But one comment triggered something I want to share.
One anonymous commenter who identified himself as black complained about what he felt was an off topic subject for yesterday's piece. He said:
I'm black (FWIW) and a software developer. I make it a point to stay away from issues of race when having conversations with clients that drift away from whatever project I'm working on, to general social discussion. It's too easy for my work then to be evaluated from the perspective of "that black guy" who's coding, as opposed to just "the developer."
So you need to decide if you're a Black Blogger, or a Tech Blogger who is also black.
And while I responded in the comments I want to elaborate and extend this conversation. There are some people who believe I should be in a little box. "I don't subscribe to you to read about X". X being whatever they happen to not be interested in, and presumably X also being an area that they either disagree with me about or an area where I am indirectly acusing them of doing something that they don't want to be accused of... like pirating music unethically.
The point is that I write about what interests me and what I am passionate about. Now its true, I don't write much about biking here, or vegetable juice and fitness, or politics, all of which are subjects that interest me. But the reason is that I don't think I have anything interesting more than just the superficial to share on those subjects. I know something about development, and design, and business, and media and economics. And so I write about them. All of them. And yes that may make this an eclectic site for some. And my best readers that are into, for example, the business stuff take it in stride when I write about database sharding and it is totally beyond them. I think the fact that I have a deep but broad interest area and subject expertise should be a *reason* to read this blog, not a reason to be anoyed when something is outside your interest. But then my perspective is admittedly biased.
But the idea that I should not be covering the Feldman issue, and race issues, particularly when other tech bloggers are covering them, because I am black, is, to me, ridiculous. I am black. To suggest that I need to decide whether I am a black tech blogger or a black blogger is not in the cards. I am both of those things and hopefully many more.
And so, I just wanted to acknowledge all of you who read this blog. I realize that there are many people here who may find some subjects of interest to them and others not so much. Your loyalty and support has turned this from an experiment at the beginning of the year, to an early morning daily labor of love.
Thank you.
9 comments:
I sucbrided to your blog, because you're writing about interesting things.
I was pretty appalled but sadly not incredibly surprised by the turn the SAI comments took towards after midnight - the internet really does seem like a cesspool at times.
I would recommend that the honest but misguided commenters who insist that "there is no problem here" or "there are other, bigger problems" take a good hard look at those comments and ask themselves why they are devoting so much time to arguing against your position while all the time giving the Savannahs and LeAnnes of the world a free pass.
Keep up the good work.
oh geez, there's nothing more ludicrous than lecturing someone else about what they shouldn't write about on their personal blog
... for corporate style blogs (where the blog is the business... e.g., ReadWriteWeb, TechCrunch) it can be appropriate - so if Mashable started bashing one or the other or both of the candidates, i would write in to say "hey, i don't subscribe b/c of your political commentary"
but for personal blogs whose direct focus is not monetization, it would be a silly comment
> So you need to decide
> if you're a Black Blogger,
> or a Tech Blogger who is also black.
i'm pretty sure he meant "one needs to decide",
because the world is very eager to pigeonhole,
but wasn't telling _you_ personally what to do.
-bowerbird
bowerbird,
Of *course* he was telling me what he thought I should do. Otherwise it doesn't make any sense. That was the entire point of his comment. There was no other purpose to it than to convey that specific point.
So, what's your favorite vegetable juice?
Kevin,
Its a blend of celery, parsley, spinach, carrots, ginger, an just a little apple.
Hank,
I was quite touched by your article. The reason is because the blogsphere often seems such a "white place." I suspect this is one of the reasons you feature your photo so prominently (though I could be wrong about that).
First of all, allow me to say, how dare this person suggest that you have to make such a choice. Often our (black people's) problem is that we appoint ourselves as supreme judges of what constitutes being black, and woe to those who fall outside of those narrow boundaries. Additionally, we also limit, and allow ourselves to be limited, in terms where issues of race can appropriately be addressed. Just as the word "liberal" has been made into a four-letter word in politics, the term "race card" has been used to make us feel hesitant about addressing issues of race. This person has apparently decided that being black and tech means putting aside your identity. If anything we need more people willing to establish a context within the tech world, where it is obvious that so many have absolutely no frame of reference.
Secondly, to suggest that words do not matter is to suggest that people don't matter. Words are what separate us from the animals, what make us truly human. Reduce our communication only to that which allows us to procure food, procreate, and defend ourselves. Does, then, human society as we know it exist? Absolutely not! I would venture to say that we are words, no more, no less. For us to continue to allow ourselves to be browbeaten for responding to language which belittles us (a la Fox News Channel) would actually be the thing which is criminal.
Hank,
Intellectual honesty makes your more interesting. This is your soap box... and personally I found your article on race fascinating I have never looked at the whole race issue from that perspective.
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