Simon Britnell wrote:
> <RANT>
> I frequently see self-styled minority / oppressed groups complaining about
> demographic issues.
> eg:
>
> There aren't enough <your favourite minority group> using Linux.
> There aren't enough <your favourite minority group> in the IT industry.
>
> On behalf of the part of <your favourite minority group> that aren't enough, I'm
> appalled.
Ah yes, the usual white male "there shouldn't be preferences" rant. Well, guess
what? <Your favorite minority group> is discriminated against and/or treated
differently and unfairly by the majority in IT. There are not enough <your
favorite minority group> in IT and using Linux because barriers are erected to keep
<Your favorite minority group> out. Sometimes those barriers are blatant, but more
often, when that simply isn't legal, they aren't. Still,
patronizing/sexist/racist/homophobic/other discriminatory behavior exists, and
qualified people are passed over or pushed out.
Sometimes the excuses are ludicrous. I had one corporate officer at a company
I worked for in the '80s tell me the reason there were no African American
employees was because they wouldn't feel comfortable in an all white shop. Well,
why is it all white, and why was the company facing a discrimination suit (which it
lost) due to her actions towards the token black woman that she did hire? Using
racist language in the office and encouraging negative treatment by other employees
didn't help her. In the end, she retired rather than being fired.
Another manager told me that he wasn't hiring a deaf programmer who was very highly
qualified because it ws "too much of a bother" to communicate via e-mail, in
writing, or through an interpreter. (At the time I signed reasonably well and
offered to help.)
"Those people" a/k/a <your favorite minority> aren't represented proportionally in
IT because of societal barriers, and doing things to take down those barriers and
encourage those minorities to compete equally and fairly should be lauded, not
criticized.
Oh, and please note that I am not African American nor deaf, but I hate injustice,
discrimination, and prejudice.
> This rant was brought to you by a lecturers comment in a local IT magazine that
> "there are not enough women in the IT industry, so we should encourage more
> women into IT".
>
So you bring your rant to a women's group, with women, of course being <your
favorite minority>. A group that just happens to be, in part, dedicated to
bringing more women into the Linux community, and by extension, IT. Why? You
won't find a sympathetic ear here. Quite the contrary.
The lecturer you refer to was absolutely correct in her assertion and her
conclusions. You can take that opinion from a woman in IT for, oh... 20 years, who
has had to put up with some "good 'ol boy" who tried to undermine the two women who
were hired into the department.
> One could equally say "there aren't enough male nurses". I don't care. I know
> what nurses do all day and it bores me to tears. I don't want to be afflicted
> by some misdirected drive to make the statistics tidy. Demographics are
> numbers. Who here likes being treated as a number? Not me!
>
Nobody is forcing you to be a nurse, but how would you like it if your passion
*was* nursing, but your access to the career was hindered and you opportunities for
advancement in some companies was limited just because you happen to be male?
Don't you get it? It is not about numbers. It *is* about equal opportunities and
equal treatment.
It is also about my right to do my job without off color sexual innuendo and jokes
behind my back and the back of my one female coworker from that "good 'ol boy"
I mentioned. Yes, management was made aware of the problem, and yes, it pretty
much stopped when management did get involved about two months after I and the
other woman started there. I was relieved when I found out I was the third person
to complain. It seems that not only had the other woman been offended, but so was
a male coworker who didn't think what was happening was right. Still, I should
never have had to deal with that sexism in the first place, and I am certain that
it puts young women off from Linux (or IT) when they see these same attitudes in
technical groups and places like Slashdot. This was a real life experience for me,
BTW. Still, if it weren't for laws to protect <your favorite minority>, I doubt I
would have lasted through the first 90 days, instead of staying and being
successful in that company for a much longer time.
Also, recognizing what LinuxChix is, I must ask: Why in the world are you here???
Exasperated,
Caity
************
[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.linuxchix.org
