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Video game publishers are starting to use "anti-DEI" as a marketing meme (www.rockpapershotgun.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/gaming@beehaw.org
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[–] 17 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (8 children)

As much as I don’t care for DEI as a guiding “doctrine” for hiring, I also think companies shouldn’t be anti-diversity by law. Like intentionally hiring people because they aren’t white, no (and feels like tokenism/racism) but also intentionally hiring only whites (or the majority race) is a bigger no. Especially if more qualified candidates are being passed over solely because they’re PoC. Also companies should be inclusive so as to not be shit companies in general? Can someone tell me if/why my take is dumb or poorly thought out?

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  • [–] 55 points 2 years ago (5 children)

    Because DEI is intended to (and very often successful at) help hire the most qualified people. No one is color blind, and pretending people are only perpetuates inequality.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago (4 children)

    I guess I was hoping for something a bit more rigorous but still your reply makes sense. Thanks for the input.

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  • [–] 63 points 2 years ago* (3 children)

    DEI is the reason phones can take pictures of black people now. Once Google started hiring more black people, they could make changes to the software that used to always default to trying to adjust exposure for white skin. Now everyone’s skin tone looks good on Google phones. And all because Google hired a few black people who actually knew it was a problem in the first place.

    The same goes for any representative technology. The internet didn’t just start working for blind people automatically. Companies had to start hiring blind people before they knew it was an issue. We had a blind engineer come in to our team at Google and tell us how shitty our product was for him to use and how to fix it. Most people wouldn’t think a blind man could be a good software engineer, but he helped us make our product work for millions of additional people that wouldn’t have been able to use it otherwise.

    Everyone has different experiences, and just because someone knows how to build what you tell them to doesn’t mean they can make a good product. It’s only when you have diverse input throughout product development that the product you make will truly be good.

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  • [–] 36 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 child)

    Hell yeah, thanks a lot for taking the time to spoon feed my ignorant butt. Very informative reply, thank you. I guess a reply would be “that can be done without DEI” but then that just circles back to your no one is colourblind remark. If google wasn’t diverse organically without DEI, I don’t have much optimism other corporations would be.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago

    Piggy backing off of this, the DEI council at my job ensures that everyone has what they need to succeed in their role. For example, the All Gender restroom didn't have feminine sanitary products which was troublesome for some of our non binary staff. Instead of forcing them to use the women's bathroom, we installed a dispenser in the All Gender restroom.

    Also, many of the field employees shower at the office after their shift because it's dirty work. But the shower facilities were just one big room, high school style, which made several LGBTQ employees uncomfortable. We pushed for individual shower stalls as a DEI effort and now everyone feels more comfortable showering.

    These are things that straight, white, cis people probably wouldn't think of. The DEI council allows minority voices to be heard.

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  • [–] 31 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I posted above a few studies that show unconscious bias in hiring practices against people of color. There is a reason why DEI exists. It's like OSHA laws. Every rule for these programs has a great misfortune behind it.

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  • [–] 15 points 2 years ago

    Neat! I didn’t see that, I’ll give them a read.

    It's like OSHA laws. Every rule for these programs has a great misfortune behind it.

    A very succinct way of phrasing it. Cheers for that and for posting the studies.

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