The Humiliations Will Continue Until Morale Improves
“A can-do attitude,” “striving toward success,” being “results oriented,” and “operating from principles and conscience.” At first glance, these sound like the kinds of qualities one might appreciate among employees – say, among employees at a nuclear research and development lab.
But no, dear reader. How foolish you’ve been.
Apparently, these things constitute, not a basis for workplace success, but merely of “success in white male terms.” Which, we’re told, not only “limits white males’ ability to hear and understand others” and “dampens their curiosity,” but is also “devastating” to “people of colour, gays/lesbians, women, and non-Christians.” You see, expectations of competence, “hard work” – and a concern for whether actions actually produce the desired result – these things are problematic and to be viewed with suspicion, and ultimately undermined. On grounds that they cause “people of colour” to “feel they are living out of context with who they really are.”
If this sounds a tad unhinged, not to mentioned racist, that can only be because you’re insufficiently schooled in “critical race theory” and the ways of the woke. Happily, Christopher Rufo has risked his mental wellbeing by poking through documents issued at a taxpayer-funded, three-day mandatory training session organised by the aforementioned research lab, Sandia National Laboratories, during which white male executives found themselves subjected to some lovely psychological abuse.
An introductory “thought-work session” encouraged reluctant attendees to associate their whiteness and maleness with “white supremacists,” the KKK, and “mass killings.” As one does, of course. With equal obviousness, employees of pallor were expected to recite – which is to say, confess – an extensive list of benefits of their supposed “white privilege.” Benefits including “the ability to dominate language,” and the fact that “no-one is afraid to come to my garage sale.”
A chief benefit of the aforementioned “privilege” is summarised in the documents as, “I don’t wonder if people judge me on the colour of my skin.” This, then, while white male employees found themselves singled out as morally suspect, and while being overtly and triumphantly judged, and by default found wanting. Complete with orders to produce hand-written apologies – based solely on their maleness and the colour of their skin. And the pernicious racial woo of spiteful bedlamites.
. . . employees at a nuclear research and development lab.
. . . during which white male executives . . .
. . . Sooo, the “executives” took part, but researchers doing the actual thinking didn’t have to bother?
Complete with orders to produce hand-written apologies
How do you spell ‘creepy indoctrination’?
Looks like someone should be suing Sandia National Laboratories.
Who are Sandiacre National Laboratories, and is it possible to stop using their products and services.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandia_National_Laboratories
Which, we’re told, not only “limits white males’ ability to hear and understand others” and “dampens their curiosity,”…
Utter nonsense. As a white male who has had numerous white male friends throughout his life, I speak with deep understanding when I tell you that the white male species is infinitely curious in regards to those who reject the above mentioned values of competence. This has resulted in countless, very popular edutainment programs such as America’s Funniest Home Videos, Faces of Death, COPS, and YouTube.
‘Alexa, what’s a struggle session?’
In fairness, the training session literature manages to insult just about everyone. We’re told, for instance, that “people of colour,” gay people, and women – all of them, presumably – are alienated by expectations of competence. Apparently, they’re being robbed of “the option to be mediocre.”
Was there not a single man present willing to say, when called on to recite this drivel, “I have reached my position by my own hard graft and ability. It has nothing to do with my whiteness or being a man. Fcuk You”.
There are clearly many lessons one could draw from looking at the Zimbabwean experience.
Pretty sure this is the wrong one.
I wonder how many of these people would willingly travel with an airline whose crews had been encouraged to be mediocre?
Sadly, I am currently living in a city where the entire administration has rejected the mediocre option and gone for incompetence.
Given that statement could land me with 10 years in jail, I choose to shelter behind the mediocrity of anon.
Is this the real world or am I dreaming? ‘Cos I read about this shit and it *feels* like I’m dreaming.
Apparently, these things constitute, not a basis for workplace success, but merely of “success in white male terms.” Which, we’re told, not only “limits white males’ ability to hear and understand others” and “dampens their curiosity,” but is also “devastating” to “people of colour, gays/lesbians, women, and non-Christians.”
It’s funny how they equate “white” with “Christian”, given that Christianity is currently on the decline in the white Western world and on the up virtually everywhere else, not to mention all the black churches in the US.
I suppose the moral lesson is that one shouldn’t allow the malevolent and psychologically marginal – which “diversity” hustlers very often are – to have any kind of leverage over the rest of us.
Sooo, the “executives” took part, but researchers doing the actual thinking didn’t have to bother?
FYI, I expect that most of the “executives” were senior scientists who had over the years moved from doing research to directing research. That tends to be the pattern at research institutions.
I wonder how many of these people would willingly travel with an airline whose crews had been encouraged to be mediocre?
I would happily require that these diversity bullies be required to get all their goods and services from people who got their jobs only because of “diversity” quotas.
Whenever I have a garage sale, I work hard to make sure that white males are hesitant to enter. I put the frilly stuff towards the front. Things like gingham toaster covers, bedding, decorative pillows, pictures of kittens playing with a ball of yarn, dishes, albums by Rod McKuen. The power tools and sports equipment are placed in the back behind posters of David Cassidy and One Direction.
“I have reached my position by my own hard graft and ability. It has nothing to do with my whiteness or being a man. Fcuk You”.
This will earn you a diagnosis of chronic white fragility, leading to a long stretch in the unemployment line. Only after you have given up and applied for welfare benefits and subsidized housing will you be allowed to apply for a training slot to become a carwash associate or a barista.
You have to wonder where we’d be without the achievements of all them white guys throughout history. Or should that be herstory, or itstory? Oh yes, I know. They stole all the knowledge they acquired from non-white peoples. Riiight.
Just off the top of my head, this whiteness training sounds bogus, like nothing but an opportunity to bash a captive audience of white men and have them applaud you at the end after which you are handed a fat paycheck for ‘consulting’.
I am probably wrong about that due to the fact that I was assigned the identity of white male at birth.
If I had been forced, on pain of being fired, to attend such a meeting my apology would have been just two words. The second of which is OFF!
If I had been forced, on pain of being fired, to attend such a meeting my apology would have been just two words. The second of which is OFF!
This reminds me: There are many good reasons for living on a frugal budget and putting as much money into savings as possible: retirement, illness, economic downturn. But one reason that is not mentioned often enough is “fuck you” money. The ability to walk away from a shitty employer is a wonderful thing.
I wonder how many of these people would willingly travel with an airline whose crews had been encouraged to be mediocre?
Given that 2+2=4 is now cis male white supremacist, oppressive, etc etc, I propose a thought experiment …
Two aircraft sitting at an airport, ready for departure. One has been designed on the basis of 2+2=5, the fuel required calculated on the basis 2+2=5, etc. The other has been designed and fuel load calculated via more traditional standards, ie: 2+2=4.
Out of a sample of say, 100 POC, LGBT (and whatever other oppressed groups there are these days), how many would demonstrate their faith in their ideology by getting on the 2+2=5 plane? (And I mean actually getting on it, ie: putting their lives on the line, as opposed to merely saying that they would get on it – skin in the game, so to speak, versus mere virtue signalling.)
I suspect the answer would be a big fat zero.
Which would lead one to imagine that even they, in the depths of their demented little hearts, know that they are full of shit.
“I don’t wonder if people judge me on the colour of my skin.”
According to critical race theory it is axiomatic that a white person assumes that they are not judged on the color of their skin. But to find yourself vilified for being white and forced to confess the sin of whiteness proves that you are, in fact, judged on that basis, and not only judged but condemned. Thus, merely to exist ‘as a white person’ in a world where concepts like ‘white supremacy’ and ‘white fragility’ are bandied about falsifies that proposition.
I have reached my position by my own hard graft and ability.
This side of the pond that statement has a very different meaning.
Although possibly not a contradictory one.
Sooo, the “executives” took part, but researchers doing the actual thinking didn’t have to bother?
FYI, I expect that most of the “executives” were senior scientists who had over the years moved from doing research to directing research.
So, Yes, researchers doing the actual thinking didn’t have to bother.
Utterly undeniably emphatic Oops!!!, that . . . .
This crap, like DiAngelo’s “White Fragility” has got to stop.
Harrison Bergeron is not a How-To manual.
Sounds like Lab Director of pallor Dr. James S. Peery should resign as head of Sandia to make way for a more woke scientist.
while white male employees found themselves singled out as morally suspect, and while being overtly and triumphantly judged, and by default found wanting.
But they’re all about fairness!
An introductory “thought-work session” encouraged reluctant attendees to associate their whiteness and maleness with “white supremacists,” the KKK, and “mass killings.” As one does, of course.
