Thread by @harper

platformer.news/p/-how-basecam…

One time at Braintree they released diversity numbers and they were terrible. Terrrrrrrible.

PayPal’s numbers were ok. But Braintree had work to do.

So they/we planned an all hands to address the numbers and how we were going to do better, what the plan was, etc

For some reason they had open Q&A.

So Juan, the Braintree GM, opens up and talks through the numbers and goes to address the Q&A.

someone, of course, commented the whole “I feel like this is racist against white people” trope.

Juan was like a) it isn’t. b) if you think it is, Braintree may not be the right place for you. We need to do work and if you believe this and are not here to help, you should leave

After that, the meeting went as well as it could have gone. Lots of work to be done.

But that was the specific point where I knew the direction of the conversation as an employee. It also defined Juan as a good leader who is willing to have a view on this issue without hedging

In reading the basecamp article, It is clear that the leadership is not committed to being equitable. Their inability to deal with a bad actor and to denounce white supremacy demonstrates their perspective on these issues.

If they valued their employees they would have fought for them instead of the “gotta gear both sides” bullshit.

From the article:

“Racism [and] white supremacy are not things that are so convenient that they only happen when full intention is present, or true malice is present,” the employee said.

“Evil is not required. We’re not so lucky as for this to come down to good and evil. It’s as simple as creating a space where people do not feel welcome.”

I was proud to work for Juan.

I imagine that if he would have made a different statement that day things would have gone much different for that team.

It really mattered to hear our leader stand up.