GreyPawn.com

Friday, October 19th, 2007

Quiet Examples

It is rare that I feel that Sanya (blessed be her name) is wrong on an issue, but the particular sentiment expressed in her recent post regarding minorities and special interest groups has me rethinking the entire concept of activism.  From what I understand of history, the bulk majority of equal rights for special interest groups like women, gays, and black people have been brought about as a result of a large societal push spearheaded by activism.  Speaking out and getting involved are the motivators of these civic changes, and obviating the differences and the built-in unfairness is the only way to raise awareness of such issues.  I don’t see anything wrong with someone saying, “hey, I’m a woman or other minority and I’m being treated unfairly, so let’s talk about this.”

Those “pink panels”, while undoubtedly a novelty and patronizing are still about awareness and in some limited capacity empowerment.  There’s a reason the majority of developers in the industry are white males and that diversity in this field is a running joke.  Changing common perceptions is all about speaking out, and speaking out often.  Quiet examples and non-participation are fine and dandy if you are comfortable with the perpetual marginalization of your given difference, and are certainly admirable by any measure.  But in order to see actual change happen, you have to have unity, awareness, and activism.  You can’t just look at your difference and say, oh well, I’m being treated differently for it, so I’m just going to ignore it.  You should not only obviate it, but celebrate it.  The alternative is passive acceptance of a system constructed to keep you at the bottom. 

Sure, you may not think that you represent your given differences, but to those around you, it is simple human nature that you absolutely do.  The upper brain may not judge and label out of some civic conscience, but the unconscious mind catalogues your actions under very precise labels in a system that makes gmail look light in the shoes on the cross-referencing.  I am in no way as eloquent as Sanya, but my point is that Dr. King and Susan Anthony weren’t quiet examples, and that occasionally being active and vocal in special interests doesn’t have to be a bad thing. 

The general objective isn’t to push forward an agenda or self-flaggelate, but rather to unify in the face of an incestuous network of good ol’ boys, who-knows-who and business-as-usual discrimination.  The precious veneer of progressive high-techers tends to strip away real quick-like after a given head count in any game company staff photo.

There are marches for a reason, damnit.