Wednesday, June 02, 2021

Google, don't be evil to the Jews.

Can't believe I'm sitting here, 2021, and we're having the "Jews are evil!" conversation. I thought the Greatest Generation settled that shit when they picked Hitler's dead ass out of his bunker in 1945.

But no. Here we are again.

Kamau Bobb, Google Diversity Tzar.

Kamau Bobb, who is also an 'Equity in Computing' don at Georgia Tech, wrote a 2007 blog post, which remains on his website, titled: 'If I Were A Jew.'

Bobb writes: 'If I were a Jew I would be concerned about my insatiable appetite for war and killing in defense of myself. Self defense is undoubtedly an instinct, but I would be afraid of my increasing insensitivity to the suffering of others.'


This is not "Kamau Bobb the guy in charge of sandwiches at Google" okay? This is "Kamau Bobb, Google's head of diversity strategy." He's the guy who puts the "J" in SJW. Here's some more of what he wrote, published in the Daily Mail:

In his 14-year-old blog post, Bobb wrote: 'Suffering and oppression typically give rise to sympathy and compassion among the oppressed ... I would conclude that my Jewish faith and the history of my people render me closer to human compassion; closer to the instinct to offer healing to hurt, patience to anxiety and understanding to confusion.

'I don't know how I would reconcile that identity with the behavior of fundamentalist Jewish extremists or of Israel as a nation ...

'I wouldn't understand those who suggest that bombing Lebanon, slaughtering Lebanese people and largely destroying Beirut in retaliation for the capture of a few soldiers is justified.

'I wouldn't understand the notion of collective punishment, cutting off gas, electricity and water from residents in Gaza because they are attacking Israel who is fighting against them.

'It would be unconscionable to me to watch Israeli tanks donning the Star of David rumbling through Ramallah destroying buildings and breaking the glass.' 

The essay concludes with the paragraph: 'If I were a Jew I would be concerned about my insatiable appetite for war and killing in defense of myself. Self defense is undoubtedly an instinct, but I would be afraid of my increasing insensitivity to the suffering others. My greatest torment would be that I've misinterpreted the identity offered by my history and transposed spiritual and human compassion with self righteous impunity.'

If it seems a bit much to be dredging up 14 year old blog posts to slam this guy, I kind of agree. They've been sitting there on his blog for a long time, where was all the outrage back then?

But then I remember stuff like people getting fired over Halloween costume pics from the 1980s, I remember Jenna Marbles being chased off the internet for "blackface" when it was just a friggin' makeup video, I remember director James Gunn getting fired from Guardians of the Galaxy over 14 year old tweets. And I remember Justin Trudeau being caught doing -actual- blackface 40 times and getting a free pass from the media because he's Justin Trudeau.

So no. It's not too much anymore. New Rules are a bitch, boys. The friggin' Diversity Tzar of Google wrote "If I were a Jew I would be concerned about my insatiable appetite for war and killing" and he left it on there for 14 years. If James Gunn can be fired for a joke, this asshole can be fired too.

Update: It seems Google is a little gun-shy. Mr. Kamau Bobb is FIRED today.

Google removed the head of its diversity team after a blog post about Jewish people resurfaced.

Kamau Bobb, whose LinkedIn page says he has been in the position since September 2018, "will no longer be part of [Google's] diversity team going forward," a Google spokesperson told the Washington Examiner on Thursday.

His removal, though he will remain with the company and focus on STEM work, came days after the blog post titled "If I were a Jew" resurfaced, though it has since been deleted.

 

Yeah, FIRED! Buuut not really "fired", right? More like moved sideways until the uproar dies down. "We're sorry you wingnuts were offended by this totally reasonable thing our guy wrote."

Still, I'll take it. Every time one of these pricks gets cancelled, all the SJWs feel the Breath of Righteousness on the backs of their necks. That little zing of fear that someday their very own Cancel Machine might pick them.

If they really believe that might happen, the Cancel Machine will get put back in the garage and we won't see it again.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are you Jewish?

The Phantom said...

Who wants to know, anonymous random internet weenie?

The Overgrown Hobbit said...

Eh.

Some Jews are evil. Some are good. Some are meh. Even if you go with the group guilt thing, and claim there's no crime that communists - as commies, claiming commie-credit - have not committed which Jews qua Jews ditto; even if you are willing to use that standard for your hate... The Jews still have ethical Monotheism and Christ to their credit. So it's a wash.

The whole thing is asinine.

The only interesting bit is that posting the above makes people crazy. That's creepy.That's what gets the ItsaTrap!!! feelz firing.

And in gaslight central, in which we live, I understand how it can mess with your mind.


The Overgrown Hobbit said...

Which does not mean that Jews who reject Christ should not repent of their rebellion against the Covenant, accept the long-overdue blood sacrifice for their sins, and come Home.

But "making a critical theological error" is not the same as "It's the Joooooooos!!!!! All the bad stuff Is 'Cos of You" Critical Fail rolls are just human beings being human. And also telling all this to the Sons and Daughters of Abraham and Sarah is not a hate crime.

Maybe that's where some of the weirdness comes from?

The Phantom said...

Group guilt is a trick.

Oh, you're a Jew? That means you are guilty of everything bad that ever happened in Israel.

Oh, you're a Christian? You're guilty of the Spanish Inquisition and witch burnings and Colonialism!!!

Oh, you're a Muslim? Pass brother, you are righteous because we're only mad at Jews and Christians this week.

That's how that thing works.