Group shares flier on advancing careers of white men at Union Pacific; chairman says it 'turned my s

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Omaha World Herald

By Brad Davis

A group of purported Union Pacific employees saying they will advocate for “European American males” drew a sharp condemnation from the company’s top executive.

A flier saying it was for the “European American Male Employee Network at Union Pacific” made its way around social media this week. In the flier, the group said it was “dedicated to developing and advancing the careers of men of European ancestry — the white man — at Union Pacific.”

The group, which calls itself “Teamen UP,” said it would fight against “diversity for diversity’s sake as a virtue” and said U.P. departments were “cluttered” with “token minority employees.”

Omaha-based U.P. has sanctioned employee groups for several minority groups, veterans and women. The company says these groups help attract and maintain a diverse workforce.

FULL story at link.



Read more: http://www.omaha.com/money/group-shares-flier-on-advancing-careers-of-white-men-at/article_4f622254-504a-11e6-a0f6-0fe311431777.html

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I wonder what Trump said about the flyer?

[cheapdate]

1. Good grief.

As ridiculous as this is (white men at UP forming a pity club) I've actually had this discussion with white men in here in Tennessee, in which it was explained to me how white men were the most oppressed group in America, maybe in all of history.

When the stupid is this strong, there's not much you can do.

(P.S. -- I am a white man, about as privileged as a person can get.)

[IronLionZion]

3. I can see the case made for poor uneducated folks

since there probably was a time when poor uneducated Appalachian americans were looked down upon by wealthy elites and taken for granted for backbreaking dirty jobs like coal mining and manufacturing back in the day when people died from unsafe conditions. They often fail to consider that blacks and native americans had it much worse at the same time. There's also the anti-education mindset where they resent people whose parents had enough money to pay for good education, and they associate that with being soft, lazy, and entitled.

It can be hard to put oneself in another's shoes if one's own life seems less than privileged. A poor white person probably does not feel privileged at all.

[cheapdate]

5. Absolutely so.

In this case, however, were're talking about white men with, presumably, good-paying jobs at Union Pacific who organized a white men's club in protest of diversity goals within their company.

The white person I had the discussion with in Tennessee was a college educated supervisor at a manufacturing plant. I've also had the same discussion with my (racist) brother-in-law, who is the white, college-educated son of an attorney and successful businessman.

I'm not denying that the division between people with money and power and people without it is an essential problem.

I'm just commenting on something I've observed, which is a certain kind of white man who complains about a fictional kind of "oppression" in which white men everywhere are being "kept down" because of diversity policies, affirmative action, Title IX, etc., etc.

The kind of men who can take a semi-legitimate perspective and push it to an unreasonable extreme.

[Jazzgirl]

14. They are damned good paying jobs.

Really good paying and they have no reason to complain. There are still significantly more white men promoted than AA or any other minority. I am so sick of this pity party.

[CBHagman]

8. I agree about the privilege but would observe...

...that it's fairly natural for people to be blind to their own power and advantages, especially in a culture where venting rather than empathizing is the national pastime!

[cheapdate]

9. Good point.

[IronLionZion]

2. Several companies have this

Lockheed Martin has long had a white men group and they even mention it during campus recruiting. It's more prevalent in industries that have long been majority white and male. The attitude is often that if some minority or woman gets a position in that type of field, then it must be a diversity/affirmative action hire rather than merit. It's hard for minorities of certain types (brown) to even be considered for many government security clearance positions because of the prevailing belief that real Americans are of European descent and others must be immigrants. Trump's support is built on this belief as well.

The UP flier has the words Diversity scratched out. So that's a bad sign if they were trying to avoid being racist.

[Cirque du So-What]

4. Crap like this

is why laws mandating Affirmative Action were created in the first place

[cheapdate]

6. Exactly!

[Stainless]

7. This is vile, disgusting and pathetic!

Union Pacific should fire the individuals who are responsible. There should be zero tolerance for this crap. Thanks to Delusional Donald for enabling this behavior.

[jtuck004]

10. And they get federal subsidies to do this... n/t

[Judi Lynn]

12. They should be required to accept subsidies financed only by European-descented men. n/t

[jtuck004]

15. That's a pretty good idea. See how committed they really are, 'cause things would dry up in

a hurry.

[Monk06]

11. They want black employees to go back to being porters and waiters and shining shoes for quarters

on their off time

You know the way the railroad used to be White engineers, firemen and brakemen. Black waiters, porters and bathroom attendants The good old days, when whites were on top and thought they would stay there forever

[Jazzgirl]

13. I retired from BNSF a couple of years ago.

I just unfriended several retired employees. Today it was an employee that said he was "sick and tired of political correctness" which is a buzzword for "I can't say the racist crap I want to say". Actually I'm just an inch away from deleting my Facebook account because of all the hate and fear I see perpetrated. I wouldn't be surprised if something similar is going on there. I don't want to be "friends" with any asshole that thinks their right to be an asshole is being trampled by political correctness. You reap what you sow.