believes, I’m not sure how else you’d determine that besides listening to what he’s said.
      - benjiro 9mo ago
        The problem is that people are horrible narrators about their own issues/past. They like to leave out critical information. The idea of a company in the 80's going around that they are promoting Asians to positions over white people, sounds as far fetched as finding oil in my backyard. The reverse is way more likely in that time periode. More then likely, he was not qualified for the job. But people often have a hard time accepting this, and feel entitled for position. Often by virtue of working somewhere longer. When passed over for promotion, then they create narratives its not themselves who is the issue, but it must be somebody else their fault. So when you 20, 30, 40 years later tell the story, are you going to say "well, i was not qualified" or are you going to double down that you got passed over for a promotion, because "somebody had it out for me", or as "DEI hire" as that was the trending topic in conservative circles. What is a little lie to make yourself feel better, and have the world perceive you as the victim of horrible DEI hiring practices ... in the 80s!!! If people think racism is rampaging today, they really did not live in the 80's... So yea, if it smell funny, you know there is bull.... involved.
deleted 9mo ago
[deleted]
Mashimo 9mo ago
If you want to dig down deeper into his past, you can listen to a 2 part episode of "Behind the Bastards" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nyEkHqP65c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nyEkHqP65c

> The racism and the provocations were always there Were they? Can you cite an example? Because I also grew up with Dilbert, and I was never aware of it.

by lisper 9mo ago

> The racism and the provocations were always there Were they? Can you cite an example? Because I also grew up with Dilbert, and I was never aware of it.

cosmicgadget 9mo ago

Dilbert May 2, 2022 is provocative.

lisper 9mo ago
Can't argue with that, but Dilbert first appeared in 1989, and Adams publicly jumped the shark in February 2023. So May 2022 is hardly "always there".
- cosmicgadget 9mo ago
  I think you are right on the "wasn't always there" front, though perhaps the commenter making the claim has some early work in mind. Personally, the Reddit AMAs (including sock puppets) were a pre-2023 indicator of his enKanyefication. Endorsing Donald Trump (who encompasses the stupidity and lack of self-awareness of the Dilbert antagonists) was another, though this may have been driven by a need for money/relevance.
nobody_r_knows 9mo ago
What was it?
- cosmicgadget 9mo ago
  https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=The+One+joke https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=The+One+joke
- criddell 9mo ago
  https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2022/05/03/dilbert-presents-black-character-gets-dragged/ https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2022/05/03/dilbert...
  - stickfigure 9mo ago
    Provocative, yes. Can someone ELI5 for me why this is racist? I read it as mostly anti-trans (or at the very least, anti-"you pick your pronouns").
    - ndsipa_pomu 9mo ago
      The new hire appears to have been hired just purely because of the colour of his skin - apparently because of a diversity initiative. That strikes me as racist because it implies that they've never hired any non-white engineers due to their performance without addressing the inherent bias in the system that would only hire white engineers even when more qualified engineers of different ethnic backgrounds are available. There's also the dig at people who wish to be known by certain pronouns/titles/names (e.g. "Ted" Cruz)
      - terminalshort 9mo ago
        Typical DEI bullshit. They claim that DEI is critical to hire minorities, but then if you claim any one person was hired because of that policy the call you racist.
      - stickfigure 9mo ago
        > The new hire appears to have been hired just purely because of the colour of his skin It's explicitly stated. But isn't that the whole Dilbert schtick? The PHB is not supposed to be good. He represents the stupid side of Corporate America. And then when the black guy says "I identify as white", Corporate America doubles down on the stupidity. "implies they've never hired..." seems to be reading an awful lot into it.
        ndsipa_pomu 9mo ago
        > "implies they've never hired..." seems to be reading an awful lot into it. I believe that that was the first coloured person in the whole Dilbert strips, though I haven't checked that. I was a fan of Dilbert many years ago, but I suspect that if I re-read them that I'd be thinking of Scott Adams' later politics and looking for early signs. There's probably a lot of suspect cartoons that featured the Elbonians.
culi 9mo ago
Didn't he get dropped a year after that? The quote "the best advice I would give to white people is to get the hell away from black people, just get the f*k away... because there is no fixing this" happened in 2023.
tbrownaw 9mo ago
Huh. I would have thought something like that would be in response to Rachel Dolezal, but the Wikipedia page for "Transracial (identity)" says her fifteen minutes of fame was way back in 2015.

rchaud 9mo ago

It's in Chapter 1 of his autobiography. He used to work at a bank in the 80s, and was turned down for a managerial or executive position (can't remember) which went to an Asian candidate. He was certain it was due to DEI (in the 80s!) and quit the corporate world to become a cartoonist. The strip that got him dropped in 2022 featured a black character (first in the history of the cartoon) who "identifies as white".

sanity 9mo ago
> He was certain it was due to DEI He was told explicitly by his boss that they weren't promoting white men. > The strip that got him dropped in 2022 featured a black character (first in the history of the cartoon) who "identifies as white". That wasn't what got him dropped, he did an interview with Chris Cuomo where he explained what actually happened and why: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_bv1jfYYu4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_bv1jfYYu4
- wedog6 9mo ago
  Both of these rebuttals seem they rely on taking Adams' word for it?
  - sanity 9mo ago
    If we’re talking about what he believes, I’m not sure how else you’d determine that besides listening to what he’s said.
    - benjiro 9mo ago
      The problem is that people are horrible narrators about their own issues/past. They like to leave out critical information. The idea of a company in the 80's going around that they are promoting Asians to positions over white people, sounds as far fetched as finding oil in my backyard. The reverse is way more likely in that time periode. More then likely, he was not qualified for the job. But people often have a hard time accepting this, and feel entitled for position. Often by virtue of working somewhere longer. When passed over for promotion, then they create narratives its not themselves who is the issue, but it must be somebody else their fault. So when you 20, 30, 40 years later tell the story, are you going to say "well, i was not qualified" or are you going to double down that you got passed over for a promotion, because "somebody had it out for me", or as "DEI hire" as that was the trending topic in conservative circles. What is a little lie to make yourself feel better, and have the world perceive you as the victim of horrible DEI hiring practices ... in the 80s!!! If people think racism is rampaging today, they really did not live in the 80's... So yea, if it smell funny, you know there is bull.... involved.

deleted 9mo ago

[deleted]

Mashimo 9mo ago

If you want to dig down deeper into his past, you can listen to a 2 part episode of "Behind the Bastards" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nyEkHqP65c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nyEkHqP65c