We need more even-keeled responses like these, instead of the knee-jerk reactions and froth-mouthed pitchforking that symbolize much of the internet these days. Thanks for sharing this.
I read the “manifesto” (I’m reluctant to even call it that, as all it seemed to me was someone who wanted to have a conversation with his colleagues about diversity and inclusion and the best way to get there) and was dismayed at the level of outrage and vitriol that it generated. I didn’t think it deserved much of the hyperbole that it got. It’s probably one of the better-written criticisms of diversity programs that I’ve read. It made some shortcuts and mischaracterizations, sure, but it wasn’t wholly incorrect. The most I can criticize it for was misguided, especially in its tone. Unfortunately I wasn’t surprised at the internet’s ridiculous reaction to it, because it is all too easy to inflame people’s prejudices these days.
While I ultimately thought the piece was tone-deaf and, ironically, showed a general lack of empathy toward his female engineer colleagues, I don’t think that it shouldn’t have been written, nor did he deserve to be fired for it. Google was forced to fire him, IMO, because they were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Keep him and open themselves up to accusations of fostering a hostile work environment, or fire him and open themselves up to accusations of stifling the free expression of ideas. They chose the politically expedient route, the known quantity, and I can’t blame them for it. I can only hope that they learn from this incident and make more strides towards the ideological diversity that the engineer hoped for, while at the same time addressing concerns about inclusion in the tech industry.
