Tesla Is a 'Hotbed For Racist Behavior,' Worker Claims In Lawsuit (bloomberg.com)
An African-American employee has filed a lawsuit against Tesla, claiming their production floor is a "hotbed for racist behavior" and that black workers at the electric carmaker suffer severe and pervasive harassment. "The employee says he's one of more than 100 African-American Tesla workers affected and is seeking permission from a judge to sue on behalf of the group," reports Bloomberg. "He's seeking unspecified general and punitive monetary damages as well as an order for Tesla to implement policies to prevent and correct harassment." From the report: "Although Tesla stands out as a groundbreaking company at the forefront of the electric car revolution, its standard operating procedure at the Tesla factory is pre-Civil Rights era race discrimination," the employee said in the complaint, filed Monday in California's Alameda County Superior Court. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Marcus Vaughn, who worked in the Fremont factory from April 23 to Oct. 31. Vaughn alleged that employees and supervisors regularly used the "N word" around him and other black colleagues. Vaughn said he complained in writing to human resources and Musk and was terminated in late October for "not having a positive attitude."
I'm glad to live in a country where a guy like this can sue the Tesla. Hopefully, he had the presence of mind to record them or get some hard evidence. EEOC complaints can be an effective avenue, so can a discrimination lawsuit. The only way to stop this kind of behavior is to bow-up and fight back.
So was an Air Force Academy recently until it was found out that the very same person who was pitching a fit about " racism " was also the same person who wrote the slur on the wall to begin with.
Tossing off any racial epithet around here in the silicon valley is likely to make half of the people within earshot fall down in a swoon, and the other half going apeshit over it on twitter within milliseconds. The odds of this allegation turning out to be utter bullshit is approaching unity.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Society itself is a "hotbed for racist behavior".
Bullshit. Racism is not tolerated in polite society, and nearly all of the racists you can still find are either the handful of nazi wannabes or they're tenured leftards in taxpayer-dependent institutions.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Once again I have to wonder why anyine imagines Silicon Valley corporate culture is magically any different from any other corporate culture. There are just as many unethical crooks and slimeballs as there are in any other humongous company.
With the massive lay-offs at Tesla recently I have to wonder, was this man simply layed off because of poor performance and trying to get money some other way now?
I'm not saying Tesla isn't racist, I have no clue what goes on in the company but it seems that he's been happy to work at the "racist" company until he got fired.
I find it rather odd that he and his lawyers are trying to sue on behalf of a group of more then 100 people when he is the only one to have come forward with allegations
Bullshit. Racism is not tolerated in polite society, and nearly all of the racists you can still find are either the handful of nazi wannabes or they're tenured leftards in taxpayer-dependent institutions.
Oh? You would be surprised.
I tend to rant.
As a human being, I hang my head in shame for the fact that, in the 21st century, we still have to deal with racism. I just wish we could all grow up and behave like the advanced species we claim to be.
One aspect of this story particularly interests me - and it might be a subtle, legal point - which is: what is/are the responsibilities of "Tesla the Company", with respect to tackling and preventing racism in the workplace?
I am not for one moment suggesting that the claims of this plaintiff are anything less than genuine. What interests me is: as an employer, where do Tesla's responsibilities stop? Do they have to have anti-racism training for their staff? Do they have to have a grievance procedure? Do they have to have an anonymous whistleblowing program? Are there other things that an employer needs to demonstrate in order to avoid accusations of institutional racism?
The reason I ask the original question is that it seems to me that we need to understand the difference between "Tesla the Company" and "Tesla's Other Employees". I would be willing to accept the words of the complaint that suggest that some employees at Tesla are out-and-out racists. I would hope that Tesla are doing all they can to identify and expel such people. But does the presence of one or more racist employees at any company mean that the company itself is racist?
If not, how do we make the differentiation? Is it when 10% of employees are racist? 20%? Is it if the company fails to handle accusations of racism appropriately - and, if so, what does "appropriate handling" need to include?
This is a sensitive, emotive and hugely important topic for us as a society: it is, perhaps, one of the defining aspects of human history over the last few hundred years, so I think that our response to this - as individuals, employers, colleagues and friends - is hugely important.
But much as I'm concerned by these claims and would want to see some solid evidence of a reasonable response to them, I'm struggling to make the leap from "a number of employees at Company X demonstrated racist behaviour" as being equal to "Company X is racist".
