[clug] Open Source Software's Dirty Little Secret

[steve jenkin]

Excellent responses and links.
These thoughts certainly bump me out of my normal 'zone' & force me to
consider things from different viewpoints.

As this current incident might do for others.
It challenges assumptions about persecution & who gets discriminated
against [but there may be more to it]:

<http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5idk96kXAfDSJq-4duivQtSkXBimAD9AERNNO0>

"South African white man granted refugee status
By ROB GILLIES (AP) – Sep 1, 2009"

"TORONTO — A white man from South Africa has been given refugee status
in Canada after claiming persecution, his lawyer said, angering many in
his home country where race remains a highly sensitive issue."

NYTimes
<http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/white-south-african-claiming-racist-persecution-granted-asylum-in-canada/?hp>

AFP
<http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i2L_cpeat4_lKyKuSbYW0GlykY7A>

Boolmberg
<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=aa5iLoZa6T9I>

Reuters
<http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE58165020090903>

s

Sam Couter wrote on 12/9/09 11:56 PM:
> Jacinta Richardson <jarich at perltraining.com.au> wrote:
>> PS:  Daniel mentioned some privileges.  Understanding the privileges you have
>> can be quite confronting, but I have certainly found the following links to be
>> helpful:
>>
>> * White privilege:
>> http://womenscreativecollective.org/blog/2009/01/white-privilege-unpacking-the-invisible-knapsack/
>>
>> * Male privilege:
>> http://www.amptoons.com/blog/the-male-privilege-checklist/
>>
>> * Heterosexual privilege
>> http://www.cs.earlham.edu/%7Ehyrax/personal/files/student_res/straightprivilege.htm
> 
> The preamble in those links talk about whites/males/straights having
> privileges because blacks/women/homosexuals are discriminated against,
> and therefore whites/males/straights are better off in comparison. But
> then I see the lists of supposed privileges, and when I read them I
> don't think most of them are privileges at all because they are pretty
> basic human rights that everybody should expect.
> 
> It makes me sad and a bit angry that some classes of people still have to
> face the kind of discrimination in those lists, but I don't see that I,
> a member of all three privileged classes, have anything to lose by
> eliminating such discrimination. Your freedom to exercise your basic
> human rights doesn't infringe my right to exercise mine. I guess I
> disagree with this idea of privilege as I've seen it so far (just those
> three links).
> 
> I don't see a zero-sum game when it comes to privilege and ending these
> kinds of discrimination. Am I doing it wrong?
> 


-- 
Steve Jenkin, Info Tech, Systems and Design Specialist.
0412 786 915 (+61 412 786 915)
PO Box 48, Kippax ACT 2615, AUSTRALIA

sjenkin at canb.auug.org.au http://members.tip.net.au/~sjenkin