Twitter, Like Other Big Tech Companies, Comes Up Short on Diversity

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/23/twitter-like-other-...

Once you realize that words and phrases like "diversity" and "person of color" are attacks, you'll see the hostility everywhere. For example, when you tell a white man that your company, conference, meetup, etc., is trying to increase its "diversity"—and which one isn't?—what you are actually telling him is we need fewer people like you. And when you realize how many white men support "diversity", et al., you'll understand how bizarre the whole situation really is.

The solution, by the way, is to grow a thick skin, suck it up, and deal. Indeed, there's no other choice at present; in our current political climate, complaining often works wonders for politically favored grievance groups, but no one wants to hear complaints from white men. The political power needed to change this is immense—far greater than the current pathetic attempts to push back (Republicans, the Tea Party, etc.). Best learn to live with it. (I still find it fascinating, though, which is why I can't resist commenting on the phenomenon.)

Wait, what? No, they aren't saying 'we need fewer people like you', and saying we want diversity is NOT an attack. You have a twisted view of fairness if you feel that wanting to be more inclusive is somehow unfair to the people who were already included.

Suppose a conference has 50 speaking slots, 40 of which last year went to white men and 10 of which went to women and "people of color". This year, the organizers are working hard to increase "diversity". For a fixed number of speaking slots, the only way to do this is to decrease the number of white men, since white men—no matter their beliefs, background, hobbies, interests, etc.—don't count as "diverse". Thus, while the organizers' intent is probably not to tell white men that "we need fewer people like you", that message is an inevitable result of efforts to increase "diversity". (Of course, the organizers could also expand the number of speaking slots, but this only works for so long; eventually you'll hit a ceiling, at which point the game again becomes zero-sum.)

I know it's difficult to reconcile these results with the warm & fuzzy feelings you've been taught to associate with "diversity", but it's a mathematical fact: in most of the fields where it's applied, increasing "diversity" means decreasing the number of white men.

It's a statement that undermines everything the person have ever achieved.

You only got here not because of hard work, but because of your `white privilege`. It implies a person's success is undeserved. Yes there's probably is an advantage, but the exact how much is highly debatable.

Just like in anything else in life... for example, in Basketball it is a 'position of privilege' to be tall. It is objectively easier to succeed in basketball if you are tall, but that doesn't mean that those that DO succeed at the highest levels aren't worthy of praise or somehow did not 'earn' their success. LeBron James has HUGE advantages to being good at basketball, but that just set him up to be in a position where he CAN succeed.. the success itself is still all his achievement.