Is this reasonable skepticism, or is this splitting hairs that an unethical company would hide behind? Is it fair to make the distinction? What would be the indicators you would look for, in a case like this, before you would conclude that a company was racist?
Did you copy/paste this from HuffPost? Vox, maybe? Actually, now that I think about, I feel like I heard this on American Horror Story.
>"Society itself is a "hotbed for racist behavior".
Um, not at all, at least not in the USA. That is a horribly inaccurate generalization. Racism is real, for sure. But it is nowhere near as prevalent as many would assume, and saying otherwise is really just irresponsible. And much of what people label as "racism" isn't at all, it is dislike of observed BEHAVIOR.
And in the case of Tesla, we have yet to see any real proof of racism. There is a HUGE force (the union) trying to create problems that might not even exist. We need to keep an open mind and not jump to conclusions.
Yes but as a white male you're not entitled to anything, not to mention being offended. Being offended "ist verbotten", so to speak.
As a Romanian guy, lacking insight into fine points of American culture, I wonder why can black people use the N word freely among themselves, but as soon as a white person uses it, they're screwed to no avail? Up until 2006-2007, I genuinely thought "What's up, N*?" was a normal and expected salute towards a black person, because I've seen it used in movies a lot of times. Boy, was I wrong.
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
This is coming from the unions who want into the plant. Notice how they are checking every box with race, gender, sexuality? Tesla said no so now the unions file frivolous lawsuits.
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
Are you talking about the guy who made the allegations or those against who he sued? 'cause I really can't tell.
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
Albino?
I wouldn't be surprised at all. Seriously, some of the most racist people I know are well intentioned liberal retards who think they are helping black people. Because obviously, black people don't know about cell phones or even where the DMV is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
Maybe you should check what "civilized decency" means. How rude!
We need to keep an open mind and not jump to conclusions.
You must be new here - welcome to Slashdot!
#DeleteChrome
Bullshit. Racism is not tolerated in polite society, and nearly all of the racists you can still find are either the handful of nazi wannabes or they're tenured leftards in taxpayer-dependent institutions.
Oh? You would be surprised.
... if you actually contributed to the conversation? Why yes, yes I would.
Cite a source or STFU. The world needs less namby-pamby "what abouters," not more.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
I'm fairly well convinced that 99.9% of the people who claim the US is some racist hellhole have never experienced anything even resembling discrimination, let alone racism, in their lives.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Only if one is not prepared to be responsible for how they themselves act towards others, or to pass the blame for any lack of decent standards on the society in which they live instead of holding themselves accountable for their own choices and practices, and striving to live above a standard that may be deemed as unfair and unjust, even while society itself might continue to remain so.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
...terminated in late October for "not having a positive attitude."
I love the bullshit reasons they come up with when they lay you off. I was was overworked at Hard Rock Cafe as a dish washer on minimum wage for one summer years ago when I was still a student. The washing machine broke down regularly meaning I had to hand wash everything during the lunch and evening rushes and I was doing a two man job even when the damn machine worked and cleaning out all the crusty kitchen pots as well. Needless to say I was none too happy about that and made this known. Eventually they solved the problem, not by fixing the machine and hiring a second worker (which there was supposed to be), but by laying me off and hiring somebody who was easier to bully. When the manager came to axe me just before closing time one night he actually told me I was being laid off for, and I quote: 'not getting into the Hard Rock spirit'. I laughed so hard I coughed. Then I thanked him for an excellent joke and handed him the apron fast enough that it did not occur to him to refuse to accept the slimy food particle encrusted thing and left. I didn't hand him the dirty rag with any ill intent mind you but he ended up holding it and was none to happy about it since he was a rather bacteria-phobic neat freak. For a while afterwards I regretted not telling him to shove it up his ass but then I decided that there was no reason to be rude and leaving him there with smelly 8 hour old slimy food particles all over his well groomed yuppie hands was probably way better.
Hell, even the laws of thermodynamics suggest not only that life's not fair, but that you also can't get even either.
Using the laws of Physics as a vehicle for a political world-view? Now you are just trolling.
When you don't make your extortion payments to Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.
Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
What is there to cite? You just have to walk outside and listen to people talk.
My contribution was clearly to raise our friend's awareness that racism is not just about the loud-mouthed racial slurring nazis. Our friend Michael did an excellent job hammering the point further.
Why so angry?
I tend to rant.
That's simply not true in the vast majority of the country. It's just hidden. Or did you miss when being clearly racist doesn't even disqualify someone from being president?
