Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

That’s interesting, that overt discrimination on the basis of a protected characteristic (sex, race) is allowed in these cases, even by public institutions. How is it not challenged in the courts under the various civil rights acts and nondiscrimination laws of states?

However, if we are going to solve a problem (eg non biodegradeable plastic) we must do it upstream (eg taxing non biodegradeable plastic and nudging corporations into switching to biodegradeable materials), rather than expend tons of effort downstream (eg banning plastic bags, straws and blaming individuals).

Same here... if we are going to be doing something about girls in STEM as a society, I’d rather do it upstream — earlier in life — because otherwise trying to fiddle around the edges later is just a bandaid.

PS: as an aside, I found the expression “it’s the boys getting the shaft right now” a bit ironic, given the origins of the phrase https://www.etymonline.com/word/shaft



At least in Canada, discrimination is considered the denial of something, but anything that improves someone's condition on the basis of race is fine.

[Race] may not own houses. -- Illegal. [Race] is given extra help to own houses. -- Legal


Given that there is only a finite amount of money/resources available to help people, giving extra to someone based on their race is equivalent to depriving another of help based on their race.


Hiring/acceptance is zero-sum. Privileging one group is taking spots away from another.


Is there something you can point me to, in order to learn more about Canada's approach? So you're saying that a program specifically to give cash to white men only as "extra help to own houses" would be perfectly fine?


Affirmative action programs have a specific constitutional carve out up here:

https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/page-15.html#:~:te....


Isn't "[Race] is given extra help to own houses" the same as "[not-Race] is given no extra help to own houses"?


On average [Not-Race] has more wealth to afford houses, or home ownership is more common than [Race] in these programs.

You do see anger when individuals perceive they can't afford homes, school, or other big ticket items and perceive that they aren't given help - but that isn't quite the same as denying people something.


>On average [Not-Race] has more wealth to afford houses //

Which is fine if you're part of that the well-off, but if you're just a person and not benefitted by the categroy association with rich people who happen to be the same race -- a simplistic association that discriminatory, racist people make -- then you're shit out of luck.

Discriminating against people is denying them something, it's denying them a fair shot, fair treatment by the government. Regardless of their sex or skin colour they deserve fair opportunity.


> perceive that they aren't given help - but that isn't quite the same as denying people something.

How is that not denying them help?

> On average [Not-Race] has more wealth to afford houses, or home ownership is more common than [Race] in these programs.

So why not just have your aid program be based on wealth, rather than race?


Odd, I suspect the same people would offer the idea that wealth disparity is bad.


I don't understand how this logic can hold up when resources are finite.


It doesn't, they were just looking for a way to justify discrimination that they saw as positive and no one was there to defend against it.


They can’t reject boys attending the girls club. If they did they’d likely loose a lawsuit.

However the organization’s programming can be very feminist, turning off boys.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: