Post
I know some folx are surprised to see David Heinemeier Hansson (DHH) publicly sharing statements that mirror the rhetoric of white nationalism. I am not. The writing has been on the wall for years.
This is what Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America by Ijeoma Oluo laid out so clearly: the myth of white male supremacy ensures that unremarkable white men can position themselves as thought leaders, innovators, or even DEI champions, while...
never actually challenging the myth of supremacy that keeps them in power.
For years, men like DHH in tech have been lauded as “progressive” or “forward-thinking” because they spoke the language of diversity. But look closer, and what they were really demanding was assimilation. Non-white men and queer people were “welcomed” as long as they adopted the existing norms of whiteness. The systems, institutions, and policies didn’t expand to reflect new perspectives.
Whiteness just expected new arrivals to fall in line.
And as soon as diverse voices, once given access, began to question that forced assimilation, the cracks began to show. Those cracks were always there, rooted in the fragility of white male supremacy.
What we’re witnessing now isn’t new.
It’s simply outdated rhetoric resurfacing from mediocre white men hanging on for dear life as they face a future where whiteness is not the sole voice, perspective, or standard.
Take this excerpt DHH quoted approvingly:
“There are really a lot of us Danes who believed that when people came to this ‘world’s best country’ and were given such good opportunities, they would integrate. They would become Danish, and they would never, ever harm our society. All of us who thought that way have been wrong.” — Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen
Assimilation as the measure of belonging has always been the strategy.
And the myth of white male supremacy ensures it will always be wielded as proof of “failure” when marginalized folx refuse to erase themselves for the comfort of whiteness.
This isn’t shocking.
It’s the same story on repeat.
What’s changing is that fewer of us are willing to let past “heroes” of DEI get away with it anymore.
🔗 Full blog post: As I Remember London – David Heinemeier Hansson https://world.hey.com/dhh/as-i-remember-london-e7d38e64
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