Lol Denver is actually more black than I thought it was.
I used to do training in Denver and Colorado Springs. Black people used to be all "Hiiiiiiiiii! how are you?" "What are you doing here?"
OMG!!! I remember landing in Denver and all the Black people calling me "sister". Finally I was like " OK,I know what this mean, where are we? There aren't many of us here are there?"
It really is baffling to me that many folks think we've moved past racism when there is data out there like this.
In a way it makes sense, when presented with facts that run counter to their (biased) experiences, people dig in their heels even more.
You know, this is probably a little true.
But, I have seen it (not experienced it) as a white woman, and so I would bet that most white people see it themselves on a regular basis and just choose to ignore it or accept it as the status quo.
We hired an African American woman last year and one of my coworkers jokingly (she thought she was being funny) asked me if we were trying out affirmative action--she was obvious in her racism. I really didn't know what to say to her, I was literally stunned speechless. And it's not like the woman hired is the only black person in the office. Although I will say we're not as diverse as we could be.
I mean, when you have people like that that you have to work with, it's no wonder that POC feel like they have to work twice as hard to even be accepted in the damn door.
I have all the books I could need, and what more could I need than books? I shall only engage in commerce if books are the coin. -- Catherynne M. Valente
I used to do training in Denver and Colorado Springs. Black people used to be all "Hiiiiiiiiii! how are you?" "What are you doing here?"
OMG!!! I remember landing in Denver and all the Black people calling me "sister". Finally I was like " OK,I know what this mean, where are we? There aren't many of us here are there?"
I went to high school in Colorado Springs and remember this feeling so well. Of course, now that I've been in DC for 20 years, whenever I'm somewhere in the middle of the country it seems SO WEIRD to not see other black folks. When I first got here though? I was AMAZED that there were whole neighborhoods of people who looked like me! LOL.
In a way it makes sense, when presented with facts that run counter to their (biased) experiences, people dig in their heels even more.
You know, this is probably a little true.
But, I have seen it (not experienced it) as a white woman, and so I would bet that most white people see it themselves on a regular basis and just choose to ignore it or accept it as the status quo.
We hired an African American woman last year and one of my coworkers jokingly (she thought she was being funny) asked me if we were trying out affirmative action--she was obvious in her racism. I really didn't know what to say to her, I was literally stunned speechless. And it's not like the woman hired is the only black person in the office. Although I will say we're not as diverse as we could be.
I mean, when you have people like that that you have to work with, it's no wonder that POC feel like they have to work twice as hard to even be accepted in the damn door.
We were having a Business Update meeting here. We have big competition out of China so someone made a racist remark about Asians, and some people in the meeting actually STARTED LAUGHING. I not only yelled but gave look( similar to when NitaX has bad BBQ sauce) to everyone I saw giggle. Later after the meeting one of the managers came over to me saying " You know I just NOW got what he was saying" ^o) lying Motherfucker. Sometimes I hate it here.
OMG!!! I remember landing in Denver and all the Black people calling me "sister". Finally I was like " OK,I know what this mean, where are we? There aren't many of us here are there?"
I went to high school in Colorado Springs and remember this feeling so well. Of course, now that I've been in DC for 20 years, whenever I'm somewhere in the middle of the country it seems SO WEIRD to not see other black folks. When I first got here though? I was AMAZED that there were whole neighborhoods of people who looked like me! LOL.
H commented how different it was to be in Tanzania where he was the minority. pixy0stix remember when we were all chatting before the Denver GTG and I asked if yall had anymore Black people since the last time I visited? LOL
We were having a Business Update meeting here. We have big competition out of China so someone made a racist remark about Asians, and some people in the meeting actually STARTED LAUGHING. I not only yelled but gave look( similar to when NitaX has bad BBQ sauce) to everyone I saw giggle. Later after the meeting one of the managers came over to me saying " You know I just NOW got what he was saying" lying Motherfucker. Sometimes I hate it here.
