Facebook told Black employee they were looking for a “culture fit”

theintercept.com

23 points·Ozzie_osman··8 comments

I have worked at a big tech company like this and it was truly one of the most inclusive and welcoming environments I have ever been in. Of course, a lot comes down to your manager and work group. But I am inclined to give the company as a whole the benefit of the doubt here based on my own experiences.

We will see how this shakes out, but I hope it is not another unjustified pulling of the race card, as false racism accusations do seem to produce a significant "boy who cried wolf" effect.

Also, telling a black person that they don’t fit into the organisational culture isn’t racist.

Fitting into an organisations culture is usually about team work, lack of politics, getting on with people, no bitchyness. It’s a way of saying “you might be good at programming, but your behaviour is having a negative effect on everyone around you.

It’s only racist if you say it because the person is black. Saying they didn’t hire you because of organisational fit is usually just a polite way of them saying that they thought you were either arrogant, condescending or an asshole.

"culture fit" is just code for "we don't like you". Sure, the candidate being arrogant, condecending or an asshole fits the bill, but prejudice on the part of the interviewer definitely would too.

> It’s only racist if you say it because the person is black.

Its racist if they DO it because the person is black. Its the actions that matter, not what they publicly say. Of course it would be nice if people publicly stated when they were going to commit crimes, but the world isn't full of bond villians who announce precisely what they are going to do before doing it.

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