• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Racists Getting Fired

Status
Not open for further replies.

Two Words

Member
It's not about the racists or their hateful comments: it's about the precedent of giving employers even greater control of our lives than they already have. There is an extreme danger to all of us in doing so even if most people in this thread don't see it.

I've seen a lot of extraordinarily shitty people who had the power to hire and fire others and I imagine a lot of others have too. In this particular instance, people are fired for bigotry and you're supportive of it. What about when someone is fired for posting in support of abortion, marching in a gay pride parade, or possessing positive views of atheism?



Your assertion is completely detached from reality as these kinds of terminations can and do already happen without the backlash you speak of. There's also the very obvious fact that an employer in an at-will state could easily veil the true reasoning of a termination behind some other infraction. Ever been a few minutes late to work? Ever been a few minutes late when getting back from lunch? Ever taken a sick day when you weren't really sick? I'm willing to bet that those 3 questions alone would get at least one 'Yes' from 99.9% of the working population and any could be used as legitimate grounds for termination in an at-will state.
Slippery slope arguments suck because you can argue the reverse. Clearly the fact that employers can fire you for what you say at work has led to the slippery slope of them being able to fire you for what you say outside of work. Therefore in order to avoid that slippery slope from continuing, I argue we stop allowing employers to fire employees for what they say at work. My argument is even stronger because I don't have to depend on a "maybe" situation. Exactly what I declared will happen has happened.
 
It's not about the racists or their hateful comments: it's about the precedent of giving employers even greater control of our lives than they already have. There is an extreme danger to all of us in doing so even if most people in this thread don't see it.

I've seen a lot of extraordinarily shitty people who had the power to hire and fire others and I imagine a lot of others have too. In this particular instance, people are fired for bigotry and you're supportive of it. What about when someone is fired for posting in support of abortion, marching in a gay pride parade, or possessing positive views of atheism?

So being racist is equivilant to being in support of abortion, marching in a gay pride parade, or possessing positive views of atheism? The difference is, if you were fired for any of the later you would be able to sue the shit out of your employer and more then likely win, which is why no one in their right mind would fire you for any of those reasons. The same cannot be said for being a racist. Your slippery slope doesn't work.
 
The only thing worst than racists are people apathetic to that sort of behaviour, they're lower than scum in my eyes.

MLK sums it up best.

Over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a “more convenient season.”

Yeah, I'll sit around and do nothing while racists get free reign to insult and dehumanise people.
 

NilaDebila

Neo Member
Asking for a speech policing that influences your possibilities jobwise might not be a good idea for a world where discussion and conversation are (in my view) the resolution to ignorance. The result would be silent racism, where its effects would be a lot harder to discern and combat.

(Edited some stuff, gotta word my shit better/think my opinion through)
 
Finally some sense.. While hate speech is punishable by law, having shitty opinions is not. Being on NeoGaf i see a lot of discussions on whether or not something is racist. Keep in mind I'm not talking about the cases from the OP specifically. It's just that asking for a thought policing that influences your possibilities jobwise might not be a good idea for a world where discussion and conversation should be the ideal.

This isn't a thought policy, they said racist Shit, which is an action. Employers are perfectly allowed to fire you for something you say in your peesonal life and they already do.
 
Finally some sense.. While hate speech is punishable by law, having shitty opinions is not. Being on NeoGaf i see a lot of discussions on whether or not something is racist. Keep in mind I'm not talking about the cases from the OP specifically. It's just that asking for a thought policing that influences your possibilities jobwise might not be a good idea for a world where discussion and conversation should be the ideal.

Who was punished by the law? Freedom of speech does not mean freedom of consequence. They're free to say whatever they want but they better be ready for the repercussions of their words.
 

Redd

Member
Racist saying racist shit and paying the consequences. I don't see a problem with this. Freedom of speech doesn't mean freedom from consequence. It just means you have the right to say what you want without the government throwing you in prison or worse.

So what if some anonymous person is exposing racist. Good, stop posting racist shit out in public and keep it to yourself.
 

Malyse

Member
ITT: White people who have never experienced institutional racism are uncomfortable with things people publicly post being forwarded to the companies they publicly announced working for.
 

jmood88

Member
LOL, almost every US state is at-will employment, meaning they don't need any fucking reason at all to fire you.
And it's pretty funny that the people who get fired because of this vote for the politicians who put those employment laws in place.
 
