A proposal how to approach racism.

In software development we strive to improve. We strive to be faster and deliver better and bigger products. We put a lot of thought into what hinders us to achieve these bigger and better goals and how we can solve these problems. If the problem is so crucial that it’s not possible to work around it we give it a name: blocker. We can’t work properly with blockers so we give them the highest priority. We fix these problems on a bigger scale to make us achieve bigger and better things on a smaller one.

It’s getting ugly in Germany. Really ugly.

A right-wing party is getting popular, a bunch of right-winged groups are getting more and more members. It has become normal to talk about topics that are everything else but normal. I feel like we went back in time and question the fundamental values of society again. We know what racism can cause and history told us that it can end disastrous but yet we talk about it as if the time has come to question these values.

This triggers a bunch of emotions. One of them is feeling helpless. Another one is overwhelmed. After talking to a few people actually the best solution for personal happiness seems to be pretty easy. Ignore it, fade it out, don’t let it be part of your daily life.

But actually I can’t. Not anymore. It blocks me. The situation is blocking my thoughts, is blocking the ability to think clearly. Every time I encounter it or read about it in the news or hear a story of something that happened, I stop working. I start to get sad because the problem has become so big. I start to get mad because I say to myself I could do more to help I could’ve talked more to people… let me tell you what we do when a bigger & better product is in danger:

In software development the first thing is not to solve a problem, generating ideas or talk with people how they encounter the problem.

The very first step is to prioritise it high enough to get everyone in the same boat to fix that problem. I don’t have the solution, I don’t know how to cure racism but I like to make a proposal here:

Make racism a blocker

Turn it into a global mindset that racism is something we can’t find workarounds for. Turn it into a global mindset that society stops working with racism in it. Prioritise it high enough that everyone starts to think and talk about solutions and actions, not only the ones who are affected by it.

Thanks for reading, spread the love ❤