It’s always the ‘woke’ companies that ironically end up having the most racist employees. Google has been in the spotlight after removing its head of diversity strategist Kamau Bobb for writing that Jews have “an insatiable appetite for war and killing,” along with an “insensitivity” to people’s suffering.
Bobb holds a Ph.D. in science and technology policy and is described as “the Global Lead for Diversity Strategy and Research at Google and the founding Senior Director of the Constellations Center for Equity in Computing at Georgia Tech.” While Google has not fired the employee, they said that Bobb will continue going forward and focus on his STEM work within the company. Seems like ‘diversity’ wasn’t working for him.
Google first notes the discovery of Bobb’s anti-semitic remarks in a 2007 blog post titled “If I Were a Jew.” At the time, he’d been a research associate in technology at Georgia Tech and described how he thought Jews should view the Middle East conflict.
“If I were a Jew I would be concerned about my insatiable appetite for war and killing in defense of myself. Self-defense is undoubtedly an instinct, but I would be afraid of my increasing insensitivity to the suffering (of) others. My greatest torment would be that I’ve misinterpreted the identity offered by my history and transposed spiritual and human compassion with self-righteous impunity,” Bobb wrote.
He went on to write how Jews should be tormented by the country’s actions and even said that Jewish suffering should give them more “human compassion.” He said that if he were a Jew today, he would find it increasingly difficult to reconcile the ‘long cycles of oppression’ that Jewish people have endured, particularly the Holocaust. Yikes.
Bobb also criticized Israel for their collective punishment against the Gaza Strip and for destroying buildings and breaking glass in the West Bank. He wrote that self-defense is undoubtedly an ‘instinct’ but that he would be afraid of his increasing insensitivity to the suffering others.
While Bobb supposedly sent an apology to the Employee Resource Group, he defended his views and said that his blog is a place for personal reflection on a number of complex issues. He apologized for “crudely” mischaracterizing the entire Jewish community instead of a particular military action but said that we can all agree that there is no easy solution to the situation.
“My work here at google is focused on expanding computing pathways through our interface with educational institutions. The world is leaving us all feeling unsafe and unsettled right now. I certainly don’t want to contribute to that,” he wrote.
The executive director of Stand With Us Michael Dickson points out that when he googled ‘antisemitism’ and ‘hypocrisy’ that Bobb’s blog post shows up. He asked If Google just “googled him” for the position and wrote that Bobb made ‘revolting and antisemitic comparisons’ between Nazi actions and the world’s only Jewish country. Others asked if Google even googled the social media history of a man they put in charge of diversity before quietly moving him to another company position.
“All of this begs the question whether (1) @Google did due diligence when selecting @kamaubobb for the sensitive position of global Google DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) Director and (2) whether he should remain in these positions. @Google – what say you?” Dickinson tweeted.
Google apologized for the writings of the diversity team that caused deep offense and pain to members of the Jewish community and wrote that the author acknowledges this and has apologized. They add that he will no longer be a part of their diversity work moving forward.
“This has come at a time where we’ve seen an alarming increase in antisemitic attacks. Antisemitism is a vile prejudice that has given rise to unfathomable acts. It has no place in society and we stand with our Jewish community in condemning it,” the statement reads.
Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action Agenda Rabbi Abraham Cooper agreed with Google’s decision said that they don’t need anti-Semites lecturing the Jewish community while being under assault by anti-Semites. He even invited Google’s leadership to spend a day at their Museum of Tolerance.
‘Stop Antisemitism’ however, wrote that they did not agree with Google’s decision to transfer Bobb to another department. “Rather than doing the right thing and firing Kamau Bobb for his grotesque antisemitism, @Google transfers this vile bigot to a STEM team. We feel bad for the Jewish employees that are now stuck working with him,” the group tweeted.
Others found Google’s disciplinary actions humorous, with former New York Democratic Assemblyman Dov Hikind tweeting sarcastically that there are some ‘serious consequences’ for an unabashed Jew-hater. “No more diversity work for Kamau Bobb, nope, now he’ll be forced to ‘focus on his STEM work’! That’ll teach him!” Hikind, who also heads Americans Against Antisemitism, tweeted.
Words that affect the entire Jewish community should have dire consequences – and you would’ve thought that Google, one of the more ‘woke’ companies, would’ve given more than a slap on the wrist. Think Google would give the same punishment to someone who wrote those exact words about Arabs or Asians? They wouldn’t be working on “stem projects,” they’d be fired.
