complaining about something that makes little or no difference compared to real problems makes one look petty and weak-minded even after we steel-man your less-wrong opinions

Why? Obviously GP does not particularly care about the success of academia, it was only brought up as an indicator of a larger trend. Why derail the conversation and bring up all this other stuff about academia that's not related to the original point?

You could just as well be describing "micro-aggressions" which are literally small and/or petty transgressions. Would you agree no one should talk about those too?

Interestingly, this very comment is self-applicable because the "whiny comments on HN" make little or no difference compared to real problems.

> Are we not allowed to talk about a problem if some greater problem also exists?

Being facetious, are we?

Talking about petty nuisances related to trying to solve the greater problem while not even mentioning what the greater problem is usually an indicator that you don't see the greater problem as a problem.

The greater problems being racism and transphobia in the context of this discussion.

Would you please stop taking HN threads further into flamewar? We've had to ask you this several times before, and even in a thread where many commenters are disregarding the site guidelines, your posts are standing out as aggressive. Please make your substantive points without that.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

There is no such thing as the "white race". English, Spanish, German, Jewish, Italian, Irish - sure.

"White" is a legal construct that was created in Virginia in 1691, and white was "English and other white peoples", and "not negro and not indian"

The very basis of "white" isn't a definition, as much as it is a negation of 2 other groups. (Now, it is also not middle eastern and not Asian as well.)