This sums it up perfectly. So many times I am asked what I think of all this as a black person in tech. I don't think anything of it. It simply is how things are. You can either live with that chip on your shoulder, or learn the skills to navigate life with the cards you were dealt and deal with it. There is no other option, and how you feel about it is irrelevant. Some people are born with physical disabilities or mental handicaps. It's no different. Should we live in a world without racism? Of course. But we should also live in a world without war, poverty, and disease as well. It's a part of the human condition.
I'm not black, but I always frame it this way when I think about the problem: if I had children, what message would I want to convey to them to maximize their chances of success in life?
Life is difficult, there are lots of injustices in the world, but there is zero sense obsessing over that which you cannot control. Focus on being the best human possible and the world will take notice.
The point I glean from OC is that he can't do the work. He can't stop people from being racist. That's not only not his job, it's also an impossible task. The people who need to do the work are the people who are making conscious or unconscious biased choices which disproportionately impact black lives. It's not up to black people. It's up to everybody else to do that work.
Sure, but if everyone has this attitude then the collective group suffers. e.g. bandwagon bias, and thus the individual suffers as a result.
> It's not up to black people. It's up to everybody else to do that work.
Sure, and clearly whats happening right now is that people who are not marginalized (e.g. white people) are learning what is required to do the "work". That doesn't happen without the activists showing up and saying "hey white people, educate yourselves, read XYZ".
> it's also ok for black children dream of being a doctor, programmer, VC, whathaveyou, without demanding that they also be martyrs for a cause that's entirely out of their hands.
I don't think anyone is suggesting that everyone has to be a martyr for a cause, just that (1) their existence is important and (2) if marginalized groups of people just accept status quo then there is little incentive for those martyrs to exist.
> The point I glean from OC is that he can't do the work.
Because he literally can't do it (handicapped?) or because they don't want to because it's risky? The point I lean from the OC is that he enjoys the luxuries of his life but is unwilling to fight for others who are similar.
In the original article the VC basically says "I don't waste my energy on acknowledging racial biases on a day to day basis because I already know these exist". This is not the same as saying "I can't be a martyr".
> That's not only not his job, it's also an impossible task.
People don't get paid to fix civil rights, it's not a job. People have taken it upon themselves to answer that calling. I think it's fine to say "I don't believe it's my role in life to" but to pretend it's not required while still enjoying the benefits of those who do sacrifice themselves is an extremely selfish outlook on life.
> The people who need to do the work are the people who are making conscious or unconscious biased choices which disproportionately impact black lives.
And how do you propose those people fix that? Do they just wake up one day and say "ya know what I'm gonna stop giving into my unconscious bias"?