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Cisco Fires Workers for Racial Comments During Diversity Forum (bloomberg.com) 416

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
During a series of Cisco online all-hands meetings on race in early June, some workers posted comments in message channels that other staff and company management said were demeaning to Black people, exposing racial divisions at the Silicon Valley tech giant and leading to the dismissal of a number of people. From a report: During the first videoconference on June 1, following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, Chief Executive Officer Chuck Robbins spoke with Ford Foundation President Darren Walker, who is Black, and Bryan Stevenson, a Black lawyer and author who founded the Equal Justice Initiative, in front of 30,000 employees. The conversations about race continued in subsequent online global staff meetings. "Black lives don't matter. All lives matter," one worker wrote in the comments during one of the virtual all-hands meetings, according to screen shots obtained by Bloomberg. Another said the phrase Black Lives Matter "reinforces racism" because it singles out one ethnic group. "People who complain about racism probably have been a racist somewhere else to people from another race or part of systematic oppression in their own community!" a third worker wrote in the chat section visible for all those online. Cisco, the world's largest networking company, said it fired "a handful" of workers for inappropriate conduct because it "will not tolerate" racism.
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Cisco Fires Workers for Racial Comments During Diversity Forum More

Cisco Fires Workers for Racial Comments During Diversity Forum

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  • Good racial comments or bad ones? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 17, 2020 @12:24PM (#60300319)
    Talking about race is lose-lose if you are white. just saying.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by ahodgson ( 74077 )

      Yep. Just keep your mouth shut. Let the progroms run their course.

      • Re:Good racial comments or bad ones? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Issue313 ( 2840599 ) on Friday July 17, 2020 @12:29PM (#60300353)
        I love how they call it a "conversation".
        • Exactly. This is a period of bullying by the "anti-racists" who are really racists if we closely examine their behavior. If we open our mouth at all, we are restricted to exuding the exact appropriate amount of being-offended and/or being anti-racist - too little or too much, the degree of which is largely based on our own race, and we will be destroyed.

          • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

            by saloomy ( 2817221 )
            Fuck this. They should sue Cisco for wrongful termination. All lives matter is not a racist slogan or idea. Its specifically the most anti-racist slogan. Black lives matter, therefore hispanic lives don't? Asians don't? Who's don't.

            I would say at the risk of being labeled racist, but lets be really honest. Racist today means someone who disagrees with your political point of view (if you are on the left). I often ask in conversations with left leaning individuals, who in the Republican Party they believe

        • Absolutely perfect take. And it's flamebait.. curious.

      • The implications of these statements are not good for our culture overall. When we stop discussing topics because they're anti-groupthink, it's a bad sign.

        It's always better to do what you feel is right than what you feel is safe. It may have personal ramifications, but I'd rather look back on my life knowing that I did what was I thought was right instead of what was comfortable.

        Not all of us have the courage that someone like Edward Snowden does. Whether you agree with him or not, he's a shining

        • It's always better to do what you feel is right than what you feel is safe. It may have personal ramifications, but I'd rather look back on my life knowing that I did what was I thought was right instead of what was comfortable.

          Noting that what you feel is right may not, in fact, actually be right. Just sayin' ...

          Think things through, from a perspective wider than simply your own.

          • Noting that what you feel is right may not, in fact, actually be right. Just sayin' ...

            Think things through, from a perspective wider than simply your own.

            Fully agreed. Objective reality is never known--one can only act upon their perspective, and be open to the fact that they could be wrong.

        • Of course you oppose racism. So does nearly everyone. But I'd wager than most people's definition of racism does not extend to the generic and race-neutral belief that people need to own the consequences of their decisions. But I'd also wager an even bigger sum that the woke definition of racism absolutely includes the belief that people should not own the consequences of their decisions when the consequences are bad, the people in question aren't white, and there's white people somewhere in the vicinity th

          • The problem is the Normal Suburban White guy doesn't really understand the scope of the problem.
            They think Racism like in the 1980's TV Special, where we there seems to be a Guy who just hates black people, unconditionally. Compared to that model everyone feels like they are not racist.