So they’re racist ‘anti-racists’?
So they’re racist ‘anti-racists’?
One more time. They are not good people. They do not mean well.
If I had been forced, on pain of being fired, to attend such a meeting my apology would have been just two words.
Don’t quit; make them fire you!
I was forced to sit through one of these regrooving sessions, and decided that I would make the experience as entertaining and educational as possible. Early in the session, when the reprogrammer asked us if we recalled some experience or other, I raised my hand, then demurred, saying I wasn’t sure I was comfortable. Once I had been reassured that “this is a safe space” and I should feel free to share my feelings without fear, all bets were off.
When told that Islamophobia was bad because Islam gave us algebra, I asked her if the Islamic world had given us anything in the last two hundred years apart from slavery, honor killings, improvised explosives, terror, and price-fixing on petroleum. When told that women weren’t given the credit they deserve, I asked if she ever gave credit to the men who invented and provided her with electrical power, air conditioning, and the washing machine. When told that I didn’t have to worry about being judged negatively based on my skin color, I inquired if this assertion was based on anything about me apart from my skin color.
In the end, the reprogrammer wrapped up the session early, I got a hearty thank-you from my cow-orkers (I don’t think I had to buy my own drinks for weeks after), and I politely asked the HR drone to make a note in my record showing what an enthusiastic and involved participant I was in their little educational forum.
Yes, I took a bit of precaution to make it hard to punish me, and it would be different if I were a junior member of the division. But the truth is that HR only does this to flex their corporate muscles, and the rest of the Executive Board only go along with the charade so that HR will shut the hell up and let them get back to making money. If you’re providing any kind of value to the organization, the worst they’ll do is tell you that you’ve been Very Naughty and need to shape up.
(Which, come to think of it, might be Corporate’s way of making sure you bring value to the organization. Those sneaky bastards!)
When told that I didn’t have to worry about being judged negatively based on my skin color, I inquired if this assertion was based on anything about me apart from my skin color.
That. 🙂
When I first read this book, it seemed hilariously far-fetched.
When told that Islamophobia was bad because Islam gave us algebra…
It did not give anyone algebra. This particular bit of a Islamophile boilerplate is one of the most common tells that the person “educating” you is either ignorant or deceptive.
Speaking of people who provide enough value that it’s difficult to dismiss them: Nick Cave has a few words about the unhappy religion that is Cancel Culture. It’s not the first time he’s ventured into these waters, by the way. Seems the matter comes up more and more often of late.
He also has obscene wrapping paper for sale at his new online shoppe. Nick’s not like the other children…
obscene wrapping paper
I’m almost tempted to investigate. But I wouldn’t want to jeopardise the high esteem in which I know you all hold me.
Nick’s not like the other children…
And until the other children are able to produce something on par with The Secret Life of the Love Song and The Flesh Made Word, they should shut up and listen.
How do you spell ‘Cultural Revolution’?
There’s no need to dig deeply into their subconscious (an appalling prospect in and of itself) for evidence they know their pronouncements are idiotic & mendacious – simply note that not one of these savants employ their theories in the conduct of their lives.
One more time. They are not good people. They do not mean well.
Artists and writers whose only goal was to tell interesting and compelling new stories in the most stylish, imaginative, and high quality way possible have been replaced by a new crop of creative, err, talent? – who quickly adopted winning strategies such as:
– openly insulting and despising their own customer base;
– lashing out and humiliating anyone who questioned the artistic merits of their work;
– conspiring behind the scenes to remove fellow creatives who happen to belong to the wrong demographic;
– shaming and publicly betraying each other on social media. I mean, it’s just what well-paid professionals do, isn’t it?
The Critical Drinker is in an optimistic mood
It’s not one I feel able to share in.
“Nick’s not like the other children…”
He’s still wrong, though:
It was never such. This was always the end goal.
The clue’s in the name. The idea that one’s opinions can be measured against a set of rules – whose? – and judged, not simply to be offensive, dangerous or misguided, but objectively incorrect is inherently authoritarian, censorious, and, to use the word Cave himself brings up, unmerciful. There was never any good faith or equity in “political correctness”.
Well my time witnessing this particular insanity from the sidelines has come to an end, as I’ve been notified of my (huge multinational food manufacturing) company’s mandatory “Inclusive Diversity training” with “6 sessions focused on Moving from Unconscious Bias to Conscious Inclusion”. The good news is, given I work at an oft-forgotten and essentially independent satellite of this giant multicorp I can skip it with no repercussions. The bad (also good?) news is I will not have the opportunity to simply state “I don’t discriminate based on immutable physical characteristics, so take it up with the employees who do. Otherwise GF.”
Though, given my recent official complaint around the company’s embrace of every safe corporate lefty fad creating a discriminatory culture against straight men I’ll probably have lots more time to comment on here soon (sorry everyone).
Hi Dingos,
So that was YOUR garage sale, with the hipsters, girly guys, and Queer Eye staff milling around!
At first glance, these sound like the kinds of qualities one might appreciate among employees – say, among employees at a nuclear research and development lab.
Funny, I had thought this was satire, not a goal.
I don’t think I had to buy my own drinks for weeks after
Well apparently Dr. …excuse me, Governor Squid had the ABC After School Special experience. Rather than recount here, I point you to David’s link at his comment which “diversity” hustlers very often are and search for my comments under my old nom de plume of KRW. Aspects of which around that time did cause me to take up my current nom de guerre. While, and I believe this is in those comments, I did receive some thanks from a smattering of my cow-orkers (nice Dilbert reference) that’s about all the thanks I got. Interesting even on that link there’s even a comment at the very end by some gg asshole piling on a year later. First I noticed that.
Similarly…the Diversity BS got worse and worse there (this was around 1997 until just before I left the company in 2007). The absurdity of those classes being given to that entire project, such a diverse group as I have ever worked with…SMDH. Americans, Hindu Indians, Muslims from India and Pakistan, Chinese from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Red China, Vietnamese, men women, gays, lesbians, a guy from Nigeria (I think), Hispanics from everywhere, an Israeli or two, Brits, Irish, developing a product being internationalized (and I was one of the ones leading the I18N effort). I was in an elite middleware developer group. We had one guy who had kind of wandered out of Hungary around the time of the Iron Curtain collapse and another an ex-Soviet officer who, rumor had it, had defected to the US with some info regarding the software on SS-20 missiles. During one of our team meetings, our (Hindu Indian) manager announced the rough itinerary of yet another Diversity Class distraction (we were regularly working 50 hour weeks, sometimes more) those two guys looked across the table at each other and laughed. One said, “Just like old times, eh?” to which the other nodded in amused agreement.
Sorry, mate — I think the linked thread dates from before I was a regular around here. I suppose I should count myself lucky that while the creepy HR nonsense has infected my employer, it still gets little respect in the scheme of things.
I should give them credit, I suppose — I recently heard about a sexual harassment case in which the man accused was allowed to present evidence in his defense! He still works here, while his accuser does not, which seems like a victory of sorts given the age we live in.
I’m happy about this, but it feels like trying to bail out a sinking boat with a tablespoon.
The Justice Department said it determined that Yale University has discriminated against Asian-American and white applicants,
I don’t believe anything will come of this. The issue isn’t really whether they’re doing it or not, but whether they can get away with it and with general approval. Until now, Yale and the other Ivies have been coy about this practice trying to suggest that there’s objectivity in their subjectivity. If anything this ruling brings the whole thing into the open and it will likely be accepted as a normal practice. We are truly living in Bizzaro World.
Angelo Codevilla has a disquisition about this very topic in the current CRB.
https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/millenarian-mobs/
Angelo Codevilla has a disquisition about this very topic in the current CRB.
Thanks for that. A very interesting read.
Jim’s link https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/millenarian-mobs/ begins with:
“The Americans who confess other people’s racism absolve themselves inexpensively by a moral mechanism common to humanity: the more I profess to hate evil, the more I showcase my own goodness.“
An introductory “thought-work session” encouraged reluctant attendees to associate their whiteness and maleness with “white supremacists,” the KKK, and “mass killings.” As one does, of course.
One imagines that if an attendee associated his Whiteness with the KKK too enthusiastically, say, by wearing a Klan robe and hood to the session, it would not be warmly welcomed.
For those where are American citizens —
All this horseshit will end on about November 4, provided you get out and vote for Trump. No matter what state you live in.
No Democrat. Any office. Ever.
Thought this might be worth passing your way:https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bv833z/dear-white-vegans-stop-appropriating-food
I hate to see idpol gumming up a nuclear laboratory, but woke on woke crime is a different story. Vegans, get wrecked.