Thanks for sharing. This is about what I would have expected from Google, so it’s nice to see my assessment was accurate. I’d say that focusing on racism after firing someone for their work on AI (un)ethics was tone deaf, but it sounds more like selective hearing.
I am not sure whose focus on racism you are referring to. There is indeed a problem with white people in google management having "selective hearing' when people of color speak up, which in this day and age is considered a form of racism. It is the duty of those in power to unlearn their biases and treat everyone with respect and professionalism. We should not make excuses for powerful white people failing to respect the work of people of color. (I do not mean to suggest you are doing so, but I am uncertain what you mean by "selective hearing".) It is my personal opinion that a white researcher would not have been treated this way, and an examination of the role of race in this situation is certainly appropriate. The fact that Gebru was subject to racist harassment after this event is also worthy of examination as we consider the way that our society responds to people like her sharing their views.
