Southerners Tore Down Silent Sam. Now Northerners Need to Tear Down Confederate Flags.; HuffPost, August 29, 2018

Alex Pareene, HuffPost; Southerners Tore Down Silent Sam. Now Northerners Need to Tear Down Confederate Flags.

"At a certain point, we stopped telling ourselves about how we freed the United States."

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: what sports have taught me about race in America; The Guardian, August 28, 2018

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, The Guardian;

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: what sports have taught me about race in America

"Athletes who speak out are proclaiming their loyalty to a constitution that demands equality and inclusiveness, not to the government officials who try to undermine those ideals by silencing its critics."

Michelle Obama urges students to keep up diversity legacy: 'It's your turn now'; Guardian, 12/15/16

David Smith, Guardian; Michelle Obama urges students to keep up diversity legacy: 'It's your turn now' :

"She did not mention the election or Donald Trump once. But Michelle Obama’s message about diversity and inclusiveness was clear...

The first African American first lady addressed a gathering of students – many of them young black women – at the White House on Thursday after a screening of Hidden Figures, a new biopic of three black female mathematicians who helped launch Americans into space...

Obama, wearing black, added somewhat somberly: “But it’s up to all of you, our young people, to continue that legacy. It’s your turn now. All right?”"

Muirfield Golf Club Picks Discrimination Over the British Open; New York Times, 5/19/16

Karen Crouse, New York Times; Muirfield Golf Club Picks Discrimination Over the British Open:

"Golf’s return to the Olympics this summer after a 112-year absence is rooted in inclusiveness. As Tim Finchem, the PGA Tour commissioner, noted last week, golf’s power brokers showed little interest in joining the Olympic family until they commissioned a study that showed that dozens of countries that invest government money in sports invest only in sports that are in the Olympic program.

“We agreed to go into the Olympics primarily focused on growing the game and recognizing that overnight there would be coffers from governments opened up to provide financial support to grow the game,” he said.

But it’s duplicitous to expect to grow the game through the biggest multisport spectacle on the planet even as one of the game’s most affluent and influential clubs refuses to expand its membership. It’s like building a new course in the middle of a drought. No matter how impressive the blueprint, if the ground, or base, is arid, the project is doomed."

Head Scarves Before the Supreme Court; New York Times, 6/2/15

Editorial Board, New York Times; Head Scarves Before the Supreme Court:

"Abercrombie has since relaxed its dress policy and said it now grants requests for religious accommodations, including the wearing of hijabs. But the company’s claim of ignorance about Ms. Elauf’s reason for wearing her head scarf is hard to believe. If it truly did not know why she wore her head scarf, it could have asked her whether its dress policy would pose any problems for her, and made an accommodation for her at the time. Instead, it has litigated this case for seven years. All along, Ms. Elauf has felt “disrespected because of my religious beliefs,” as she testified during the trial. “I was born in the United States, and I thought I was the same as everyone else.” That goes equally for members of other religions, like Sikhism, who often face discrimination for turbans and beards that are in accordance with their beliefs.

The nearly unanimous ruling is a common-sense reading of the Civil Rights Act, and a good reminder for employers that the best policy is one of inclusiveness and accommodation."

Brendan Eich's coming-out party ended the Mozilla way: free, open – and shut; Guardian, 4/4/14

James Ball, Guardian; Brendan Eich's coming-out party ended the Mozilla way: free, open – and shut:

"So what do gay rights have to do with browser design? Nothing, some people have been quick to say. Andrew Sullivan likened the gay rights movement to the "religious right" for "hounding" Eich out of his job. William Saleton at Slate facetiously suggested activists would now have to force the remaining 35,000 Proposition 8 donors out of their jobs.

Both writers seem concerned that Eich's resignation is a defeat for freedom of expression. If anything, it is a victory – the ouster of a founder and CEO by his own people, at a foundation based on open and equal expression, should be the new textbook example of the system working exactly as it should.

Mozilla is not just another software company. Its Firefox browser relies on the goodwill and contributions of a huge community of developers and others to keep the project running, while the group serves to educate and lobby for a free and open internet: the foundation was in the thick of battles on SOPA and PIPA, and one of the first to express serious alarm over Edward Snowden's NSA revelations.

With battles ahead on these issues and more – net neutrality perhaps biggest of all – the ability to build and maintain a diverse coalition of supporters is absolutely integral to Mozilla's prospects. Maintaining that mission is, quite literally, the first and most important duty of its CEO.

Mozilla's fix to keep its team together has always been simple: inclusiveness. The foundation has accepted anyone who supports its cause, so long as they leave their personal views at the door. Mozilla is an open-internet version of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell": left or right, pro-choice or pro-life, all are welcome, so long as they don't bring their opinions into the workplace – or their source code."