>> Vaughn alleged that employees and supervisors regularly used the "N word" around him and other black colleagues.
I wonder what ratio of the employees and supervisors using the N word were also black?
"Racism is not tolerated in polite society"
Historically and even today, that is not correct. I have heard all kinds of things from 'polite society' as a waiter when I was a teenager, and let me tell you, if ya weren't white, you were fair game.
Guarantee you it's still happening now.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
Elon was born in Africa, now he's American. Wouldn't that make him an African-American as well?
SCVonSteroids is absolutely correct. Racism is everywhere. Just look how white people are treated in this country by minorities.
When the only tool you have is a claw hammer every problem starts to look like the back of someone's skull.
Maybe just a little, yeah... but that doesn't mean it isn't true.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
You still trying to blame Democrats and liberals because lawsuits in Wisconsin, Alabama, North Carolina, Texas, and Pennsylvania resulted in courts finding the conservative Republican governments in each of those states committed willful and deliberate racial discrimination in order to deter blacks from voting?
Oh well, I guess you can blame Obama.
After all, nobody could imagine the DMV being a hotbed of obstructive bureaucracy.
I was not alleging anything about the USA in particular... other so-called progressive countries are often not any better.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
but if I was going to file a discrimination suit I'd try to keep it out of the feds. We had 8 years of right wing presidents (debatable 16 since Clinton was pretty right wing) followed by 8 years of blocked judicial appointments. I'm not so sure you're going to get anywhere with a federal suit. The courts are pretty well stacked in the other camp. People forget just how much power a president with a compliant congress has over our legal system...
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
I wouldn't be surprised at all. Seriously, some of the most racist people I know are well intentioned liberal retards who think they are helping black people. Because obviously, black people don't know about cell phones or even where the DMV is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
I suppose you can hear that if you really want to... but there's some major slight of hand going on in that video.
Here's the actual facts:
1) Voter IDs laws are designed to disenfranchise black people because black people overwhelmingly vote Democrat.
2) This works because the process required to get a government ID is fairly complicated, and the things that make it complicated tend to correlate with being black, hispanic, poor, or elderly. 3 of those 4 groups that lean Democratic.
3) States looking to disenfranchise minorities tend to treat their black population worse in general. If they're trying to disenfranchise them with voter ID laws they'll try extra hard to avoid giving them IDs.
Now here's the first trick the Fox News reporter pulls:
1) He seeks out a bunch of white undergrads who understand that voter ID laws seek to disenfranchise minorities but they don't fully understand the mechanisms that make it difficult for minorities to obtain IDs for voting.
2) Next he primes them with answers, for instance one problem with getting ID over the Internet is you may not have the proper documentation. Other than the first guy who talks about access the reporter seems to prime them by talking about access, so predictably they run with the idea that some of the disenfranchised black people have trouble accessing the internet.
Now, here comes the second trick:
1) The white undergrads were talking about black people in states targeted by voter ID laws. New York is not one of those states. So many of the fundamental issues like access to ID aren't applicable. Basically he's "debunking" the assertions by talking to a completely different group of people.
2) Now this one is very subtle but very disingenuous. The white interviewees are talking about the specific subset of black people who are being targeted by the voter ID laws, ie people having trouble obtaining ID. Now the reporter repeats those statements back to individual black people as though they were meant to describe them, the reporter is the one who generalizes the statements and makes them racist.
And of course you have the fact that he's almost certainly cherry picking a very non-representative sample of interviewees. You should be very skeptical of accepting a heavily edited video as evidence from someone known for deceptively and unethically editing their videos.
I stole this Sig
Bullshit. Racism is not tolerated in polite society, and nearly all of the racists you can still find are either the handful of nazi wannabes or they're tenured leftards in taxpayer-dependent institutions.
At a professional distance, yes. Who you hang out with or who your son/daughter is dating... eh. Not everyone is so open-minded as they pretend to be.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
What the fuck are you on about?
This story has literally nothing to do with the Orange Combover. Especially since the allegations haven't been proven in any way, shape, substance, or form. It's literally one guy and his lawyer saying "uh-huh!" after the company said "nuh-uhh!"
It's amazing how some people will do some extreme contortions to relate literally anything to the Dorito-tinted-Commander-in-Chief; it's probably the same people that did the piss and moan about the exact same thing when other people were doing amazing contortions to non-ironically proclaim "Thanks, Obama!"
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
My housekeeper's husband works as a welder at the Tesla plant. I might see him later this week so I'm going to ask him what he thinks about this. (He's Hispanic and a pretty good guy.) Unfortunately the way that Slashdot works this thread will be pretty much dead and buried by the time I learn anything worth contributing. But if the question comes up again I'll post it.
As far as other Tesla people I run into at the various lunch establishments in the neighborhood -- they are all preoccupied with getting Series 3 production up to speed. They don't seem to have much else to talk about.
It's not? Tell that to Democrats, Republicans, and media pundits who DGAF about murdering Arabs with drones and other weaponry, and in some cases cheer for it.
Saying that the production floor was a "hotbed for racist behavior" is an extraordinary claim imo. I find it a lot easier believe that a few workers were subject to racism that flew under the radar of Tesla supervisors than I do that the production floor at Tesla was a "hotbed for racist behavior". But that claim does make Tesla more desirous for this matter to get settled than a lesser charge would. Racism exists in the world, and so does the desire to profit off of claiming it. Both things could be true here. The complainant may well have received treatment that deserves a lawsuit, and he may also be bullshitting about the production floor being a "hotbed for racist behavior". If the complaint is based on fact then Tesla deserves a shakeup. If the complaint is a gross exaggeration then there should be repercussions to that. It's too serious a crime to claim it's having happened as a ploy. Well, hopefully truth will out.
I wonder why can black people use the N word freely among themselves, but as soon as a white person uses it, they're screwed to no avail?
Try this: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/ta-nehisi-coates-n-word-hip-hop-rap-why-white-people-shouldnt-use-video-explanation-a8053001.html
Isn't this getting a bit old and lame? All we hear about Tesla here on /. is how they are keeping the unions out and how the are a hive of horrors for workers.
Can we stop with the propaganda and get back to the techie stuff that keeps us reading here.
From the linked article:
to be black is to walk through the world and watch people doing things that you cannot do, that you can’t join in and do.
...such as?
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
Forget the politics associated with it. Explain to me why someone in the United States who has no identification should be allowed to have any choice of leadership? Who are all of these people without ID? How do they contribute or interact with anything in society? ID is a pretty basic requirement for doing anything in the modern world, I don't think it's asking too much for people requesting the power to pick the President of the United States prove who they are.
Meanwhile, for all the other things in life that require ID: driving, getting a bank account, buying alcohol and cigarettes, buying glue, buying cold medicine (but oddly, not prescription medication), flying, etc... Are we racist for requiring ID?
Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
Take a look at Fox News, plenty of white people on there getting offended...
The reason that black people can, to some extent, use the N word while white people generally can't is historical reasons. Not just going back as far as slavery, there was segregation back in the 50s and even after that there was a lot of racism. The N word was used by white people to oppress black people, that's just a historical fact, and even today we see that it's still used in that manner by some people.
Of course, white people can use the N word in some contexts, when it is very clear that they have a good, non-racist reason to. But for the most part, if a white person just says it without any context, or worse uses it to refer to a black person, due to the prevalence of white people using it abusively they probably won't get the benefit of the doubt from strangers.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Yes but as a white male you're not entitled to anything, not to mention being offended. Being offended "ist verbotten", so to speak.
Ahh, yes, the modern western phenomena of having all the benefits in society but still wanting to play the victim card.
Being a victim is in vogue, so naturally those who think its cool will go to any length to find a way to be a victim.
Personally I'd rather be a person who has accomplished, regardless of any adversity (or lack there of) to someone looking for imaginary adversity to blame for their lack of accomplishments.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
Such as using the n* word obviously... Oh wait.
Is it just me or is there something funny about a person explaining why "X people can do something but Y people can't" and then have the justification be along the lines of "X people can do something that Y people can't because X people can't do what Y people do".
How can words oppress people?
Calling someone the N word re-enforces stereotypes about them. If words really had no effect, people wouldn't bother with them.
I can call you every bad word in the dictionary and that would not oppress you.
Check my post history here on Slashdot. I get called an "SJW" a lot, and look at how it affects the response to my posts. Perfectly reasonable arguments result in "troll" and "flamebait" mods, and when people respond they assume all kinds of crazy things. Here is an example from today: https://slashdot.org/comments....
In other words, relentless use of terms like "SJW" have had a very real oppressive effect on me. I'm not crying victim here, this is a relatively minor annoyance and certainly nothing compared to what people of colour have to put up with.
