You don't need a violent coup when you have the mandate of ~80% of the population. Because most people aren't trash.

"I don't like it when anyone gets a college admissions advantage based on race!" Is how affirmative action gets banned, but legacy admission stays.

"I don't like it when anyone gets a funding advantage based on race!" Is how Black VC funds get sued, when less than 0.39% of VC funds go to Black women.

"I don't like it when anyone says the N-word!" gets Black kids expelled.

@mekkaokereke

Sitting down and explaining the reasoning behind AA in the context of employment as a white person helped a lot of folks I knew better understand how and why because the media narratives on it are a shitstorm.

"Okay, so we know that companies who after pruning down to the qualified candidates have say 80% white candidates and 20% black candidates usually still disproportionately hire white candidates. Many don't even realize they're doing it and it self-perpetuates the less diverse a company gets. So how do you stop that? Well, you try to make your company demographics match the demographics of people who applied. That's affirmative action. We know the company should be 20% black based on the data, but they aren't because of implicit biases. and that these biases go down when the workforce gets more diverse, especially management."

"Why hasn't it worked already? Well, see, there's this crazy thing where when you patch one hole on a dam full of holes..."

@deilann
@mekkaokereke

A pretty handy tactic for white male allies is to wait a beat and then just repeat back a talking point just made by a BIPOC or non-male colleague, with credit of course.

"Interesting Ted... hey I really liked what Shawna was saying can we pull that slide back up? That point about retention seemed vital."

It is truly incredible (incredibly sad) to see (white, men) people only hear words for the first time when repeated back to them by someone who looks like them.