            However racism is far more covert then we think it is.
            1. Laws and Rules that Exclude: For example dress codes. Dreads, Hair Extensions, etc... May not be allowed. While African American Hair tens to work well with these st

            • I actually agree with most of that. Except I'm going to change your last statement a little and double down on it: I demand that all citizens and would-be citizens adopt whole-heartedly thr American principles of hard work, personal responsibility, and the rule of law. You, and Ibram Kendi, and Robin DiAngelo, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture may identify those things with whiteness, but that's your choice to do so. I don't associate an ethnicity with those values. They're goo

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          It's a workplace. Employer has decided they think black lives matter. Not the ideal spot to set up your soapbox.

          • No, the employer has decided that they get to tell you what to think and what words to say regarding a hot button political issue. Big difference.

            • Were the employees forced to state that black lives matter? THEY WEREN'T!?!? Then why did they go out of their way to say racist things instead of just keeping their dumb racist mouths shut!?!?

              If the employer did force them to say such things, those employees were free to quit just as the employer was free to fire them for making racist statements of their own free will.

          • Depending on your perspective, yes? Ideal from the standpoint of the employee or society as a whole?

            Let me rephrase your statement: "It's the Pentagon. The Pentagon has decided that painting it in a bad light and revealing government secrets is bad. Not the ideal spot to set up your soapbox."

            I'm not sure Daniel Ellsberg would agree with your statement, although his decision certainly came at a significant personal cost for many years. Thankfully for the rest of us, he made the decision he did.

            M

          • They've also decided to sponsor mass indoctrination seminars for their employees under the guise of a 'staff meeting'.

            Cisco is basically saying they care more about pandering and appeasement than their employees.

            So, fuck Cisco.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

              Maybe they think/know they have a problem and are trying to protect themselves from lawsuits.

              • Lawsuits? Hah, more like the twitter pitchfork mob coming after them.

                But you are right, it's a CYA move.

          • Especially in a large company known for its layoffs.

            Workforce diversity is a net positive. This isn't political correct speech. It creates teams with different ways of thinking and approaching problems. Working in a team of Mixed races and Genders they are different approaches and cultures that take a look at problems and give it a different view and method. When working on a team of Guys my ages and background. We will often think on the same page, which makes our meetings easy, but it often crates probl

        • Ahh the speech of the oppressor.
          "The implications of these statements are not good for our culture overall." = This is how things use to be, and I want to keep it like that, because it gives me power.
          "When we stop discussing topics because they're anti-groupthink, it's a bad sign. " = Society has evolved its values, and I am no longer in the right. and I refuse to change.
          "It's always better to do what you feel is right than what you feel is safe." = I have a moral justification to be immoral.
          "It may have pe

          • Not everything is about power and control. Some things are what they are at face value. If you only see power and dominance everywhere you look, it's because you're the control freak.
          • History has shown viewing the world as oppressor and oppressed lacks both nuance and generally doesn't end well. I'd encourage you to read the Gulag Archipelago.

            You have dramatically misunderstood my point and judged someone to be racist who is not. Perhaps that's because you have personal experience with many people twisting language in the way that you've expressed, which I am not, and refuse to do. I am pointing out that silencing dissent and whistleblowers is a dangerous precedent that leads down
      • Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • Silence is violence!

        Anyone who isn't loudly on board with the agenda is a racist and will be purged.

        You are with us or against us.

    • Wait - what happened to this "conversation about race" we're constantly berated about not wanting to have?

      • It's ok to talk about race, just don't say anything negative, or anything that could remotely be perceived as negative, against black folks.
        • it's dismissive. It's saying "there is no race issue, everything is fine and you should be grateful it's not worse, because it could be".

          It makes no comment on whether black folks are good or bad. It tells them to go to the back of the bus, sit down & shut up.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        The conversation they want to have is about what they can do to improve, not "do black lives actually matter?"

        • These conversations always presuppose that there is an immediate problem that must be addressed in any given organization but there is never any concrete evidence of these problems that is presented. There are merely vague assertions that the whole system is marinating in racism or repetitions of third hand rumors that there are racists about. Its bullshit, but it's often effective at getting people too scared to say anything wrong on the one hand and at getting people to believe there are boogeymen afoot o

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by bizitch ( 546406 )

        Orwell was only off by about 36 years or so

        The Thought Police are here - get used to it - it's the new terrifying reality of all of our lives

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • I mean, "White" folk aren't 7 times more likely to be shot by police than "Black" folk.

