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   clacke@libranet.de is my main (notclacke@fedia.social)'s status on Thursday, 08-May-2025 20:01:31 JST clacke@libranet.de is my main

   swedenherald.com/article/usa-urges-stockholm-to-cease-diversity-initiatives
   
   the most surreal thing so far from the current US

   • Embed this notice
     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Friday, 09-May-2025 15:09:38 JST clacke

     in reply to
     An acquaintance suggested that it might be malicious compliance on the embassy's part. If it is, maybe it's bizarre on purpose to make a point and stir things up.
   • Embed this notice
     clacke@libranet.de is my main (notclacke@fedia.social)'s status on Friday, 09-May-2025 16:25:28 JST clacke@libranet.de is my main

     in reply to

     • hypolite

     @hypolite Note that I did hedge my statement. 🙂😔
     
     www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfpPArfDTGw

   • Embed this notice
     hypolite (hypolite@friendica.mrpetovan.com)'s status on Friday, 09-May-2025 16:25:30 JST hypolite

     in reply to
     @notclacke Be careful now, “The most surreal thing from the current US admin” is a heavily contested category since January 20th.
     Linux Walt Alt (@lnxw37a2) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Saturday, 10-May-2025 04:23:34 JST clacke

     in reply to

     • hypolite

     @hypolite It was a speculative thought, not intended as deep analysis. I'll continue to enjoy their speculation. 😊

     Thank you for the patch request! I will check it out, merge it to my mental model and feed it back to the other conversation as well.

   • Embed this notice
     hypolite (hypolite@friendica.mrpetovan.com)'s status on Saturday, 10-May-2025 04:23:35 JST hypolite

     in reply to

     • clacke

     @clacke The US embassies in at least Denmark, France and Belgium have issued the same kind of letter, which means that your acquaintance seems to be refusing to engage with the current reality. I don't blame them, but I wouldn't trust them about American news going forward.

     edition.cnn.com/2025/04/01/bus…

   • Embed this notice
     hypolite (hypolite@friendica.mrpetovan.com)'s status on Saturday, 10-May-2025 04:23:52 JST hypolite

     in reply to

     • clacke
     @clacke Unfortunately it's too close to home for me to enjoy this kind of soft speculation. Shit's getting real bad real fast over here. 😞
     clacke likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Monday, 12-May-2025 14:11:26 JST clacke

     in reply to

     One of the things the MAGA people like to make a fuss about is so-called discrimination, supposed minority quotas, etc. Such programs have been around long before people started using the term DEI, when it was called “affirmative action”, but DEI work in general is not about that. The Executive Order even goes to the trouble of using the term “affirmative action” in a completely unrelated sense to further erode the boundaries of language.

     [5/6]

   • Embed this notice
     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Monday, 12-May-2025 14:11:28 JST clacke

     in reply to

     My interpretation above may sound exaggerated, but what you can see happening in practice when anti-DEI comes into force is first of all that equity work stops.

     Best case, departments are renamed and told to reign it in a bit. But when people don't do their best at reducing the harm, but instead step up to satisfy the ideology behind the order, we see the U.S. Air Force taking down information and videos about Black and female pilots, and banning the use of that material in their training. We see government agencies taking down information that happens to mention certain words, firing entire teams whose jobs it was to reduce discrimination, etc.

     [4/6]

   • Embed this notice
     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Monday, 12-May-2025 14:11:29 JST clacke

     in reply to

     trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/p…

     "The contractor shall not use any workplace training that inculcates in its employees [ . . . ] any form of race or sex scapegoating, including [ . . . ] an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously [ . . . ] members of one race or sex cannot and should not attempt to treat others without respect to race or sex [ . . . ] meritocracy or traits such as a hard work ethic are racist or sexist"

     This means that you cannot teach about structural racism, subconscious racism, personalized treatment where it is logical and compassionate rather than racist, or how terms like “meritocracy” are often misused.

     You can still work on equity, but you have to be careful not to mention structural racism, or you risk invalidating yourself, or the whole course, or the department.

     [3/6]

   • Embed this notice
     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Monday, 12-May-2025 14:11:30 JST clacke

     in reply to

     It is worded as objectively and reasonably as possible on the surface, but what lies underneath is the McCarthy era of our time.

     "US embassies have sent letters to contractors in their host countries demanding they certify that they do not run any diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs that violate President Donald Trump’s executive order against race- and sex-based preferences."

     What is the executive order? It's page after page of rambling about how bad, corrupt and unfair things have become, and then we get to the concrete matter. It mixes up things that sound good and fair, banning discrimination based on race and gender, etc, with what seems like a tiny little jab at active equity work, but it's a barbed dagger that has big consequences.

     [2/6]

   • Embed this notice
     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Monday, 12-May-2025 14:11:32 JST clacke

     in reply to

     • hypolite

     Thanks @hypolite for linking me to a better article on what's going on. The one I linked to got it backwards and made it sound like the embassy was making demands on random orgs to comply before they order from US suppliers.

     What's really going on is that embassies are making demands on the suppliers they normally sign contracts with, which makes a lot more sense logically, even if you disagree with their requirements.

     Analysis to follow.

     edition.cnn.com/2025/04/01/bus…
     /via friendica.mrpetovan.com/displa…

     [1/6]

   • Embed this notice
     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Tuesday, 13-May-2025 20:20:50 JST clacke

     in reply to

     Clarification on "affirmative action":

     For college admissions specifically, it was ruled already in 1978 that straight up minority quotas are not allowed. However, a weighted selection was allowed, where belonging to a prioritized group could be a factor.

     As of 2023, factoring in a person's belonging to a minority group is no longer allowed for college admissions.

     en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmat…

   • Embed this notice
     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Tuesday, 13-May-2025 20:20:51 JST clacke

     in reply to

     One can certainly criticize the way DEI has been done in large companies and government agencies. There has been a lot of talk and little action, more finger-pointing, ticking boxes and launching slogans, and less systematic problem-solving.

     If you ask people who are working on successful and constructive DEI what they are doing, it is about things like broadening the intake or having partially anonymized applications at certain stages to reduce systematic discrimination, finding and removing irrelevant criteria that unfairly impact certain groups, and not about trying to tip the scales at the other end, not about having different criteria and assessments for different groups.

     When the US government says “scrap all DEI”, then this is the work they want to get at; Their claims of illegal discrimination are a smokescreen.

     [6/6]

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     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Tuesday, 13-May-2025 20:21:11 JST clacke

     in reply to

     There is no mention of government hiring ever having explicitly included preferential treatment for any race or gender after 1964.

     en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmat…