Right, and I'm sure there are plenty of anti-abortion activists that genuinely see terminating a pregnancy as murder and are disheartened by the lack of response for what they are was widespread, systemic violence. I have as much sympathy for those people as I do for the author: not much, because regardless of how strong one's convictions are in a given political opinion the fact that one's coworker do not share that opinion does not amount to disparagement, racism, harassment, etc.
> She rattled off a couple of other disparaging comments about the peaceful protestors I was preparing to
join, repeatedly referring to them as those people b
efore a chorus of my team’s nodding heads, each
bobbing affirmingly behind their desks.
The author did say that the co-worker who said that she considered the protestors annoying and counterproductive was making disparaging remarks.
> Over the last 5 years, I’ve heard co-workers spew hateful words about immigrants,
boast unabashedly about gentrifying neighborhoods, mockingly imitate people who speak different
languages, reject candidates of color without evidence because of “fit,” and so much more.
The author is definitely claiming to have witnessed racist attitudes from co-workers.
> The way it came across to me was a individual sharing their anecdotal experience being a minority in a large and very well known company. It was a reflection on how he felt about their experiences.
Correct. And in doing so, the author demonstrates that he categorized his co-workers as making disparaging comments because she regarded BLM's tactics to be annoying and counterproductive. If this is what the author considers disparagement, it speaks more about his own extremely narrow view of what are and are not acceptable viewpoints than it does about Google.
> Personally though, in response to your comment. I believe the abortion issue is a bit more nuanced than the police killing an man and facing no repercussions.
If you think there's little nuance then maybe you should dig a bit deeper. The police officer killed a man in the commission of a robbery. The autopsy result showed bullets entering Brown's upper chest and exiting his lower back. This is consistent with running towards the officer, which supports the officer's testimony that Brown charged at him.
And there weren't "no repercussions". The officer was investigated, and grand jury was summoned to decide whether or not to indite him. No conviction came out of it, but that doesn't mean that there were "no repercussions".
> But I'm not here to change your mind sir, it's cool to have no empathy for your fellow humans.
I earnestly hope you realize the irony of telling another commenter that they "have no empathy for your fellow humans" because he has a different takeaway from this post.
Over 50 protests around the world. Thousands of people standing up against a horrible grim reality of unnecessary police brutality that ravishes their communities.
Privilege is seeing these events unravel on the television screen in front of you, and having your thoughts settle on "God, what an unnecessary traffic jam." Privilege is reading a story of a black man's struggling with the disconnect between what he and his coworkers find relevant issues, and picking it apart line by line searching for cracks for you large enough for you sit back and decide:
"I have as much sympathy for those people as I do for the author: not much"
The only real irony that comes across to me is that your comments are basically just an extension what the author experienced with his coworkers.
You're right, this is an extension of what the author experienced. What the author experienced were co-workers that did not share his perspective, and he called this difference of opinion disparaging and racist.
I can easily find over 100 protests against abortion in a given year. Does it follow that I am obliged to agree with these protesters, otherwise I am disparaging them? If a bunch of anti-abortion protesters block freeways and someone points out that this mostly annoys the populace and is counterproductive to the protesters goals, then that is disparagement? No.
If nothing else, this author definitely seems to think that he is entitled to the approval of his co-workers when it comes to his political views. And when he does not get the approval from his peers that he feels entitled to, he calls his co-workers racist. If the author wants people to have empathy for the protesters, then he or she should lead by example and exercise empathy for those co-workers that do not share his perspective on the protests. Otherwise, the author ends up looking like a hypocrite.
