[eat_veggies]

That doesn't sound like a right wing dogwhistle, although you could perhaps phrase "by forcing everyone to talk in English" differently to not be so negative.

But overall, it's a great answer. You talked about your specific team, which happened to include Russians, Indians, and Europeans. You pointed out that there were challenges involved, but you made an effort to make sure nobody felt left out, and that overall it was worth it. Nice!

[username90]

Yeah, that was the point. My experience is working with teams with very varied backgrounds in Europe, and you really have to make a point to talk a common language. Instead of speaking my native language with others with my background I speak English. Similarly others have to do the same thing. If a group of Russians speak Russian with each other it hurts the group.

The reason I brought that up is because I've seen some American progressives say that trying to make people speak English is racist or non inclusive. But it is the other way around. in the teams I've worked nobody were native English speakers but everyone spoke English. That is the only sensible way to handle a diverse team and letting people speak their native language just creates silos and removes the point of diversity. And someone on the team being a native English speaker wouldn't change that point.

For example, if I worked in USA and a group of latinos spoke Spanish with each other I'd tell them to speak English. Not because I think they need to speak English in USA but because they are excluding other groups by speaking a language only they understand. Similarly if I were to speak Swedish with my teammates I'd expect others to say the same thing to me, and in diverse environments I even speak English when everyone around me knows Swedish just to make it a habit.

[eat_veggies]

Thanks. The nuance you've added with this comment makes a lot of sense to me, and it wasn't quite apparent in your original comment. But even then, I (or most American progressives) wouldn't consider it a major red flag or blocker for hiring.

[username90]

I know it would be fine with a lot of sensible people, but a lot of people just lock in on what they perceive to be a problematic remark and stop listening. You must have experienced it yourself at many points where someone you talk to just took something you said and refuse to listen to anything else. This is just as prevalent among all political sides, just that you are familiar with the group you grow up with so you don't trigger their irrational reactions as much.

Now I've read a lot about American culture and politics online, but a more ignorant person with my experience would just bluntly say that as if it was common sense and as you saw you homed in on forcing people to speak English yourself. If you were a bit less understanding it would have ended the hiring process right there.

[kortilla]

> But even then, I (or most American progressives) wouldn't consider it a major red flag or blocker for hiring.

The fact that it’s a minor red flag at all is the issue.

Telling a group of Spanish-speaking people to speak English to include everyone is a major no-no right now. Do you realize how colonial that is?