I have all the books I could need, and what more could I need than books? I shall only engage in commerce if books are the coin. -- Catherynne M. Valente
I think that I can make objective decisions. I am rarely in a position to make hiring decisions as an engineer, but I am occasionally involved and was a hiring manager for one specific position in the last year. We generally hire locally because we have several good schools for entry level people and prefer more experienced people to be familiar with the local market.
And to clarify, I work for a large international company, but my experience is pretty limited to the local group.
Here's what I can find for statistics in my area: Denver Metro area - 5% black
Two biggest universities engineering enrollment:
CSU - 11.5% all minorities, another page said within students identifying as minorities 2 out of 189 were black, so I would estimate that the total % black engineering students is less than 1%
CU - 11.5% all minorities (I didn't couldn't dig any deeper to determine how many are black but I would expect it to be around 1% as well)
Lol Denver is actually more black than I thought it was.
I just watched the last episode. I thought about this when Dr. Webber asked Shepherd why it was so easy for her to believe Alex's girlfriend when she said that Edwards was a liar, when she barely knows Alex's girlfriend, yet works with Edwards ALL the time?
I just watched the last episode. I thought about this when Dr. Webber asked Shepherd why it was so easy for her to believe Alex's girlfriend when she said that Edwards was a liar, when she barely knows Alex's girlfriend, yet works with Edwards ALL the time?
Message!
LOL I watched it and I was thinking about this post. But I was too embarrassed to admit I was watching.
Lol! I still watch Grey's and I still like it (although I really miss Yang). I don't care!
At this latest job I was at, we had a higher ratio of POC in our office than our state. I reveled in it. Having lived in Georgia for part of my childhood, ever since I'm all, "Where are the black people at? WHERE?" We had a similar ratio of Asians as well.
That said, I sure as hell hope they were making equitable pay to the rest of us for their roles. I know they assured us they were paying women equally to men, so my hope is they did the same across race.
This makes me want to travel more... or convince you guys to move here.
I just watched the last episode. I thought about this when Dr. Webber asked Shepherd why it was so easy for her to believe Alex's girlfriend when she said that Edwards was a liar, when she barely knows Alex's girlfriend, yet works with Edwards ALL the time?
Message!
I'm going to admit that sadly I missed that message until you pointed it out. But holy shit, you're right! Go Shonda! And I still watch it every week. H knows he damn well better get the 5:35 train at latest on Thursday nights because the 6:03 pushes his arrival too close to Grey's!
I used to do training in Denver and Colorado Springs. Black people used to be all "Hiiiiiiiiii! how are you?" "What are you doing here?"
OMG!!! I remember landing in Denver and all the Black people calling me "sister". Finally I was like " OK,I know what this mean, where are we? There aren't many of us here are there?"
I can't figure out why we don't have more black people in Colorado. It's an awesome state (objectively. I'm not biased or anything ) I notice we have a new black family in our school and I thought "yes! Our minority population just doubled!"
I can't figure out why we don't have more black people in Colorado. It's an awesome state (objectively. I'm not biased or anything ) I notice we have a new black family in our school and I thought "yes! Our minority population just doubled!"
Weather? And numbers. The (two) black people I know who lived there got tired of being one of a few and moved to big urban cities.
The state I live in is 96% white. I therefore do not find it surprising that whenever I end up making friends with someone who is black, they move out of state.
I can't figure out why we don't have more black people in Colorado. It's an awesome state (objectively. I'm not biased or anything ) I notice we have a new black family in our school and I thought "yes! Our minority population just doubled!"
Weather? And numbers. The (two) black people I know who lived there got tired of being one of a few and moved to big urban cities.
Black people hate perfect weather?!? Lol. My SIL won't move here because it's "too cold". She lives in Cleveland, for god's sake! It's like our own private joke - that people think Denver is in the frozen tundra. We have more sunny days than Miami! Our favorite thing is when the Broncos play Monday Night football during a snowstorm. People decide it's too cold to live here, but damn! the skiing must be awesome and plan a vacation.
Lol! I still watch Grey's and I still like it (although I really miss Yang). I don't care!
I just can't quit that fucking show, man. It used to be so good and now it's just trash. Like, the new interns? Who cares?! No Yang, no thanks.