Finally some sense.. While hate speech is punishable by law, having shitty opinions is not. Being on NeoGaf i see a lot of discussions on whether or not something is racist. Keep in mind I'm not talking about the cases from the OP specifically. It's just that asking for a thought policing that influences your possibilities jobwise might not be a good idea for a world where discussion and conversation should be the ideal.

Let me get your thoughts on a hypothetical situation. Let's say you're the boss of someone who works at a daycare. On FB they have posted rather suggestive posts about how much they love little kids, posts that go into creepy territory and might even suggest pedophilia. They haven't done anything inappropriate with kids, don't have child porn or anything like that, but you, as their employer find out. Do you continue to have them working at your daycare?
 

Siegcram

Member
Anyone making some sort of "thought police" argument knows how Twitter and FB works right? That it's not some magical device that broadcasts you're deepest thoughts and desires unfiltered into the void of the WWW?

You have to, like, type it out and hit "send".
 

bill0527

Member
I'm surprised that not every company in America has social media training and explicit company policies.

I know when I started my new job in real estate last year, I got a big policy manual and about 4 hours of sit-down training.

Most of it is common sense stuff, but some people are so damn stupid they need to have it explicitly stated to them. Don't post this...don't post that...or you're fired.
 

Gamerloid

Member
Yep, these are not the kind of people you want to represent your business. Racism is a big issue and they made their opinions public.
ITT: White people who have never experienced institutional racism are uncomfortable with things people publicly post being forwarded to the companies they publicly announced working for.
How do you know they are white?
 

Averon

Member
Anyone making some sort of "thought police" argument knows how Twitter and FB works right? That it's not some magical device that broadcasts you're deepest thoughts and desires unfiltered into the void of the WWW?

You have to, like, type it out and hit "send".

Yup. Which is why people arguing about "thought police!!!" gets a big rolls eyes from me.

No one is forcing these people to air out every shitty thought that crosses their mind. They are being horrible people of their own free will and letting the world know it.
 
Anyone making some sort of "thought police" argument knows how Twitter and FB works right? That it's not some magical device that broadcasts you're deepest thoughts and desires unfiltered int the void of the WWW?

You have to, like, type it out and hit "send".

This is what get's me scratching my head about these arguments. These people are choosing to sit down and type out X,Y, Z into something that broadcasts it publicly. They aren't being forced or coerced into making their thoughts known, they are straight up just making their thoughts known of their own will. They either never thought anyone of the race that they reference or anyone sympathetic to the race they reference would see their public post or they thought about it and simply didn't care. They aren't sympathetic victims in my eyes either way.
 

NilaDebila

Neo Member
I feel bad for racists, they should be a protected class. It's hard for them living in America where they're treated as second class citizens.

Sorry, English is not my native language so I might use the wrong words to express my sentiments. It might not me totally relevant for this discussion, but my argument boils down to that basing employment on expressing the right set of morals might not be a good idea for a free society. Solving repression by repression?
 

rambis

Banned
ITT: White people who have never experienced institutional racism are uncomfortable with things people publicly post being forwarded to the companies they publicly announced working for.
The pivots in this thread are baffling. I say racist bigots should continue to be cast away from society as the rest of the the world tries to move to bigger problems.
 

Siegcram

Member
Sorry, English is not my native language so I might use the wrong words to express my sentiments. It might not me totally relevant for this discussion, but my argument boils down to that basing employment on expressing the right set of morals might not be a good idea for a free society. Solving repression by repression?
Freedom of speech =/= freedom from consequences of said speech
 
Sorry, English is not my native language so I might use the wrong words to express my sentiments. It might not me totally relevant for this discussion, but my argument boils down to that basing employment on expressing the right set of morals might not be a good idea for a free society. Solving repression by repression?

If you meant oppression in your last sentence than LOL

I can't believe the people whining about "tattling" in here as if we're in fucking high school and someone was cheating on a test. If you are dumb enough to post anything to twitter or facebook under your real name you don't deserve an once of sympathy when your dumbass gets fired.
 

Reule

Member
No sympathy. I would like to think that if someone tried impersonating another individual to get them fired this way, they'd be able to explain/prove to their employer that it wasn't them somehow.
 

Red Comet

Member
It sort of boggles my mind that some are arguing for these scumbags to keep their jobs. Freedom of speech does not exist in the private sector. Being fired for something you publically broadcast on Twitter for all the world to see is hardly an invasion of privacy.
 

