Thread by @Carnage4Life

This practice of declaring your race & gender before a presentation reminds me of the phrase “I don’t see color”

This is problematic because it’s a lie. We all can’t help the racial/gender biases we’ve been socialized with via media & cultural portrayals

One of the reasons I graduated towards tech was because the culture seemed closest to a racially color blind one. Your code works or it doesn’t. It isn’t like being a lawyer or in sales where your success is mostly dependent on other people viewing you as likable & competent.

Of course I was wrong because the color blindness of tech breaks down when you want VC funding or want to be promoted beyond a certain level. But it’s mostly true for entry to mid-level positions. A practice of reminding people of your race & gender is antithetical to that.

If anything we should be looking for ways to remove the risk of racial & gender bias in our communications instead of brainstorming ways to let blind people know it’s a Black trans woman versus a cisgender white man teaching them about the latest programming language.