[flagged]

> I do not give a hoot about skin color. MLK taught me to judge people not by the color of their skin. If I were to tone down my speech, because I focus on the color of the skin of my audience, I would feel bad and awkward: "these people deserve coddling due to their skin color" ranks close to "these people deserve scorn due to their skin color".

> Accusing others of racism is a serious faux-pas. It is also delusional to think someone talking down to you, is caused by the color of your skin, and not, maybe, because you deserved a talking down to, or the person is just an asshole, and talks down to everyone.

> Saying someone else got a promotion, because their white skin, despite being lower skilled than you, is a horrible thing to say, and a horrible thing to believe. It would be vile distracting paralyzing racism, instead of an opportunity to reflect and grow.

> If racial equality activists make you feel that way, judge others on the color of their skin, and paint decision-making of white people that way, then this activism is not doing you any favors. It is not making you stronger. It is making you a victim. It sours inter-racial relationships.

> If a manager really says something along the lines of "watch out for her, she is dealing crack in the ghetto, and secretly carries a gun everywhere." then that manager is fired everywhere in the world, and the Black employee is compensated for this evil. No company wants to keep such managers around. No need to invoke tricks like paying off an external investigator. That manager is gone.

> Yet, that manager is still around. No complaint was filed. No colleague stepped up. So what really happened? A joke gone wrong? Being above racism led to problems with an employee for who being black and female is the major two traits of their group/social media identity, and now they can't help but relate every interaction, to whites hating their skin color, or the patriarchy keeping them down?

> Racism is gross, but this "I am being discriminated against by these elite white tech bros, because they notice my skin every day, promoting their dumb jocks over me, again due to the color of my skin, and nobody is willing to stop that" is even grosser. It is sexist, slanderous, weak, prejudiced, generalizing, blameful, divisive, and racist.

> The taboo-ness of the topic is wielded as an effective weapon by activists. They realized early on what the power of calling someone's employer, conference organizers, or hinting at company racism can do to stifle opposing views and criticism, and the economic damage they can inflict on a brand. Even if totally out of line and false, such as accusing white business owners of cultural appropriation by selling Asian food, can get such a business cancelled, because people are afraid to be tarred and feathered by association. Socially ostracized without ever a court to fairly validate if you really furthered (illegal!) racism. Portrayed by international media as some sort of neo-Nazi libertarian hellscape momcorp, without ever a court or independent investigation finding anything of real substance. Acquitted by a judge, yet constantly called a murderous racist, because you killed a black-skinned person at a traffic stop.

> So what happens if you loudly overreact to perceived company racism? You start to promote diversity and inclusion programs. You start asking applicants for their skin color or gender. You bring back the focus on skin color, ideally looking for a Disney-style PR diversity representation that's obvious for the outside (black, female, flamboyantly gay). You, of course, hire a black gay female to run these diversity programs, because white straight males are not suited for the job. Start policing language and technical jargon, as to not offend their favorite social scholars. And what happens to me? I look twice at a new colleague. The second time I notice skin color and gender. And I can't help but wonder... did those factors contribute or was this the best candidate for the job? Well done, activists! I still take full blame for that sub-second racist/sexist take (which I abhor), but it didn't have to be that way.

I feel like the sort of people who flagged this comment benefit the most from reading it.