If it was as clear and powerful as you make it, why didn't the other racial epitaphs keep their power?
Because of history. White people in particular did not start from the position of being enslaved and legally 2nd class citizens in the US.
No other race or word has the same rules applied
Can't speak for the US but you can be prosecuted just as much for calling someone a cracker as the n word in the UK.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Like... "if I can't have the house you have, then you can't have the car I have" kind of thing.
Yes, its illogical.
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
Society itself is a "hotbed for racist behavior".
Bullshit. Racism is not tolerated in polite society, and nearly all of the racists you can still find are either the handful of nazi wannabes or they're tenured leftards in taxpayer-dependent institutions.
-jcr
Sure, blatant open racism isn't tolerated. White people don't go around calling black people the N word. However, skin color is part of how people perceive one another. In that regard, everyone is racist.
I think Elon Musk is right. Unintentional racism happens. When it happens, it should be addressed, and apologies should be made. It's equally important for the victims to accept apology instead of escalating the situation. The most important thing is to maintain an open dialogue. Too often these situations end in finger pointing and name calling.
One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
2) This works because the process required to get a government ID is fairly complicated
This is pure racist bullshit. You are basically saying that it is so complicated only WHITE people can figure it out. That it is so complicated that Minorities can't figure it out. Queue up "Black people don't know where DMV is" level complicated.
I'd excuse you as being innocently mistaken... except I cited an entire article that explained the sense in which is was complicated and it certainly wasn't "Black people don't know where DMV is". Among other things they tend not to have the secondary documentation that makes getting an ID easy. It's also talking about the specific subset of people who have trouble getting IDs to vote.
And of course you have the fact that he's almost certainly cherry picking a very non-representative sample of interviewees.
Again, that is YOUR assumption. However based on your own response, you committed the very same infractions, you just dressed it up in progressive code language.
Here is the Progressive Trick, they use code language to call blacks and minorities "stupid" by labeling them all the same based on some hypothetical disenfranchised anecdotal reference.
This is boring, I've been clear in how the issue is about the specific subset of minorities who can't get IDs, not minorities in general. I've got better things to do they trying to convince you to stop obfuscating my point in a 2 person argument.
I stole this Sig
If words really had no effect, people wouldn't bother with them.
Yea, communication. It can do both great and horrible things. But the point I was making that oppression requires an action to follow. If there is no action then you decide if you are oppressed as you have demonstrated later in your post (quoted below).
Check my post history here on Slashdot. I get called an "SJW" a lot, and look at how it affects the response to my posts. Perfectly reasonable arguments result in "troll" and "flamebait" mods, and when people respond they assume all kinds of crazy things. Here is an example from today: ... In other words, relentless use of terms like "SJW" have had a very real oppressive effect on me. I'm not crying victim here, this is a relatively minor annoyance and certainly nothing compared to what people of colour have to put up with.
You let the term "SJW" affect your posts and you announce to everyone that it bothers you (through sig and previous posts). Aside from the mods (which have their own problems of disagree == troll etc), you decide how to respond or what words get to you. Any ad hominem has this potential effect. If my response to you was "You're an idiot'" I would imagine you would disregard it much more easily than if I called you an "SJW". You give "SJW" more power over you by your reaction to the word. If I was an asshole* trying to get you mad I would use the term you have specified bothers you. You give the term "SJW" power by not treating it like another dumb ad hominem. The more power you give the more it will be used because it works to bother you.
I think why is because you know you're not an idiot so it's easy to disregard. My guess is that with SJW** you support social justice and bastardizing something you support/like into something ugly is bothersome. It's harder to disregard because it isn't a simple refutation because there is a part that you identify with. That's the point of insulting someone like that and I think you conflate that with 're-enforces sterotypes'. A powerful insult has some grain of truth.
N*, is similar. Historically, it was neutral referring to skin color as Spanish/Portuguese negro or Latin's niger. The reaction to the word through history has shaped how powerful it is today. The underlying truth that hurts is the reference to color and using part of your identity as an insult is bothersome. But it only has power if you let it just as other racial slurs do not carry the same weight as N*. The word itself, it's history, or it's small historical truth (referencing skin color in a neutral way) does not oppress anyone. The reactions over time has given it power that enables ass holes to be more insulting because they know it bothers people.
* Ok, I am prolly ass hole.
