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Comment by eplanit | Hacker News Reader

So, it's an institutional directive to its writers to treat subjects differently based on race: i.e. systemic racism.

Because, the best cure for perceived systemic racism is _actual_ systemic racism. It's all absurd.

I'm not really seeing how that in itself is racist. Could you clarify your point? E.g. I happen to be black and I also happen to usually not capitalize either black or white. Not that I care either way. I do however, generally capitalize "Asian" because it's the adjectival form of a place name, like French, African, American, etc. So am I being racist against Asian people or being racist in their favor, in your estimation?

It is better addressed in other posts, but fundamentally it is about affirming the concept of 'black' as a cultural identification while denying 'white' as one. Some people who identify as a cultural amalgam of generally white European ancestry are bothered that this is not viewed as a legitimate in comparison.

Why can't we treat people both as individuals, as groups, and acknowledge that groups are just generalizations that do not hold for the individual? We can't really deny either.

What is sad is when people hide in the shelter of group identity, instead of being responsible for their own speech and actions. It's often not in anyone's best interests, and distracts from clarity.

Most white Americans identify as their particular amalgam of European ancestry in my experience. Most black Americans can't do that. Slavery erased their particular African ancestry.

I mostly agree. I don't think that means "black" is a valid cultural identity and "white" is not.

Slavery, oppression, and loss are not the only ways in which a shared culture can be formed.

No one said they were. Most white Americans just don't consider themselves culturally White.

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