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Comment by pcbro141 | Hacker News Reader

I don't see how Google adding a black-owned business label might encourage a previously non-racist person to now want to 'fight' black people or feel ill will towards black people.

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Well, it might be unintentional. Hiding those labels by default will make it better to avoid such an unintentional bias, I think. I don't care if they are black or not, but I don't want to be unintentionally biased.

The white racists are going to avoid the black-owned businesses, and vice-versa, encouraging further self-segregation.

You really don’t see how elevating a single race over others might be an issue?

I think it's acceptable to elevate Black people to be on the same level as other races in America as opposed to disadvantaged. I actually think Black America is owed a lot more than what Google is doing here after centuries of legalized racism and being shut out of building wealth, but that's the US government that owes them.

"Other races" don't get special labels on their businesses.

Putting tags like "Women Owned" de-legitimizes the owner. It makes women owned business seem stigmatized, as if it's unusual or especially notable. It strips them of their dignity.

Can you clarify what "elevating" looks like from your perspective?

And considering how many immigrants there starting out with literally nothing (one example) how we should pick one race to help but not all terribly disadvantaged people?

The only way they can be on the same level is if they are not labeled based on the race of the owner. Emphasizing black ownership or any other attribute can only either add advantage over other groups or be a disadvantage. There is no good outcome possible other than it doesn’t affect anything, at which point what’s the point?

I think this can happen indirectly and unintentionally as people increasingly segregate into tribes.

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