Eye opening
When I started my career in programming 3 years ago, I felt like I was honest enough to realize I had a lot of privileges. It felt pretty clear to me that some people coming from different backgrounds, genders, socio-economics classes and/or religions would have less opportunities and less chances than me.
That was before I started to gravitate around the programming world. Even if I felt aware of the situations, I was never in direct contact with people's experiences. Reading about it quickly made me realize I actually didn't really understand all those things. Some of the comments people gave to those experiences, things I could have said honestly, were finally completely detached from those people's reality, and only reflecting their realities, which where close to mine as a white man.
So, I started to follow more people with that kind of experiences. I'm trying to read more content from people that had a different background. Whenever I respond to anyone, I check if my answer is appropriate. It takes time, and sometimes you take some slaps in the face, but I feel like it's a necessary work to do. It goes beyond the realm of programming.
So, I wish to continue this path of learning. Could you recommend any material that would be a good start? Material that would educate me on the realities of privileges in our world? And how myself, a white dude, might help out in some situations (if any)?
I'm more into books, but if you have some recommendations on people to follow or blogs to read or anything else, I'll happily take it.
Thank you. ❤️
Top comments (3)
I think "Discrimination and disparities" by Thomas Sowell is a solid one.
He is a world class economist and has a very scientific approach on debunking some things that we take for granted.
Available in audiobook form, so you can listen to his voice <3
I can second this. He is careful in his reasoning, conclusions, and language.
As a person of privilege I find the best thing for me is to consume content from sources intentionally outside of my bubble. For example, my girlfriend watches beauty vloggers which I occasionally watch with her. I’m not particularly into cosmetics but I have learned a lot culturally by listening.
I also listen to a lot of podcasts, specifically “You’re Wrong About” tends to cover topics from a different perspective than most.
I don’t read a ton of books about non-technical topics, but “Daring Greatly” by Brene Brown is pretty great. It’s mostly about communication and vulnerability which aid in understanding.