        Then again, "white" folk also aren't 7 times more likely to be shot by police than "black" folk. So I guess in that particular instance it does work both ways...

        Also stop strawmanning.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ichthus ( 72442 )

      Talking about race is lose-lose if you are white. just saying.

      The person that modded you down just proved your point.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Z80a ( 971949 )

      When you dissolve people into blocks of race that can have good and bad traits associated with it, you're always walking into a potential genocide, as you just created a system that dehumanized everyone and allowed bad actors to demonize one of your blocks and turn em "ok to kill".

    • It seems unlikely to me all the people fired were white, it's Cisco after all.

  • Anyone up for popcorn?

  • That's what I would have done.
  • Do you put that in your resume under "hobbies"?

  • I say this because if one is to go by what is is the news alone, one may think that blacks and whites just do not get along.

    This couldn't be further from the truth for when I visited the USA before this COVID-19 menace, I saw [many] mixed couples having what I thought of as a great time.

    Their mixed offspring were some of the most beautiful human beings I have ever seen.

    I spoke to a few of them. I was educated by one couple I spoke to - especially, that there are white folk that are struggling too; it'

  • If the company portrayed it as an open discussion, they could be on the hook for a lawsuit.

  • BTW cisco is being sued for discrimination (Score:3)

    by bobstreo ( 1320787 ) on Friday July 17, 2020 @12:52PM (#60300491)

    On June 30, California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing regulators sued Cisco Systems Inc, for discrimination. The cause was not, like most workplace discrimination lawsuits, based on race, gender, age or sexual orientation. It was based on caste.

    The lawsuit accuses Cisco, a multibillion-dollar tech conglomerate basted in San Jose, California, of denying an engineer, who immigrated from India to the United States, professional opportunities, a raise and promotions because he was a from a low caste, or Dalit, background. The lawsuit states that his Indian-American managers, Sundar Iyer and Ramana Kompella, who are described as high-caste Brahmins, harassed the engineer because of their sense of superiority rooted in the Hindu caste system.

    https://timesofindia.indiatime... [indiatimes.com]

  • It's fine to just make blanket recommendations about shutting up and saying nothing "political" in the workplace to avoid this. But employees are being bombarded with an agenda right now, so it's not a neutral situation where it's easy to keep quiet and not voice an opinion.

    I may be a white guy, but I'm not really not the stereotypical one a lot of people assume I am when they give me the white privilege or white guilt lectures. I'm married to a black woman and have dated more black women than white women,

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by nomadic ( 141991 )

      "But employees are being bombarded with an agenda right now,"

      No, they're not. These kinds of things form a tiny, tiny part of their regular jobs, and if they can't go through them without whining then they're probably not great employees anyway.

      • How would you know what people in other companies are subjected to?

        Genius, you're posting on an article where someone got fired for saying "all,lives matter". This seems to be a pretty major part of their job. Until they got fired for going off message. Do you fascist and gas light as much offline, too?

      • Re:Ugh ..... (Score:4, Interesting)

        by MobyDisk ( 75490 ) on Friday July 17, 2020 @01:31PM (#60300727) Homepage

        "But employees are being bombarded with an agenda right now,"

        No, they're not. These kinds of things form a tiny, tiny part of their regular jobs,

        The word "bombarding" is not referring to the amount of time spent on the agenda, but on the fact that the employees have no choice but to participate.