Sorry to bring this thread down to this level.
But I totally didn't make the connection of what Dr. Webber was saying until you pointed it out, so thanks. (heart) Shonda.
I still don't know Alex's girlfriend's name. Not important. I like it. Most people are not watching or hate-watching at this point. Not me. I would be fine if it went off the air, however. Usually when my shows go away (Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, next year, Downton), I'm so sad. I'd probably just wave goodbye to Grey's, even though I continue to enjoy it.
I'm going to keep this in mind as we evaluate and assess our interns. We consciously chose more diversity for our interns this year and I want to make sure that we are doing our best to evaluate them fairly and to check our own biases and our privilege (like assuming they all have the same opportunities as us). All of this also helps me empathize with my non-white clients and think more deeply about areas of bias they face that I've never fully considered. The pay disparities sicken me. Clearly when I think about the need for equal pay, I need to think about it for all the different categories of minorities. The drastic differences in pay shocked me.
Weather? And numbers. The (two) black people I know who lived there got tired of being one of a few and moved to big urban cities.
Black people hate perfect weather?!? Lol. My SIL won't move here because it's "too cold". She lives in Cleveland, for god's sake! It's like our own private joke - that people think Denver is in the frozen tundra. We have more sunny days than Miami! Our favorite thing is when the Broncos play Monday Night football during a snowstorm. People decide it's too cold to live here, but damn! the skiing must be awesome and plan a vacation.
It was cold when I was there. Sorry. It was. LOL And it was cute for the weekend. But, I tell my H that I can't move to Chicago or any place north of here. I can't do cold. Folks in update NY got snow this weekend. No. Thank.You.
I would move back to Portland, Or in a heartbeat though. I loved the climate there. Shit. Ask @1234ff! I already sent her a message asking how I need to dress for DC the 1st week of Dec. I gotta get my mind right for the cold.
I think that I can make objective decisions. I am rarely in a position to make hiring decisions as an engineer, but I am occasionally involved and was a hiring manager for one specific position in the last year.
I'm sure all the other people who discriminated against folks thought that too. Just something to consider.
Sadly, I know this is true. Throughout my career, I've been involved in hiring and thought I've been objective with a good process. Screen resumes without names, be consistent in interviews, think about my own possible biases, etc. I was shocked and actually offended when my mom pointed out I'd discriminated against one of my candidates because of her age. I was hurt and offended that my mother could believe that I was capable of that. Only for a minute before I felt ashamed because I knew she was right. I hadn't intended to, but I did anyway.
Years later, I was interviewing a man and he mentioned his children in passing. Appallingly, the first thought I had was, "He'll be super motivated because he needs to provide for his family." My second was surprise and disgust that I'd thought that. My parents have been feminists my entire life and I feel I am too, but I've still absorbed society's biases even when I've been actively working against it.
Careful scrutiny of my past and present choices has made me realize that it's hard to be objective. I think operating under the assumption that I do have biases has made me more likely to reach less biased conclusions.
I'm sure all the other people who discriminated against folks thought that too. Just something to consider.
Sadly, I know this is true. Throughout my career, I've been involved in hiring and thought I've been objective with a good process. Screen resumes without names, be consistent in interviews, think about my own possible biases, etc. I was shocked and actually offended when my mom pointed out I'd discriminated against one of my candidates because of her age. I was hurt and offended that my mother could believe that I was capable of that. Only for a minute before I felt ashamed because I knew she was right. I hadn't intended to, but I did anyway.
Years later, I was interviewing a man and he mentioned his children in passing. Appallingly, the first thought I had was, "He'll be super motivated because he needs to provide for his family." My second was surprise and disgust that I'd thought that. My parents have been feminists my entire life and I feel I am too, but I've still absorbed society's biases even when I've been actively working against it.
Careful scrutiny of my past and present choices has made me realize that it's hard to be objective. I think operating under the assumption that I do have biases has made me more likely to reach less biased conclusions.
All the research I've read about behavioural decision making (and this was something I studied a bit in college) says that your last sentence hits the nail on the head.