In several posts on X, Musk claimed without evidence that diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives put airline customers in danger.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk drew a swift rebuke from two of the nation’s best known civil rights organizations Wednesday, after he criticized efforts by United Airlines and Boeing to hire nonwhite pilots and factory workers.
The criticism came after Musk claimed in a series of posts on X that efforts to diversify workforces at those companies have made air travel less safe. He offered no evidence for the claim, and one of his replies directed attention to a post by someone else speculating about the IQ of Black airline employees.
Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, said Musk’s statements were “abhorrent and pathetic.” He noted that Tesla, where Musk is CEO, is being sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for alleged abuse of Black employees, including claims of racial slurs and nooses found in the workplace.
“Musk’s company not only refused to investigate complaints or take any steps to end the abuse, it viciously retaliated against employees who complained or opposed the abuse,” Morial said in a statement to NBC News, citing allegations from the suit.
So aside from the comments being a dick move, he’s not just wrong on the his assertion that diversity in and of itself adds to less safe conditions at the airlines.
In fact, the opposite is true. I work in a field where failure investigations are routine. More diversity, especially in environments such as this where safety is paramount, is absolutely necessary to prevent groupthink. This isn’t an opinion, it’s a fact. The Navy and NASA have said as much.
When everyone thinks alike, no one thinks at all. There are no dissenting opinions - this is what leads to accidents.
But of course Elon doesn’t care - he wouldn’t allow the color yellow - for caution - and the backup beeps on things like forklifts at his Tesla plant simply because he “didn’t like” them. He doesn’t give a shit about safety.
So whatever Elon, but maybe you shouldn’t be working in human spaceflight.
I have no study to back this up but I have noticed the same thing. There is a reason why when we are struggling at work that I grab everyone I can. The paper pushers, the specialist engineers, the old timers, the techs, the interns. I want everyone to look at this problem and suggest ideas. It’s a cynical maybe but humans are a resource, and what you do with resources is exploit them.
Groupthink sucks. That’s why you get companies circling the drain for decades. Making the same product over and over again while the rest of the world moves on.
If DEI is so bad, please provide evidence that DEI initiatives result in minorities consistently fall into the lowest performers in their roles.
After all, we’ve had these initiatives for a long time, the evidence should be overwhelming by now right?
Put up or shut up Elon. If one of the richest people on the planet can’t provide evidence why bother listening to this drivel.
Yeah, but it feels like it’s true.
Scared white men think the initiatives mean they’ll be passed over for a less qualified diversity hire. They don’t understand that jobs have been going to less qualified white men, instead of more qualified minorities for decades.
They don’t understand that jobs have been going to less qualified white men, instead of more qualified minorities for decades.
They certainly do understand that. That changing is what scares them so much.
At this point, I assume he’ll start spouting inaccurate and disgusting “science” that non-white brains are literally smaller any day now.
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Anyone want to tell him that the inclusion of who is white has changed drastically in the last century and will again?
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Fucking Neanderthals had bigger brain capacity than we do today.
I expect he’ll start accusing people of having the brainpan of a stagecoach tilter.
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Ah yes, Elon Musk, famously someone who flies commercial airlines all the time.
Man was raised as a rich white boy in full-apartheid South Africa and never grew up - of course he’s going to be scared by people who don’t look like him, or act like him, or thing like him.
Mask-Off MuskRat! Mask Off.
ya prick
I remember when you had to do Jackass/Tom Green stunts to get noticed for being an offensive asshole without a skillset.
So freaken lazy these days. All you have to do now is be born rich and say dumb offensive stuff on twatter
Yes, Elon. Airlines should only hire white people. Because white pilots have never crashed an airplane. Logic.
And I thought doors that fall off mid-flight would make flying less safe but what do I know …
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Member that time when they were like “what’s the main problem with everything, Elon” and he got all freakazoid looking and was like “THE JEWS” member that? Like, I think maybe in hindsight Tesla and SpaceX and the related US Government agencies and everyone who still has an account on whatever the fuck it’s called now should have peaced out.
There isn’t a substitute for SpaceX. Which in itself is horrible and a situation we never should have been in. On the plus side no one stays #1 forever so eventually the rest of the market will catch up.
Still only 2 US launch companies.
True but ULA is going to get their act together eventually.
Vulcan is ULA
Maybe Musk should work harder on making his own automobiles not the most accident-prone cars on the road.
Diversity and flying are two completely different issues.
It’s funny how he is falling in line with “Russolican” ideology. I’m sure his private call with Putin has nothing to do with that.
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I was going to say that this is one of the rare instances where he’s not completely full of shit.
Then I read the article. He somehow manages to be full of shit even when the premise (hiring for skill instead of diversity, especially in aviation) is logical.
I think your initial reaction shows that your falling into the same logic trap that people like Elon are, just not as extreme.
DEI initiatives don’t mean, “hire the black guy so we look good”. They mean that where there are 2 candidates with equal qualifications, make an effort to hire the DEI candidate. Some organizations have implemented things like reviewing resumes with the names removed so that there’s no unconscious bias against folks with obvious non-white names. They also set targets to have X% of staff at various levels be female/non-white, etc. There’s no penalty for missing these numbers though, it’s a target that gets reviewed annually by executive management and that’s it.
If you’re not making progress against the goal they’re going to ask why. If the answer is, “well sir/ma’am, I’m a racist” then of course you’re getting fired. If the answer is, "were not an attractive company to this class of people, then good organizations will try to figure out why and take steps to change that.
And that’s really what hiring DEI candidates is all about. It’s not “punish white people for the sins of their ancestors”, “hire minorities regardless of how unqualified they are”, “put some chick on the board so we look good”, or anything like that.
No, their initial reaction shows they’re a racist piece of shit that gets rope.
When will we stop coddling these fuckers and start giving them what they deserve.
Yeah, but how do I make myself the victim in that situation?
Projection, my good man!
