IBM Apologizes For Racial Slurs On Its Recruitment Webpages (theregister.co.uk)

The Register: IBM has apologized after its recruitment webpages asked applicants whether their ethnicity was, among other options, the racial slurs Yellow and Mulatto. In online application forms for positions within the US tech giant, in among other questions ranging from military veteran status, and eligibility to work in America, a bizarre drop-down menu asked whether jobseekers were Caucasian, Black, or Indigenous, as well as the aforementioned insults. The Register was first alerted to the baffling error on Monday by an engineer who tried to apply for a technical role at IBM earlier this month, and was stunned by the slurs listed for a mandatory input field labeled: "Please state your ethnic group."

Comments

Re:slur?

[jbmartin6]

It has to do with how they were used historically, not any intrinsic meaning. Much like "Herbert" is just a basic first name, but is considered a slur by some since a group of doofy hippy types used it to mock a famous seducer of female-looking robots.