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by sergiotapia 4569 days ago
Are you talking about: "It's a sad joke Rubyconf attendees yearly confuse @bryanl and @daksis with each other, but it's happened at every Rubyconf i've been too (which is granted 3 but it's there)."?

I don't think there's anything racist about that if it's an honest mistake the audience makes. Or did you mean to say the actual presenters announce them by the wrong name?
1 comments
steveklabnik 4569 days ago
I'm curious, why would it be bad if the organizers of a conference made that mistake, but it's not bad if the attendees do?

And yes, he means that people walk up to Randall and say "oh hey, Brian!" and vice versa. Really, really often. Sometimes repeatedly. They're different heights, they don't even look like each other at all. They're just usually the only two black guys there. It happens at more than just Ruby conferences...

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sergiotapia 4569 days ago
Because:

a) They have never met the speaker personally.

b) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Face_perception

It has --nothing-- to do with being racist.

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steveklabnik 4569 days ago
> a) They have never met the speaker personally.

Yes, this is "We met earlier in the day, I'm saying hello again." Or, like I said, a waiter that over the course of a multi-hour dinner and drinks, continually confuses the two. (EDIT: Whoops, when revising, I apparently deleted that story. I've seen this too.)

Furthermore, it doesn't happen with other people, at least not to the same degree. People even say "whoops, I confused you with the other black guy."

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knowitall 4569 days ago
Still, it's not racism, just the way the human visual system works. What do you think is racist about it? "People don't even care enough to remember the name"? That is not what is going on at all. If they wouldn't care, why would they talk to them at all?

Who knows, perhaps they even have an advantage because people actually remember them. They only get their names mixed up sometimes - other people are simply forgotten completely. How often do you forget the name of people you have just been introduced to?

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knowitall 4569 days ago
And what about that is racist in your opinion?
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