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I was about to rollback the most recent edit in Richard U's question which removes the prologue, but since this is a contentious political issue I don't want to participate in an edit war.

I'd like to make sure that the opening statement, where the OP mentions his demographic and the apparent climate against it, is indeed on-topic. I'm leaning towards keeping it but I can see the argument against it.

To give my answer to Midas' comment:

I still fail to understand what the OP being white has to do with this (heavily edited) question. The first half of the question has nothing to do with the second.

The first half of the question mentions how the OP perceives himself to be victimized specifically because of his demographic.

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  • 4
    I agree, someone should roll this back and protect it.
    – SaggingRufus
    Aug 15, 2017 at 10:43
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    I'd still need some convincing to believe this question, in any form, is on topic.
    – Bernhard Barker
    Aug 15, 2017 at 22:06
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    OP's saying he's white and male would have made sense ONLY if he was working in a place where majority is black and female, so it should be rolled back.
    – Tolga Ozses
    Aug 16, 2017 at 10:30
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    @TolgaOzses Racial discrimination can happen anywhere, regardless of the dominant demographic. You don't have to be part of a minority to be discriminated against.
    – rath
    Aug 16, 2017 at 10:50
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    It's material to the question according to OP. And let me remind y'all that OP isn't exactly a fresher here, so I don't see why we can't take that assumption on good faith like other similar assumption about what matters.
    – Magisch
    Aug 24, 2017 at 8:55

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
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As the question stands now it looks ridiculous, as it basically says "How can I prevent discrimination against me by using things about me that people might discriminate against."

We have seen NUMEROUS questions about women facing discrimination, minorities facing discrimination, but apparently nobody outside a protected class can face discrimination.

People with disabilities face discrimination as well, I know this, I've been a bit of an activist.

Being white, however IS central to the question as is the dismissiveness given towards the problem.

The problem I face is the horns of a dilemma.

Should I risk facing discrimination because I am white and thus seen as "privileged", or should I risk invoking the protections given to those within the "protected groups" I belong to, and thus risk a DIFFERENT kind of discrimination.

The edit removes the crux of the dilemma

I am going to roll back the edit to a large degree.

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  • I didn't have any comments being removed for being rude and abusive. I'm sorry you are taking offence to my arguments around your question. For what it's worth, I think your latest edit is a massive improvement.
    – user29055
    Aug 15, 2017 at 12:52
  • I feel bad for answering this question after the previous edit (the one that I answered the question for) because I was under the impression that you had accepted that edit (or at least agreed with the edit). I have since deleted my answer as it's no longer relevant. I don't know how to answer the question regarding "white discrimination" - it's a punji trap of a question that I don't want to walk into.
    – user44108
    Aug 15, 2017 at 13:00
  • @Midas you actually made some very good points. It was coming across to me as if you were denying that these things even happened to me. If that was not your intent, then I apologize.
    – Old_Lamplighter
    Aug 15, 2017 at 13:01
  • @RichardU no, my fault - that was not my intention, as of course it's your lived experience. In my opinion it was drawing broad conclusions about white male discrimination which was a bit of a leap - but I didn't communicate that well enough, so I'm sorry for not being more empathetic and/or being too blunt. A learning experience for me. I do think now with the edits it's a more relevant question and I'm glad that there is a bounty on it and I look forward to seeing more answers. Glad we got to this point!
    – user29055
    Aug 15, 2017 at 13:13
  • @Midas Me too. I'm hardly one to criticize anyone for being too blunt, and the 'net lends itself to tone and understanding issues. On chat, I mentioned one time when an email I sent a coworker was misinterpreted as a threat to go to his boss when all I meant was to ask him if he would know something or if his boss would know better. No hard feelings, and again, your edit did make me realize how I was coming across. It helped quite a bit.
    – Old_Lamplighter
    Aug 15, 2017 at 13:23
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    As an aside I didn't have any comments being removed for being rude and abusive is really not how we want to determine whether something is rude or not.
    – Chris E
    Aug 15, 2017 at 13:37
  • I edited my post to remove references to comments.
    – Old_Lamplighter
    Aug 15, 2017 at 13:44
  • This argument doesn't make sense, largely I think because you don't understand the meaning of "privileged". How exactly would people understanding white male privilege lead to discrimination? Perhaps you mean you are worried about racism and misandry?
    – user
    Mar 27, 2018 at 13:55
  • Race and color are protected classes, no matter whether you are white, black, or green. It is illegal to fire you based in the color of your skin. No need to invoke your disabilities. law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/2000e-2
    – Georg Patscheider
    Dec 3, 2019 at 14:04
  • @GeorgPatscheider yeah, except when it's ruled that it's not... This is Canada, but still washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/07/07/…
    – Old_Lamplighter
    Dec 3, 2019 at 17:21
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I think it should be returned. As it stands, the question makes no sense at all.

It asks "How can I avoid discrimination?" but gives absolutely no indication of why, or how, for what reason there would be any discrimination against the asker.

I don't think you can reasonably answer the question until you know how the asker is being discriminated against.

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  • I kept some of Midas's points.
    – Old_Lamplighter
    Aug 15, 2017 at 13:02
  • I actually think avoiding discrimination as a whole is a good topic. Specifics would not be able to be mentioned, but avoiding things and picking up on general interactions that are discriminatory and prepping ones self to avoid such interactions I think is a standard part of the workplace regardless of the type of discrimination. One may be discriminated against a hairstyle which is totally ridiculous, but I have seen it done and had it done to me as well. Being able to adapt and cope with discrimination in a constructive way is very useful and pertinent to the workplace.
    – mutt
    Aug 16, 2017 at 13:15
  • @mutt the main part here is that the specifics of the situation are something lots of people don't think it's even possible for you to be discriminated against. I think "How to deal with being in a minority and being discriminated aganist" and "How to deal with being the majority and being discriminated against" are two different questions, with different answers.
    – Erik
    Aug 16, 2017 at 13:37
  • True, those are different and each important. Each specific changes it though, but I'm still not sure it changes it significantly enough as all discrimination comes from the same place of personal prejudice at those different than themselves.
    – mutt
    Aug 16, 2017 at 13:58
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Here's actually the issue I have. It's not so much as that it was edited (because Richard ultimately kept part of it and it's his intent on which approval is based) but that the editor actually submitted an even more aggressive version of the edit a day later. I thought I (and another) had rejected it but maybe the system glitched, but no.

https://workplace.stackexchange.com/review/suggested-edits/61575

The first edit was rejected.

https://workplace.stackexchange.com/review/suggested-edits/61653

But with a day, an even stronger edit that took out everything the rejected edit removed and more was submitted.

Whether you think it's a great edit or goes against the author's intent, users shouldn't be resubmitting edits because they know they'll be reviewed by someone else.

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    You can tag me in this, I won't be offended! I understand the issue you're highlighting and will avoid doing that again. Cheers.
    – user29055
    Aug 16, 2017 at 8:25

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