Lebron

Member
I can't believe the people whining about "tattling" in here as if we're in fucking high school and someone was cheating on a test.

It's pretty hilarious. Even forgetting the fact that these people agreed and understood that this kind of action was not tolerated when they signed the employee agreement form.
 
So being racist is equivilant to being in support of abortion, marching in a gay pride parade, or possessing positive views of atheism?

The difference is, if you were fired for any of the later you would be able to sue the shit out of your employer and more then likely win, which is why no one in their right mind would fire you for any of those reasons. The same cannot be said for being a racist. Your slippery slope doesn't work.

You'd be wrong on basically every point you made here. Employment laws in most states will not protect the type of scenarios I put forth: your political, religious, and sexual views are not protected in most states throughout the country. That's assuming they are foolish enough to list the true, controversial reasoning for firing you instead of listing any of the innocuous but prevalent employment violations that almost every employee in the country is guilty of. You could sue and you would lose: as someone who recently went through this in battling anti-LGBT bigotry at work, I'm painfully aware of the limits of employment laws in most states.

Anyone making some sort of "thought police" argument knows how Twitter and FB works right? That it's not some magical device that broadcasts you're deepest thoughts and desires unfiltered into the void of the WWW?

You have to, like, type it out and hit "send".

Ever found a picture of yourself at the bar that wasn't taken by you?

Unless you believe there is a "right" side to racism then your entire post holds no water. I'm a liberal aethist that lives in the south as well. The thing is, you can argue your side on euthanasia and at the end of the day both sides may have merit. You can't accept this type of racism as anything but hate speech. There's no opinion worth discussing. There's no "side" worth hearing out.

I'm beginning to wonder if some of you are even reading what you're quoting. I've made it quite clear that my positions and opinions in this thread have absolutely nothing to do with racism and everything to do with the precedent of allowing employers dominion over our personal lives under pain of termination.

Whether or not I can argue the merits of gay marriage, euthanasia, or religion should have no bearing on whether or not my employer could terminate me for having an opinion contrary to theirs.
 

rambis

Banned
Sorry, English is not my native language so I might use the wrong words to express my sentiments. It might not me totally relevant for this discussion, but my argument boils down to that basing employment on expressing the right set of morals might not be a good idea for a free society. Solving repression by repression?
You have to realize that you're talking about people who are against basic human rights. A company should have every right to set the standard of individual that they want to work for them. Why in the FUCK should they be expected to hold on to people who are openly posting racist rhetoric on social media? Some even with association of their employers posted as well.

"Ship the niggers back to Africa" is a far more dangerous ideology than a vague claim that "free society" is in danger from dealing with these individuals.
 

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
I'm beginning to wonder if some of you are even reading what you're quoting. I've made it quite clear that my positions and opinions in this thread have absolutely nothing to do with racism and everything to do with the precedent of allowing employers dominion over our personal lives under pain of termination.

There's your problem.

Twitter is public, not personal.
 
Sorry, English is not my native language so I might use the wrong words to express my sentiments. It might not me totally relevant for this discussion, but my argument boils down to that basing employment on expressing the right set of morals might not be a good idea for a free society. Solving repression by repression?

Having a poltical belief isn't the same as hating people for the color of their skin. Do you realize how bad having racists work for you can be for business. Literally half your consumer base are poc in the US and having some asshat at the front desk who looks down in someone for looking different can kill your business. Hands down if the employer knows you're racist they shouldn't hire you or keep you on.
 
It sort of boggles my mind that some are arguing for these scumbags to keep their jobs. Freedom of speech does not exist in the private sector. Being fired for something you publically broadcast on Twitter for all the world to see is hardly an invasion of privacy.

Right, I if I walk around town with a big sign that says "God hates fags" you better believe it would get back to my employer and they would fire the shit out of me.
 

JCizzle

Member
I'm fine with all of those. I think in some situations people are truly ignorant about certain things that are justifiably construed as racism, and I wouldn't support this in those situations, but these examples are all cut and dry straight up hatred.
 

Christine

Member
It's nice to see that at least a couple of people are using reasoning powers that extend beyond the obvious "Racism bad, lol." statements that have been pervasive throughout this thread. The question isn't whether racism is bad or whether employers have been firing people for things they've done in their personal time: the question is whether or not they should.

