Y’know, Quartz, maybe you don’t understand that what you’re saying here is almost obscenely shitty. So let’s make the comparison very, very explicit.
On one hand, we have an utterly baseless conspiracy theory (well, really, many conspiracy theories, but let’s just focus on this one for now) implying that a Trump supporter sending bombs to many prominent democrats - a clear act of motivated political violence - was a false flag operation.
On the other hand, we have democrats saying that, after a man is accused of sexual assault by three women, maybe we should slow down his confirmation to a lifetime position on the highest court in the land, investigate the allegations, or just pick a different candidate that hasn’t been accused of sexual assault (and also didn’t have an insane partisan outbreak during his confirmation hearing that led 2400 law professors across the country to sign a letter begging congress not to confirm him, but that’s another story).
In your head, these two things are the same.
What the fucking hell is wrong with you, you disgusting sack of pig shit!?
I was trying to make that very same point in a lengthy thread about Sarah Jeong, the Korean-American woman hired by the New York Times who posted hundreds of apparently hateful tweets against white people. Even if she herself wasn’t bigoted, she is still helping foster hatred. Jeong said it was satire, and that she regrets if anyone misunderstood her posts and won’t post like that in the future. The New York Times was apparently satisfied with that apology.
Upon further reflection, as a hypothetical pizza parlor owner, I’m going to give this white guy shitlord the same deal Sarah Jeong gets. He can be forgiven and get to keep his job, but he has to promise not make posts like that going forward into the future.
So you favor assisting white supremacism. Not surprising based on your posts, but still shameful. Jeong said something dumb and apologized. Her posts didn’t give aid and comfort to the worst people in America (i.e. white supremacists – who have killed and harmed by far the most Americans, more than any other group, in American history). It’s different if someone is giving rhetorical aid and comfort to the most dangerous ideology, by far, in the country.
Do you have a next step in mind, since that’s very likely to fail? Right now, we have a President who gives rhetorical aid and comfort to white supremacists. The vast majority of his party supports him, including those in office. White supremacist violence is increasing. Try and change their minds if you like, but that’s not going to work for the vast majority of white supremacists.
I don’t think firing them is going to change their mind either. Engaging with them may have a low success rate, but I think it would be a more constructive approach.
Why would you trust your hypothetical asshole to keep his disgusting beliefs out of the workplace? Does it cross your mind what he might be doing to the food he delivers to Jewish customers? Spitting in it? Worse?
Sarah Jeong was in an ongoing argument with white, racist trolls. You’re willingness to hire a white supremacist isn’t virtue, it’s complicity.
It’s not just about changing their minds. It’s about showing the rest of society that spreading hate has social consequences – if you spread hate, you might lose friends, relationships, and even your job.
It would be a requirement for his continued employment.
I’ve worked in the restaurant industry for over a decade. Not once have I seen anyone tamper with food. Not saying it never happens, but I think fears of food tampering are overblown.
She chose to respond to racism with more racism. Two wrongs don’t make a right.
I’m okay with people losing friends and romantic partners. There should be social consequences. I just think losing your livelihood for having bad opinions is a step too far.
It’s not about “bad opinions” – it’s about spreading hate. Spreading hate harms other people (and can certainly harm a business), and should have consequences.
I don’t care what thoughts a person keeps in their head. But if they spread hate, they might lose their job, as they should.
You’re right, they are different. One is an obviously insane conspiracy theory, without a scrap of evidence, pushed and abetted by dishonest and hypocritical politicians purely for partisan advantage. The other is about false flag operations.
Now that this person is unemployed, they are going to have a lot more free time on their hands to spread hate. They’ve got nothing to lose now. It seems to be that allowing them to keep their job under the condition that they stop hate posting would be a more effective strategy.
The point of firing them is not to get them to change their mind. It’s to remove a potential harmful person from your employees, customers, and business interests.
Am I the only one who finds it crazy to see people arguing for more tolerance of bigots in the workplace in the middle of a thread about a bigot who has proven himself to be a public menace? Seems like this argument would better suited for a situation in which a bigot went on to do something unexpectedly heroic, like rush into a burning building to rescue a bunch of undocumented immigrants or something. But nope, it shows up here, in a thread about a textbook case of danger danger Will decapitated mannequins in the back of the van Robinson.
Shouldn’t the lesson from all of this be that if a person hates so strongly that they make their beliefs publicly obvious, then its reasonable to assume they pose a potential threat and should be avoided? If this means firing someone, then so be it; no employer should be shamed into keeping an employee who waves the kind of red flags Sayoc did. Are we all agreement on this point? It is not clear to me whether this view is unanimous.
How are multiracial* people supposed to separate voluntarily? I’m not sure I’d trust someone with the level of intelligence required to hold such an impossible belief to have the ability to make correct change.
Where “race” can be taken as either of its usual meanings of “(biological) ancestry” or “(ancestral) culture”.
While they’re working for me, they’re hurting my business – scaring away customers and making the other employees uncomfortable. Of course I’ve got to fire them.
That Kavanaugh was accused by multiple women and these allegations should have been fully investigated prior to voting on him is a “conspiracy theory”?
Okay, I’ll fully admit to conspiring with other liberals to try and fully investigate accusations of sexual assault. Guilty as charged!
What kind of steps are you willing to take to ensure someone doesn’t lose their livelihood just because they are a Nazi? We already know you’re not willing to fire one as long as he does the job you’re paying him to do.
But as a customer, would you shop at a Nazi-owned store? Assuming the Nazi is selling products at a competitive price and quality, would you feel ethically obligated to buy from them?
How much of a blind eye would you be willing to turn to those who advocate and promote genocide, all in the pursuit of protecting their livelihoods?