‘Tokenized’: Black Workers’ Struggles at Coinbase

Re:‘Tokenized’: Black Workers’ Struggles at Coinbase by roenxi on Saturday November 28, 2020 @03:01AM (#25236093)

> What about the employees who were asked to be present for photo shoots to show workplace diversity but who felt ignored and talked down to during meetings?

That is extremely vague. Is it a red flag? Yes. Does it imply racism? No. It doesn't even guarantee there is a problem or a systemic trend for that matter.

If there are 3 red flags and some actual evidence of racism then that is one thing. But there isn't. Even the number of black people quitting - what is the expected retention rate in that team? Most people quit due to dodgy managers, so people quitting points to a dodgy manager before it points to racism.

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Re:‘Tokenized’: Black Workers’ Struggles at Coinbase by arolihas on Saturday November 28, 2020 @02:22PM (#25239771)

How is it not racist to showcase your black employees for appearances and then turn around and condescend them?

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Re:‘Tokenized’: Black Workers’ Struggles at Coinbase by roenxi on Saturday November 28, 2020 @05:39PM (#25241158)

You've squeezed a bit into the premise of that question. If, why and how persistently someone was ignored are very relevant questions that we have no facts on. And what the subject of the meeting was.

We know that Alysa Butler felt unappreciated. I'm hesitant to believe the NYT is even representing her opinions fairly. If you read what they've written about carefully, the article doesn't have her accusing Coinbase of any sort of racism, the NYT is just weaving her experience into a story that they construct elsewhere (normal practice in newspapers). A 'diversity problem' is different from racism. 25 year olds being ignored in meetings is not a new phenomenon either in my experience.

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Re:‘Tokenized’: Black Workers’ Struggles at Coinbase by arolihas on Sunday November 29, 2020 @01:48AM (#25243405)

And you’re completely ignoring the fact that they are using these employees who they hired for an actual job as props for diversity brochures. Is that really just a “diversity problem”? To use your employees as token figures? Not every racist act has to be consciously malicious. It at the very least implies it, diversity problem honestly just sounds like a euphemism.

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Re:‘Tokenized’: Black Workers’ Struggles at Coinbase by roenxi on Sunday November 29, 2020 @05:32AM (#25244251)

> And you’re completely ignoring the fact that they are using these employees who they hired for an actual job as props for diversity brochures.

Yeah, I am completely ignoring that. "My presence in the workplace was excessively celebrated" isn't a complaint. There is nothing there to respond to.

If you want to argue that could technically be racist behaviour I agree, but typically when people talk about racism they are actually going to serious issues like money, power or personal safety. Photos taken for promotional material is not something that needs a defence - it is a frivolous thing to argue about. Any company might do that.

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