As a liberal atheist in the south, I find myself standing apart from almost every majority opinion in the region. I think it should be illegal to force children below a certain age to go to church, legal to have abortions, legal to allow medically-assisted suicides, and all sorts of opinions that would most likely get me fired (Or shunned/pushed out) if a name was associated with my opinions. This isn't a trend that should be celebrated and people are right to criticize it, even when it's superficially satisfying to see racist people get theirs.

I'm going to tell you the same thing that leftist economists tell Rod Dreher when he complains about the threat to religious liberty represented by same sex marriage: strengthen employment protection across the board. Or make employment less important to basic survival. Or both.

Trying to condemn the act of reporting someone's off-work conduct to their employer is helplessly futile. You can't inhibit this behavior with negative social pressure because the people reporting don't have to answer to you, because you don't even know who they are.
 
It sort of boggles my mind that some are arguing for these scumbags to keep their jobs. Freedom of speech does not exist in the private sector. Being fired for something you publically broadcast on Twitter for all the world to see is hardly an invasion of privacy.
.

No remorse for anyone who got caught saying dumb shit online.
 
Twitter is public. A lot of jobs require you to interact with other people. Being racist kinda forms your interactions with people. So it makes sense that not only would companies not want racists representing their company but it also impacts their ability to do their job.

I don't see how anybody can have a problem with this. Like the slippery slope argument holds zero water because the situations aren't really comparable. If something else pops up deal with it then. But it doesn't mean people shouldn't be held responsible for their actions now because something worse miiiight happen in the future.
 

Red

Member
I was fortunate enough to hear a conversation between a few lovely individuals over Thanksgiving dinner.

"It's sad these people can't get their acts together. I really thought we were past this."
"Have you noticed it's only them rioting, not us?"
"That's because we've moved past racism. They can't let it go."

I lean closer, and I know I shouldnt, but I have to ask.

"Who's they?"

"Niggers."

Uh, huh.

Times like that I wish I could hop in a plane and fly far away from everyone I know.
 

Dali

Member
You'd be wrong on basically every point you made here. Employment laws in most states will not protect the type of scenarios I put forth: your political, religious, and sexual views are not protected in most states throughout the country. That's assuming they are foolish enough to list the true, controversial reasoning for firing you instead of listing any of the innocuous but prevalent employment violations that almost every employee in the country is guilty of. You could sue and you would lose: as someone who recently went through this in battling anti-LGBT bigotry at work, I'm painfully aware of the limits of employment laws in most states.



Ever found a picture of yourself at the bar that wasn't taken by you?



I'm beginning to wonder if some of you are even reading what you're quoting. I've made it quite clear that my positions and opinions in this thread have absolutely nothing to do with racism and everything to do with the precedent of allowing employers dominion over our personal lives under pain of termination.

Whether or not I can argue the merits of gay marriage, euthanasia, or religion should have no bearing on whether or not my employer could terminate me for having an opinion contrary to theirs.
My response was in the fact that you placed, and still continue to place, hate speech on the same level as legit political opinions. It's a false equivalency. It's apples and oranges.
 

_Ryo_

Member
There are people in this thread that are confusing an Internal monologue with a spoken thoughts.

1. An internal monologue is a thought that you have consciously in your head to only yourself without broadcasting it to anyone else. NO ONE should face any repercussions for internal monologue.

2. A spoken thought is when you take your internal monologue and publicly and consciously make it known to an outside audience that does not reside in your mind.

If employers had a device that could extract an internal monologue without a employees consent and then fires said employee in relation to that internal monologue then THAT would be thought policing.

What is happening in reality is that there are idiots consciously consenting to publicly announce their racist views to a huge audience, knowing that their views are intolerable in todays society and are facing the consequences for stating said negative views in public.

There is absolutely NOT any thought policing whatsoever happening. Quite frankly, I find it really disgusting and even insulting that there are people that defend the bigots that are losing their jobs and that they should be criticized for their apathy as much as the racists' for their bigotry.
 

Two Words

Member
Finally some sense.. While hate speech is punishable by law, having shitty opinions is not. Being on NeoGaf i see a lot of discussions on whether or not something is racist. Keep in mind I'm not talking about the cases from the OP specifically. It's just that asking for a thought policing that influences your possibilities jobwise might not be a good idea for a world where discussion and conversation should be the ideal.
These racists aren't being punished by law, so your entire point is moot.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom