In early June, dutifully doing its part to virtue signal along with the rest of the world, Cisco Systems hosted an “all hands on deck” meeting on race, hosted via videoconference. In the comments of the online forum, visible to everyone, some workers questioned the Black Lives Matter movement and were subsequently fired from their jobs, proving once again that you can have an opinion, as long as it’s the right opinion.
Chief Executive Officer Chuck Robbins talked with Ford Foundation President Darren Walker, who is Black, and Bryan Stevenson, a Black lawyer and author who founded the Equal Justice Initiative, during the company’s June 1 meeting in front of 30,000 employees, according to Bloomberg.
Several people spoke out online against Black Lives Matter during these online forums. For example, one employee wrote: “Black lives don’t matter. All lives matter,” while another wrote that BLM “reinforces racism”. A third employee commented: “People who complain about racism probably have been a racist somewhere else to people from another race or part of systematic oppression in their own community!”
Cisco says it fired a “handful” of workers for “inappropriate conduct” because it won’t tolerate racism. It also, apparently, won’t tolerate its employees opinions.
The “incident” at Cisco (read: people expressing well reasoned opinions) has been a microcosm of similar situations at other silicon valley companies, who are left to try and figure out how to posture to the public they are concerned about racism, while at the same time not laying off their entire staff. Some believe that protests at companies could be next if employees aren’t “trained” to think the right way.
Kristen Clarke, the president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said: “Employers should be striving for zero tolerance when it comes to racism and discrimination, period. The protests we’ve seen in the streets have become part of our new normal and will eventually make their way inside workplaces if employers fail to meet the moment.”
Cisco said that ultimately 237 comments of the 10,400 made during the videoconference “objected to what was being presented”, while the majority of comments praised management. On the video call, Cisco’s CEO was announcing a $5 million donation to “groups combating racism”.
Francine Katsoudas, Cisco’s executive vice president and chief people officer, said: “I just felt sad to see it. I felt a ton of empathy. I knew that for the African-American and Black employees that were in the meeting, that it was heartbreaking to see that.”
She then tried to backtrack and justify the firings because they weren’t considered “legitimate debate”. Katsoudas said: “You have a framework where red absolutely is crossing the line. But if someone has a question or they don’t understand something, there’s a way for them to ask that question. We went through and just placed things on that spectrum.”
The remarks were apparently so offensive they were “seared in the minds of some Black employees,” according to Bloomberg. One employee commented: “Wow…and these people work at Cisco?” If they are bold enough to say those things at work for all to see, imagine what is said behind closed doors.”
Yeah, it could be <gasp> differing opinions!
“We still have work to do as a nation. I pray my daughters have a better world to live in soon,” another employee said.
Meanwhile, we pray our children have a world where their first amendment right hasn’t completely disintegrated over the next few years. But with the direction things are moving, it doesn’t look promising…
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Here’s what I don’t get:
1. Why bring up the meeting at all? Where is the requirement to publicize a company meeting and talk about what some people may or may not have said.
2. The very people that they are afraid of I guarantee know zero about Cisco’s products. The people protesting in the streets are unemployed and wouldn’t know a Cisco router from a cat’s anus. Cisco products are not just sold to in-home users. They have products that are widely used in the hospital, retail, and school setting. No one installing them or using them at the end point cares. They don’t even think about it. You know what they want? Shit that works.
3. I would like to know what the black folks at the meeting REALLY THOUGHT. Every single black person I know thinks this whole thing is a giant embarrassment but like dissenting white people are afraid to be called Uncle Toms or attacked themselves.
A mere 3 years ago this would have been unthinkable and anyone fired would have immediately contacted an attorney and sued the shit out of Cisco for wrongful termination. Which they still should do. And push it to go all the way to a jury trial. Fuck settling.
You cannot give an inch to to this BS because it’s never enough. There’s never enough kneeling, laying down, bowing, scraping, or begging, that is enough for them.
It is simply insane on every level.
Understand the ‘power’ of “virtue signaling.”
I didn’t see any racist comments made by the employees. And you have to bet this article showed what is considered the “worst” comments made.
My wife, daughter and I watched the movie “Crash” last night. I picked it specifically for my daughter’s benefit. The movie is about 3 things…1) it shows EVERYONE has race preferences 2) racism has a ripple effect in that when a person of a different race does something to you, it is easy to want to blame the whole race and 3) race doesn’t matter, almost at all, when a person is in need.
Great movie but my daughter (21) only ever got upset when a white character showed racist motives. Sad because I never raised her like that. I pointed it out to her. It didn’t go well.
ANY mere question or mild disagreement is RACIST according to CRT. That’s it.
Public schools and exposure to products of those schools means the parents are always wrong if they question the meme of the day.
Sadly. But interestingly, my 20 year old nephew who was homeschooled by my very religious sister is showing the same reasoning. Sad.
Glock.
Remember when you were 12 and an older kid told you something and you thought it must be gospel.
I remember at 13 an older kid said if you commit self abuse more than 16 times a year you’ll never be able to have kids. Of course I believed him. At 16 I even told a girl that while I was trying to seduce her.
Flea,
Yes, young minds are 1) impressionable and 2) rebellious. Oh, and full of thoughts of nooky.
If that were true I wouldn’t have these pesky kids.
flea,
i went to the dermatologist last week,and the practice is 2 women,one in her mid 40 s & one in her mid 30 s–i had the older one–
i have a place on the top of my right hand between the back of the thumb & the end of the wrist from when i play fight w/my dog i let him clamp down fairly hard on it–over the years i’ve developed a very thick callous there–i haven’t paid attention to it but i have thicker hair there than anywhere else on either hand–the doc saw all that thick hair & got so excited that she went out & got the other dr–
the 2nd dr was trying not to crack up & so was the nurse who was taking notes when i was being examined–she(the young dr) said w/a smile that you probably rub it w/o thinking about it & are stimulating hair growth there–
maybe it isn’t just a myth that you’ll get hair on the palms of your hands if you abuse yourself–and if that’s the case,maybe we know why so many of you guys squint so badly & need glasses–
Red.
That’s the most outlandish justification for having hair in that particular place ever told. Good thing Carlin is dead. He would have made a fortune on that whopper. You’ve been playing with the same dog since you were nine. Did you try to hide that hand from your parents?
the top of my hand flea,not the palm–don’t put words in my mouth or anything in my hand–
I believe you but thousands wouldn’t.
private schools are as bad or worse–
The root problem is accepting that there is any significant problem with “racism”.
People used to worry about their immortal soul and deadly sin. Jesus never used the word “racism” even one time.
This is twice now re: your daughter. Maybe it’s just that your daughter is an idiot.
Fuck you EC.
My daughter is not an idiot. She is misguided and I have high expectations I believe she will meet.
Methinks thou dost protest too much as the evidence you’ve given seems to indicate otherwise.
Why do you want to talk like that about somebody’s daughter? Don’t you ever think about what you say?
If HE brings it up, it’s fair to discuss it. Yes, it is quite common for me to think about what I say unlike so many posters here. How about you? Do you ever think about what you say?
If you thought of it and still said it you’re a bigger jerk than I thought.
Are you going Maggie on us?
Thanks Flea. I like EC but he likes to play the ying and the yang. His true thoughts and beliefs are either always in flux or he simply likes to push others away.
He has no anchor.
Perhaps you can clear things up for me. What is it about what I said that makes me a “bigger jerk” than you thought? I do not know his daughter so it would be unfair for me to make a definitive statement. I wonder if that’s why I used the word ‘maybe’…
“This is twice now re: your daughter. Maybe it’s just that your daughter is an idiot.”
You called somebody’s little girl an idiot with some ugly overtones. Where in the heck did you learn to talk about someones family like that. The Mexicans would beat your ass to a pulp for it.
I can see that your reading comprehension is nada. I did not call her an idiot. I said MAYBE she is an idiot. If one keeps doing idiotic things, well… No, there will be no Mehicans beating my ass, though you might find an abuela beating yours, gramps.
OK the Pinche cabron. Have it your way.
Gracias puta!
There is an old saying – If you are not a liberal when you are 20, you have no heart and if you are still a liberal when you are 30, you have no brain.
Maybe she is still full of heart and has not seen how her hard earned $ are wasted by the government sugar teat.
I have the guts to share what I’m witnessing around me without censure. I also live in the DC area which is probably 90%. I know, I know, I’m working on getting outta here.
You guys should know by now that I have enough to fight back with by just attacking your gender preference or intelligence. I don’t like to hit so close as to actually talk about any real deficiencies, that’s just not cool and family has always been off limits on TBP.
Plus, I don’t like to teach anybody Spanish cuss words unless it’s simply to share the knowledge. The person you are interacting with is not me and it is not a native Spanish speaker; it’s a cock-sucking faker who likes to take it up the ass from young niggaz.
aa is worldwide,find a chapter soon–
I don’t drink. I had nothing to do with that earlier exchange. Get off the drugs, Tampico.
And take it from EC, he knows a thing or two about cock-sucking fakers taking it up the ass.
I’m surrounded by them.
i thought you lived near la,not frisco–
A year ago we were getting along just fine.
New allies.
Welcome aboard.
Some believe that protests at companies could be next if employees aren’t “trained” to think the right way. – Ahh, we all must be trained to “think” the “right” way. And just what is the “right” way to think, pray tell? We are edging ever closer to living in a world that mirrors the sci-fi flick, Minority Report, where “wrong” thinking can be judged as criminal activity and punishment meted out by those who undoubtedly have been trained to “think right.”
How has this nation been turned on its ear, so to speak, when things seemed to be going so well in the past?
The almost imperceptible changes that occurred were subtle attempts to instill “groupthink” by those who understand the power of psychological grooming of the masses.
What we are witnessing today is the product of those “subtle” attempts being brought to fruition where now they are veritable sledgehammer blows on the very foundations of our previously unfettered society. Well, what has changed, you ask?
America has been a conquered nation for many years now, but since it wasn’t announced on the six o’clock Jews in the News, most uninformed insouciant (thanks, PCR) folks ignored the changes that were taking place right in front of their eyes.
Our blessed Constitutional Republic was hijacked by the same brood of vipers that invaded Russia in 1917 and promptly turned that magnificent nation into a communist dung heap. When did all of this occur, you ask?
It occurred while you and millions of other “exceptional” individuals were lulled to sleep by the flashing messages on the screen of their primary weapon, the television.
Actually, the takeover began earlier in the last century, when slimy mercenaries, called politicians took their payoffs and allowed our financial system to be stolen. That heinous crime wasn’t announced and only noted by a few of the more astute people who were actually paying attention.
Events like women’s suffrage movement (On 3 November 1912 Laura and Leonard Franklin formed the Jewish League for Woman Suffrage), civil rights legislation(Despite the widespread public belief that the Civil Rights Movement was organized by African-Americans, the reality is that it was almost entirely masterminded by Jews as part of their agenda to undermine the stability of American society by using blacks as a wedge to divide and conquer the white majority establishment.), desegregation of public schools, the striking down of laws that forbid bi-racial marriages and homosexuality added to our demise at an ever quickening pace.
This is where we find ourselves at the present time, with the thought police scanning anything and everything stated, or even implied that could be classified as “wrongthink.” Our first amendment rights have been decimated to the point that careers and livelihoods can be destroyed by a slip of the tongue, or even an unintentional comment taken out of context during a private conversation.
This is the final preliminary stage before the takeover. Suppressing any opposition and stifling opposing viewpoints, or opinions, should be obvious and in your face enough to demonstrate beyond the shadow of any doubt, that we are no longer a free people. Why should this matter to you? You still have your job, your house, your cars, and food on the table. Consider this a forewarning.
The change will be sudden and violent, with no prior indications that something radically changed in our lives.
The enemy is in the gates. We unknowingly let them in and allowed them to obtain the powerful positions that will enable them to wrest from your hands your most precious possession – your freedom.
The hour is late and the light grows dim, on the horizon the dark menacing clouds portend the gathering storm.
To do nothing is suicide. This juggernaut must be stopped now if any of us have the chance to survive and live our lives in peace and tranquility. God is with us, raise up the mighty men for the mother of all battles – good vs evil.
“To do nothing is suicide” Guess what we’re doing.
This goes all the way back to Rome at minimum. Same methods just different media used.
“A History of Central Banking and The Enslavement of Mankind” by
Stephan M. Goodson describes it in short well referenced chapters on every major takedown from Rome forward.
If I were terminated for giving my opinion. I would sue them. I’ve got an uncle who tries to argue with you until you agree with him. I always piss him off by telling him he has his opinion and I have mine. That’s the way it should be.
Funny you should make this comment today. Yesterday, my 20 year old nephew and I had a long conversation over text. Although he got heated, I believe it was a good conversation. Communication NEEDS to proceed. I don’t expect him to agree with me (although his thoughts about the maks concerns me) but I do want to help mold him if possible.
It takes an exceptional mind to question the media and government. Television is all-pervasive and very powerful. Obvious and in-your-face lies are glossed over because, tragically, the brainwashing is such that the people have been programmed to believe that the media and government and most institutions are benign and beneficent. They cannot believe their lying eyes, cognitive dissonance is alive and well and truth is uncomfortable.
The parallels between what is happening now in the US and what happened in other countries during totalitarian take-overs is striking and disturbing.
You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension: a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You’re moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas; you’ve just crossed over into the Twilight Zone.
reminds me of this episode …. cheers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_12_Looks_Just_Like_You
The Leftist are full steam ahead toward Communism just as bad as the CCP and stupid insouciant Americans are letting it happen. We could become as enslaved as the Chinese. Fifty years ago I was a young airman suffering through USAF Sensitivity Training led by a Black officer who was obviously a huge bigot who explained why the USAF need Affirmative Action. At the end, I asked if the USAF had a goal and a way to measure progress, and when it was reached, a plan to phase out Affirmative Discrimination. He nastily yelled “You don’t know discrimination”. I said I am a Jew. He yelled “You are the very people who have to give it up”. I was so mad I had to grit my teeth. My father was a Bastard during the Depression in NYC and quit school in the ninth grade to fight Nazis (he lied about his age but the Marines didn’t care); he has 20 wound scars and awards to prove it. We were “dirt poor” and then he had to run from the law for bootlegging while I was in HS and I didn’t see him again until my starving Senior year at FSU. That Nigger probably had it better than me. We probably will have to fight the Communist SOB’s and their Black Liberation Movement or become their slaves.
The rubber has met the road. What will the sheep do about it. Education is the answer. We probably cannot educate the CEO’s but the people that do their bidding can be educated. They just need to learn the negative consequences of those policies. When they realize what the consequences are they will refuse to execute the policies of the communists.
It’s shakedown.
Monopoly Corporations have been compromised now, buckling under to BLM and (((their))) agenda,
just like big media, tech, agriculture, big Pharma, Horrorwood, sports, academia, courts of law,
and local municipalities across the country.
Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are delighted, and rubbing their palms together.
While Common Sense is left just shaking it’s head and wondering WTF? When will it end?
You see this through all the big companies now.
“Cisco said that ultimately 237 comments of the 10,400 made during the videoconference “objected to what was being presented”
What they don’t see is all the texting taking place on personal devices among workplace friends during these “my company cares more than yours” meetings in which there is a lot of objection to the premise itself.
As evidenced at Cisco, you can’t comment with anything other than support and accolades to leadership for their compassion, vision and heroism at risk of being fired.
I’d also imagine those that are fired have no recourse as they certainly aren’t part of any government authorized “protected” class.
Sure they do. The Cisco employees all have corporate phones and most people aren’t smart enough or are too cheap to pay for two phones. Don’t you think the company knows and records everything that’s on those phones they pay for, just like all those corporate laptops? Don’t you think they know every communication on Slack or Lync or whatever messaging software they use?
Yes, 2 phones and 2 computers are a must if the company is paying for them and ESPECIALLY if you have to use any kind of software they have control of.
If you work for a company with ‘stock’ or does business with a government city, state, federal, you do not have a first amendment right to speak your mind. Most states are ‘at will’ employment law for salaried employees. Companies can legally terminate your employment for no reason, immediately. Think I’m full of BS, I have seen it done. Second, same companies have not only a Business Conduct policy, but also have an IT policy, and now I’ve learned a Social Media policy as well. I HIGHLY encourage employees to fully read all three. When you finish, you should realize you are a serf, you have very few constitutional rights.
I saw first hand about 18 years ago, a print out of every IP address an employee of mine went to in a two week period using the company’s computer. The 1 inch thick print out, single spaced scared the shit out of me. Ever since, I read the figgin policies. The company I worked for at the time, was tracking 19,000 employees use of the internet. Can you imagine what they can do with current technology? (in case you are curious, I was told to fire the guy, turned out he gave his password to someone in the union, who shared it, they all went to porno sites and e mailed each other pictures. The union guys got two weeks off without pay, the union did not fight it.)
IMHO, those that got fired were idiots, they got experience,
…..’which is what you get after you need it’.
California had some law that you couldn’t fire someone because of their politics, but when the founder of Mozilla got in trouble for donating to a group that wanted to keep marriage normal, he got the boot. How was that legal? Was it that he wasn’t technically fired, just pressured to quit?
True executive / officer level jobs have contracts, vs just a simple employee. I’m no attorney, but that much is true. Long story short, I worked for a company that declared bankruptcy, the executive’s pensions and special health care plans (contracts) would not be honored if the company’s pension was transferred to the GPBC as part of the BK deal. They were all worried.
Hey – let’s all go ask Obama about BLM eh?
Yep – his family used to own slaves too back in the day.
Now let’s go play “destroy a liberal/BLM dipshit”…
what happen to freedom of speech. I am Mexican American and the biggest racist I ever met were black. When I hired in, and just there about one month, we had a all hands meeting, and this token black manger stood up there and along with his speech he said Mexicans were no good in front of everybody . Because of his poor management