** I know there are a lot of definitions out there and it changes depending on who you talk to. For common usage the insult part I think we can agree is the militancy part or the 'warrior' part. Is why social justice advocate is not an insult by most.
prosecuted just as much for calling someone a cracker
Not big on salt much, eh? Personally, I love 'em in chowder. MMMM cannibalism. The right kind of meat.
I don't have time to do a long response now, but okay there needs to be action for oppression, but are you really saying that speech does not often lead to action?
The law recognises this, e.g. incitement and conspiracy.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Racism is not tolerated in polite society
Sounds like No True Scotsman to me. And who defines what is "a polite society" anyway?
Ezekiel 23:20
but are you really saying that speech does not often lead to action
It can but what causes harm is the important part and how easily it is defined. In addition there is no thought crime. Now before you jump on cause harm. Harm is a physical thing. Cause harm means you are forced to respond with a physical action to protect your person or property. The examples you mention and things like slander or libel cause harm and are well defined. Incitement is easily identified and does not represent a single idea just as conspiracy. Just like threats of violence, credible incitement and conspiracy would result in a response by a reasonable person to protect themselves.
Which is more dangerous the gun that kill X per year or the idea that kills millions? If you choose the later then should ideas be criminal?
I disagree, being denied opportunities and services is harm.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Those are protected by law as well. Also, that is no longer in the realm of speech but action (refusing to hire or back for the bus policy). I would agree that denied opportunity and services is harmful and that is why it is illegal to do that on the basis of immutable characteristics. If there are institutions breaking the law or policy not inline with the law then we can name individual examples and fix them.
I fail to see your point.
Um, you think a $250 fee is trivial? To me, it's not bad, but lots of people can't afford that. You appear to realize that fact, and you even appear to realize that people like me are in favor of tax money paying all expenses associated with getting to vote, and you still say something about not knowing where the DMV is?
In states that want to require voter IDs, the DMV was the local place that was closed down last year, but now is fairly distant and not reachable by public transportation, and it's only open when somebody is working and is afraid to take a day off.
As a leftist, I'm fine with voter ID, as long as acquiring the ID is free of charge and easy for everyone.
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
Do not try being racist in my house. Best I can do.
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
I wonder why can black people use the N word freely among themselves, but as soon as a white person uses it, they're screwed to no avail?
Because in the past, a lot of white racists have used the word, and then gone on to assault or kill the black person they are saying it to.
When a white person says the N word, the black person being addressed has a legitimate fear of being in a dangerous situation.
When a black person uses the N word, it's pretty clear they're not using the word because they hate black people, so there is no danger and nothing needs to be avoided.
The same goes for other racial slurs, and many other "offensive" behaviors in general (for example, Holocaust jokes are more likely to be considered in good taste if made by a Jew).
I don't see your point going from "white people saying words like N* oppresses black people" to unconscious bias toward black sounding names on resumes in France. You're off the reservation and missed the bus.
Not merely saying it, but using it when referring to someone or some group of people.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
That is very different than unconscious bias toward black sounding names on resumes in France. That also doesn't address anything I have said in any previous comment.
But at least you found the bus stop. In the mean time, I am going to fly away because you are going no where.
So, it isn't a race issue, it is an economic one. Great, now we at least agree on something. However, repeating the claim it is "racist" to want an ID is tacitly racist in and of itself. THAT was my point.
And not that it is economic in nature, we can solve that problem (a variety of ways).
As a leftist, I'm fine with voter ID, as long as acquiring the ID is free of charge and easy for everyone.
You're a rare minority. I just wish more leftists were more realistic. ;)
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
Really? So you're saying that if the unarmed skinny white me goes to a group of BIG black fellas who play basketball and says the N-word, they're going to have "a legitimate fear of being in a dangerous situation"? Again, I'm not an American, but I have a really hard time believing this.
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
Where do you draw the line? One skinny guy? A bunch of skinny guys? A bunch of skinny guys who might have concealed weapons?
Since it's difficult to draw the line well, it's simpler to just have a societal convention "never say this word to people of that race". It's not like anyone really *needs* to say the word, after all.
That's fine, just say "don't say that word because we're educated to believe it has negative connotations" instead of making up illogical reasons.
As I was saying, my culture did not educate me to assign negative connotations to the word, so I had to make a conscious effort to put it into that category. I was also educated in such a way that I believe that a bad word is a bad word regardless who says it. Furthermore it could be acceptable to say a bad word among friends, for example, but that solely depends on how well you know that person, not what color their skin is.
To me, skin color is totally irrelevant. It's how you behave that matters.
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)