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This is a silly analogy. Racism causes serious damage to people's lives. Participating in racial discrimination perpetuates racist attitudes and that is why all

This is a silly analogy. Racism causes serious damage to people's lives. Participating in racial discrimination perpetuates racist attitudes and that is why all forms of racial discrimination that negatively affect minorities are seen as morally wrong in our society. ("Positive" racial discrimination is not seen as bad - see the Focus 100 hackathon.) It is not quite the same to cater strongly for people who drink versus those who don't. I like to drink, so I tend to choose friends who also like to drink. There's nothing wrong with that. It would be very different if I only had white friends because I disliked non-white people. I'm not saying it wouldn't be more professional to be more inclusive with regards non-drinkers, I just think this analogy trivialises the issue of racial discrimination.

rmk2 13y ago
It's not an analogy, it shows the questionable wording of the GP's claim, which, with minimal adaption, can be made into quite a different argument with a rather different feel to it. The whole point is that words and implications matter, in much the same way as the implication of "hacker culture == alcohol" matters. A potentially sensible point thus resembles a style of language that does all but helf reinforce the argument.