from Hacker News

The A.C.L.U. Said a Worker Used Racist Tropes and Fired Her. But Did She?

by yasp on 3/22/24, 6:20 PM with 14 comments

  • by rayiner on 3/22/24, 6:35 PM

    > The heart of the A.C.L.U.’s defense — arguing for an expansive definition of what constitutes racist or racially coded speech — has struck some labor and free-speech lawyers as peculiar, since the organization has traditionally protected the right to free expression, operating on the principle that it may not like what someone says, but will fight for the right to say it.

    The ACLU's position in this case is based not only on an "expansive definition" of "racist or racially coded speech," but also on a racial hierarchy. The ACLU's emails make clear that the employee's statements were deemed racist because the employee is asian and was talking about her black supervisors. The ACLU does not seriously argue it would have deemed the same statements racist if the races were reversed.

    It's not just the ACLU. Many organizations and corporations seem to have assumed that certain progressive ideas about racism are actually reflected in the law. That is not the case, and many organizations have left themselves open to civil rights suits based on these misconceptions.

  • by sxp on 3/22/24, 6:44 PM

    Is this really the strongest evidence the ACLU found to justify the claim of "racism"? This entire case sounds like a right-wing parody of a left-wing workplace and "oppression Olympics".

    > The A.C.L.U. acknowledges that Ms. Oh, who is Korean American, never used any kind of racial slur. But the group says that her use of certain phrases and words demonstrated a pattern of willful anti-Black animus.

    > In one instance, according to court documents, she told a Black superior that she was “afraid” to talk with him. In another, she told a manager that their conversation was “chastising.” And in a meeting, she repeated a satirical phrase likening her bosses’ behavior to suffering “beatings.”

    > “As a Black male, language like ‘afraid’ generally is code word for me,” ... Mr. Needham, who is gay and grew up in the Deep South, ... Ms. Oh and her lawyers have cited her own past: As a survivor of domestic abuse, she was particularly sensitive to tense interactions with male colleagues. She said she was troubled by Mr. Needham’s once referring to his predecessor as a “friend,” since she was one of the employees who had criticized him.

  • by AdmiralAsshat on 3/22/24, 6:32 PM

  • by cameldrv on 3/22/24, 6:56 PM

    The ACLU became a completely different organization when Romero took over from Glasser.

  • by superkuh on 3/22/24, 6:28 PM

    Why do people even submit nytimes links when the article is completely unavailable? Can anyone actually read it or are we just supposed to debate about a vague headline?

  • by chrisjj on 3/22/24, 6:31 PM

  • by zer00eyz on 3/22/24, 6:31 PM

  • by hackeraccount on 3/22/24, 9:56 PM

    What the heck happened to the ACLU? They've gone from being an organization that wasn't concerned with what people thought about them to one that will do what it takes for the right people to love them.

  • by BenFranklin100 on 3/22/24, 6:36 PM

    I donated $1,000 to the ACLU after Trump was elected. I am not rich, but believe strongly in the ACLU’s historical mission to defend civil liberties. I deeply regret that donation. This story provides an example of how the ACLU leadership has been overtaken by people steeped in an illiberal philosophy that is too often antithetical to the tenets of classical liberalism.

    https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/09/04/the-threat-from...