      • wrong, you're talking out of your ass. you're not a cisco employee

    • Because you can't just support a group that historically has been discriminated against. You have to make sure you're also supporting straight white men. Otherwise, it's racism!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by DogDude ( 805747 )
      Black Lives Matter is an idea. There may also be an organization with the same name, but it's a simple idea. The idea is this: "black lives matter". Not that they matter "too". They don't need to be appended to any other group. This isn't about white people. It's a simple idea: "black lives matter".
  • That said, it's not being done for the sake of diversity or the company's great love of minorities. Nor is it being done because Cisco is afraid of cancel culture. Nobody's gonna strip out their Cisco gear over this. Their 99% B2B. Businesses don't give a shit about any of this

    What this is about is risk. At this point I think it's fair to say the phrase "All Lives Matters" carries with it an element of racism. The person uttering it may be blissfully unaware of the fact (though that's unlikely given the

    • Nazi bar? Uh huh, so "all lives matter" is now racist because the Orwellian Marxist fascists day so. And Cisco is going to be full of NAZIS!! because someone said an innocuous phrase that the fascists say we aren't allowed to say in order to shut down normal non-fascist people. Got it.

      Do you also believe we've always been at war with Eurasia?

      Omg, NAZIS!!!! They're EVERYWHERE!!!!!!

      I saw this guy once who touched his index finger to his thumb. NAZI!!!! So we all jumped and beat him down because if we d

      • because, as I pointed out elsewhere, it's dismissive. It's saying "there is no race issue, everything is fine and you should be grateful it's not worse, because it could be".

        It's the 2020 version of "Separate But Equal".

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

      If Cisco didn't want racists in their midst, they wouldn't be arranging seminars for racial supremacist groups like BLM, blindly champion their "white people got recessive genes and are responsible for all evil in this world" agenda and aggressively attack anyone who dares to voice their opposition.

      The problem is that the largest racist movement of today in the West has realised how institutionally powerful it has become, and is now waging a war of conquest in all spheres it hasn't conquered already. The mo

  • When someone who has been told his entire life that everyone in America is equal starts getting shit for saying "All lives matter", you have failed. BLM is about how black people are being seen as completely expendable and that the powers that be in America as a whole don't give a fuck about them, and unless you explain that part then they're going to think "These blacks are lashing out at me for thinking all people are equal. Well fuck 'em!" and that's another potential candidate for your friendly neighbor

  • The longer this woke wave goes on, the more people will understand that wokeism really is nothing more than racism. We've been told for decades that racism is bad so I assume most people will be on to this: assuming people have certain characteristics based on the colour of their skin is a dead-end street which leads to nothing but misery and dismay. Wokeism is founded on this idea and has already caused enough misery and mayhem to prove the point that racism, and with that wokeism, leads to nothing but cha

  • BLM is a cudgel to silence dissent.

    Their leadership is Marxists, by their own words

    Their symbol is directly taken from the Communists, they only changed the color from red to black.

    Fuck them and the horse they rode in on. Retribution is required. When it comes I wish for it to be very wet, very messy, and widespread. They deserve every inch of hate.

    It has nothing to do with preserving "black lives"

    It has everything to do with subjugating anyone who is not like them.

    Mod me down but you know it's true, all

  • I avoid saying the world black entirely... or mention anything about race. Same if someone is an amputee or handicapped, I steer as far away from mentioning it as possible. Just being a good neighbour :)
  • Bigotry of any kind is absolutely and inexcusably wrong. It doesn't matter whether the variety is based on race, gender, age, sexual orientation, political affiliations or religious beliefs.

    But bigotry is learned, it's not something we're born with.

    As this is something we seem to agree that we'd like to eradicate from our society, I wonder if anyone has come across evidence of what happens when you punish a racist?

    Amy Cooper, the now-infamous dog-walker in Central Park, New York, who called 911 bec
  • All three of those comments were right, BLM is inherently a racist group because it's exclusionary to any one who is not black, based solely on skin colour.

    1. If you support BLM but not ALM, then you are racist, there's no getting around it.
    2. If you support diviserity over qualify, based on skin colour, you're racist!
    3. If you think white people should apologize for being white, you're racist.
    4. If you think meth heads wih a history of violence shouldn't be killed by the cops due to skin colour, YOU'RE

  • A forum like this is how HR identifies people who have opinions, and gets hem fired.

  • Uhh what? (Score:3)

    by SuperDre ( 982372 ) on Friday July 17, 2020 @05:07PM (#60301843) Homepage
    They were actually fired for the lines in the article? "Black lifes don't matter, all lives matter" etc.. But that isn't misconduct or racist at all.. I think these employees have a case for wrongful termination.

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