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0 pointschris115y ago0 comments

> Armstrong took public stance that he wanted Coinbase to focus on crypto space stuff.

I don't think that he would have taken that public stance if he didn't feel that the company was being distracted internally by racial justice issues. It being a fair response is highly dependent on those internal conversations.

And the NY Times reports that prior to this conversation there was a public meeting where Black employees brought up difficult experiences at Coinbase. Being told that people should leave politics at home or leave the company is a horrible response to complaints about discrimination.

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roenxi5y ago

Well, I don't know what is going on in Coinbase. But the NYT has in the past overplayed the race card with no evidence.

Now I'm happy to agree that the retention rate of black people at Coinbase raises some questions. But the NYT, having asked those questions, came up with no particular evidence of racism.

The major piece of evidence that these issues are substantially due to race is that the NYT felt it warranted a hit piece. That is weak evidence. Being passed over for promotion and feeling unappreciated - which they lead with - isn't evidence. Most of us have been passed over for promotion plenty of times. Most people are unappreciated too.

tptacek5y ago

On the contrary, they came up with several examples of biased behavior, including an instance where the Black members of a team were required to relocate while a non-Black member wasn't, an instance where a Black team member was subjected to to insults about drug dealing and guns from their manager, recruiting team member claims that Black candidates were less capable, the fact that Coinbase employs Black workers at less than half the average of the industry, and the fact that Black workers were dismissed in meetings, to the point where a pattern of repeated HR complaints occurred.

roenxi5y ago

Starting with the assumption that they are racist, that is the tip of a nasty iceburg.

Starting with the assumption it is a pretty normal company, that is a list mostly of stuff that nobody should care about.

If someone can articulate what the HR complaints are about then that might be evidence. But complaints to HR are expected - that is why HR gets hired. They are there to deal with HR complaints. And read resumes.

> including an instance where the Black members of a team were required to relocate while a non-Black member wasn't

This one is stupid. Am I meant to believe they are revealing their racist ways by hiring black people then asking them to relocate, racistly? This is bog standard sucks-to-work-in-support activity. Miserable working conditions, but nothing to do with skin colour. A similar thing happened to my father back in the day. He certainly wasn't black.

wpietri5y ago

Racism is endemic in the US. It was founded with the notion that black people were basically livestock. We've slowly and fitfully moved away from that, but the problem is far from over. With any company we should assume that both personal and systemic bias are present. Which is why well-run companies work to counter that.

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CryptoPunk5y ago

>>they came up with several examples of biased behavior,

In none of those examples is there proof of racial bias.

wan235y ago

I'm not sure what you're looking for here. Are you saying that it is untrue that there are Black employees who feel that racial issues are being handled poorly at Coinbase? Because that's what the article says. It sounds like you're looking for enough information to make a judgement of whether the company is racist, in an innocent until proven guilty sort of way. But that is very much not the point.

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roenxi5y ago

Well, I don't know what is going on in Coinbase. But the NYT has in the past overplayed the race card with no evidence.

Now I'm happy to agree that the retention rate of black people at Coinbase raises some questions. But the NYT, having asked those questions, came up with no particular evidence of racism.

tptacek5y ago

roenxi5y ago

Starting with the assumption that they are racist, that is the tip of a nasty iceburg.

Starting with the assumption it is a pretty normal company, that is a list mostly of stuff that nobody should care about.

> including an instance where the Black members of a team were required to relocate while a non-Black member wasn't

wpietri5y ago

2 more replies

CryptoPunk5y ago

>>they came up with several examples of biased behavior,

In none of those examples is there proof of racial bias.

wan235y ago

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