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Comment by 68020 | Hacker News Reader

As a 'white' father of 3 who has been unemployed for the past few years I can tell you that this paper is sole crushing. Its a monument to how backwards common perception is to reality. Its a declaration from academia to never stop finding ways at punishing (me, my wife and 3 daughters) for my sin of being born white/male/pre1990. From what I have seen, people like me are under-represented in most office environments. Next time you are in an office (in NA at least), look around. Who are the black suited MBAs in charge not hiring? Even the abstract of the paper leads me to believe the the universe is a simulation because why else would it want to destroy opportunities for me and my family and simultaneously assuming, and tying to prove in a lab, that I am the modern Satan.

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As a non-American this is so bizarre to me. You get people so full of concern for the hypothetical woman in banking making 100k a year who just can't get that promotion, or the hypothetical black Harvard graduate who gets rejected from tech jobs, while they only show disgust for the unemployed guy living in a trailer with his family and friends ODing dropping dead like flies, simply because of the color of his skin.

I'm curious where you're from, because this trend seems to be occurring all over the western world (for example they yellow-vest protests in France, etc.)

That's because you probably value independence and critical thinking. You are probably teaching your kids to focus on personal growth, learn from the work environment, look for opportunities, be competitive and keep increasing their own bargaining power. At least, that's what I'm teaching mine.

Except, this makes you a threat to the corporations. They don't want you. They want to have someone replaceable, who will fulfill their corporate duties at the minimum possible rate. Who will never challenge their superior, and will be thankful for the opportunity to join the ranks, rather than thinking on how to go independent.

See The Organization Man

Fortunately there are many opportunities now to take petty savings and ramp up some moral autonomy.

By creating racial tension, the upper class in control of media can distract people's anger away from class division.

correct. it's the perfect way to divide the lower class and no coincidence that identity politics was embraced by the upper class after Occupy Wall St

https://i.imgur.com/wusW5Rn.jpg

It’s very profitable to pitch “neo-natal” progeny of recent immigration (>1965) with those with European ancestries which carry natural inter-generational momentum. Trying to find an “equalizing” rainbow trail is a violent red herring, yet has perpetual support because it’s sympathizing.

Ending the drug war is better politics.

You’re not alone. Many of us feel the same way. This system will always hate us, we have to start supporting each other. Give it time. We’re going to make it friend.

> we have to start supporting each other

Do you currently feel that white men are not supportive of one another? Or were you referring to a subcategory of white men?

> Give it time

What do you expect time to change?

White men especially in America tend to pathologically see the world through an individualistic lens and ignore their identity. Things will change as more and more of us start to become conscious of the identity for which the system hates us.

What system(s) hate you? Aren't most governments and corporations still majority white and majority male?

> Things will change as more and more of us start to become conscious of the identity for which the system hates us.

And then what will you do?

> What system(s) hate you?

Media, academia, corporate hiring, government policy. Places where “be less white” is official policy. [1]

> And then what will you do?

Form advocacy organizations, lobby groups, PACs, legal defense funds. Same thing every other organized group does.

[1] https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/366132

All the systems you mentioned have more far more white men than the US as a whole, so are you arguing that white men hate themselves?

US: 60% white[1]; 49% male[1]; ~31% white & male[2]

Media: 75% white[3]; 50% white & male

Academia: 40% white & male[4]

College Professors: 53% white & male[5]

House: 73% white[5]

Senate: 89% white[5]

All elected offices in the US in 2014: 65% white & male[2]

President: 100% white & male

I'm too lazy to keep going, but I feel like I've made my point. Neither white people nor white men are underrepresented in any position of power or wealth. So how can it be that these systems (that people in their demographic control) are against them?

1. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/IPE120219

2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/10/08/65...

3. https://journalistsresource.org/race-and-gender/newsroom-div...

4. https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=61

5. https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/g...

First you made a logical leap. Simply because these institutions may be nominally majority white does not preclude the ability for them to biased against whites. I never claimed these institutions were minority white, only that they were biased against whites, so you also attacked a straw man.

You also did not address the widespread corporate training material adopted from Robin D’Angelo. If the system were biased towards whites, why would it train its employees to shun their white identity? Would you consider a system whose corporations asked their employees to “be less black” biased against black people?

What percentage of Biden’s cabinet do you consider white?

>pathologically see the world through an individualistic lens and ignore their identity.

Pathologically? That's the healthy and correct way to see the world. Seeing through a lens filtered by 'identity' (you obviously mean race and gender) is flawed.

Victims of racism and gender bias... which include both whites and blacks, men and women... need to avoid becoming sexist and racist in response. It'll drag us all down.

> we have to start supporting each other. Give it time. We’re going to make it friend.

This won't happen. In my opinion they are too 'principled' to support each other. Supporting each other has the connotations of a union or a mob. 'White' men, who in my opinion is statistically among the most capable category are collectively their own enemies, by bending backward to accommodate the 'minority' even when individuals from these 'minorities' are incompetent.

it's a bit much to extrapolate from a single study in one area. even just reading the conclusion the authors share a few possible limitations of the study even within the field of startup investment

> From what I have seen, people like me are under-represented in most office environments.

This is not supported either by anecdote or by data. It's true for some environments, but absolutely not most.

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