I agree it could have been conscious bias. But it was definitely bias. A) I was not well known, B) the company (and the floor) is way to large for not recognizing somebody to novel, and C) I asked several of my colleagues who had been their longer if it had ever happened to them.
Now it's my turn to ask a question: why was it your immediate reflex to (rudely and dismissively) justify a situation that you know nothing about?
>Now it's my turn to ask a question: why was it your immediate reflex to (rudely and dismissively) justify a situation that you know nothing about?
Because your story, as told, leaves that pretty massive gap. A supervisor in charge of interns being recognized vs the temporary intern not being recognized is the occam's razor answer that also popped into my head as well. The fact that you didn't offer any evidence as part of the story to explain why the obvious answer wasn't the answer does raise the question of whether or not that had occurred to you.
I don't think i was rude. If you think i was, i assure you it was unintended. But i do think you were rude to the person in your story whom you declared biased one way or another without talking to them. I only know about the situation from what you have written here on a public forum where scrutiny from other people is expected. And i only did what you did, and that is speculate (although much less negative), since your story reads like fiction to me.
Oh, so "do you have some kind of telepathic mind reading powers" was a sincere query as to my abilities? Because in your experience it is a common thing that actually happens?
> since your story reads like fiction to me
Ah, this is another example of your politeness? Saying that it seems like a long-time participant posting under his real-world identity is just making things up? You will have to tell me more about which etiquette manual is telling you that assuming somebody is a liar is the friendly thing to do.
I understand now why you might think i'm being rude and i apologize for it. I don't think you lied, and i believe that you are sincere about what you say. And all that i'm saying back to you is that you still don't have any proof that that person was being racist. You chose that uncharitable narrative, it is not self evident from what you your self have told us.
That's a non-apology apology. [1] You have avoided actually admitting that you were being rude. If you'd like people to think your apologies sincere, you have to recognize your bad behavior, not just put it on somebody else's interpretation.
Second, I never said he was racist -- that's your interpretation. I specifically avoided that term because when white people are experiencing white fragility [1], which is certain to happen in a large group discussion like this, then they immediately cast any incident in into the common post-Civil-Rights-era frame of "racist=bad person" and start defending their fellow white person, who surely must be good. What I talked about was unconscious racial bias.
Third, your demanding "proof" is unreasonable. What would count? Should I have fMRI scans done of the person's brain under various stimuli? Even that wouldn't be enough; you could argue he might harbor racial bias, but that it wasn't active at the time he grilled my intern. I just looked at the last few pages of your comments here, and you have offered all sorts of reasonable opinions without ever giving a bit of proof. You are bringing up a standard that couldn't possibly apply and that you don't hew to yourself. You might ask yourself why.
Fourth, I included evidence. First, there was the testimony of the one witness who, even though he's still in college, has had to become an expert in America's still pervasive and demonstrable white bias against black people. Second, there was my testimony as to the nature of the environment and the rareness of an event like this. Third, as I mentioned, I talked about this with my boss. In all of our judgments, under the preponderance of the evidence, this was an unconscious racial bias incident. Nobody at the company thought otherwise, including HR and the black employee group, who deal with this sort of thing regularly at that company.
Fifth, it's not my job to prove anything to internet randos. It's your job to understand America's racial dynamics and how this fits in before commenting. I told this story knowing full well that I'd get salty replies from people who would react with instant denial to any description of a bias incident caused by someone like them (a well-meaning white tech dude). Why would they do that? Well, if you have studied American racial dynamics, you'll already know the answer to that. And if you haven't, I recommend that you read one or two of the four books I've already recommended in this discussion. You'll learn something.
Why is talking and asking a person about his actions unreasonable? You are basically badmouthing that person here for the whole world to see how bad he is!
Oh, now we're on to "badmouthing". With no acknowledgement of any of my points, including the fact that you were rude and dodged apologizing. Or of your apparent lack of understanding of the topic you're so eager to discuss.
You should note that you're very invested in defending the honor of a white person that is even to me totally anonymous. And then go read DiAngelo's book.
Now it's my turn to ask a question: why was it your immediate reflex to (rudely and dismissively) justify a situation that you know nothing about?