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Welcome back! Break time is slowly coming to an end.
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We have one more talk followed by closing notes. I have some suggestions for after-party activities, which we will tweet out a little later.
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Our next speaker is Amr Abdelwahab, one of the organizers of last year's EuRuKo. He works as a senior software engineer at Moto Moto and is also a Rails Scroll mentor.
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Can you hear me? Perfect! When I was in high school, I took a course on presentation skills. This course covered every aspect of presentation, from the introduction to the body. There was one specific section that I loved, called the attention grabber.
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For those who don’t know, an attention grabber is a technique used by speakers to capture the audience's attention, often through a thought-provoking question or an engaging story.
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Throughout my life, I decided to use unusual attention grabbers. I created fancy props to attract people's attention. However, I moved to Europe and realized that just being a brown person with curly hair is enough to grab attention.
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I’m glad about this realization, even if it’s a hard truth. I'm a senior software engineer at Moto Moto, the cloakroom-curated shopping group. I’m honored to be on the EuRuKo stage for the third time in a row, every time in a different role.
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In Euro 2016, I pitched Budapest as a host city, and in Euro 2017, I served as a chair organizer. I want to take this opportunity to express gratitude to Yoko and the community, as Euro was one of the most impactful experiences of my life, especially in the technology sector.
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I was born and raised in Cairo, Egypt, and I moved to Budapest in 2013, eventually relocating to Berlin.
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Now, you might wonder why I’m giving this talk. It’s important to note that this is not an expert talk; I’m not an expert on this topic. This is more a heart-to-heart conversation from one of your fellow developers.
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This talk might seem irrelevant to some of you because social topics are often considered unimportant at these events. But I want you to know that they actually impact lives like mine and the lives of hundreds or thousands of your fellow developers.
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So why me? Why am I up here giving this talk? I come from a privileged background; I belong to a middle to upper-class family in Egypt. My parents are Muslim, so I belong to the majority in my country.
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Surprisingly, I’m of a lighter shade of black in my country. Unfortunately, if you are darker skinned there, you can still be seen as underprivileged. I am a cisgender straight male.
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In the past, when my Christian, LGBT, or female friends confronted me about social issues, I often felt sympathy but wondered why they were so sensitive about these matters.
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I questioned why they made such a big fuss and fell for many common fallacious arguments. My move to Europe was an eye-opening experience. In an instant, I started facing daily situations where I felt looked down upon. I found that I needed to put in ten times more effort than my white European counterparts to achieve the same results.
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I started experiencing what I now call daily racism. The first question I had was whether I was becoming overly sensitive as I couldn’t fit into this group.
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That’s when I decided to read more about these topics and listen to others. I realized my entire life, we had been missing context. I want to share my thoughts with those who unintentionally damage their peers.
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This talk will cover several parts. First, I will introduce what privilege is. Then I will provide context for some common arguments against diversity efforts. Finally, I will discuss the practical importance of diversity in your products, your development, and design.
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Now, I will do something I usually don’t like in presentations and read a definition from Wikipedia. According to it, privilege is a 'special right or advantage granted or available only to a particular person or group.'
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However, dictionary definitions can be irrelevant in social contexts. To illustrate the concept of privilege, let's calculate our privilege scores. Please add one to your score if you can post on social media without risking jail, murder, or exile. In my country, being able to share this presentation would cost me something I wouldn't want any of you to experience.
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Add one to your score if you can confess your love to someone without being murdered for it. I can count myself fortunate since I’m a straight man, but there are many places around the world where confessing your love could seriously endanger your life.
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The questions surrounding privilege are extremely relevant, especially in Europe. In many conferences, I hear discussions around topics like digital nomadism and remote work, which often assume that everyone can travel freely.
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However, many individuals are unable to attend these conferences because they struggle to obtain visas. Do you ever notice that some people often get selected for additional checks at the airport? For someone with a name like Mohammad, being selected is almost a given.
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In summary, privilege is not set in stone. Being part of the Muslim community in Egypt is a privilege, but being part of it in Europe is no longer the same. Privilege is contextual; it can become an underprivileged status in other contexts. It's important to recognize that privileges are intersected, and comparing them is unhelpful.
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For example, a white woman has privileges over a black woman, and a white male holds privileges over both. The essential aspect is that privilege is not inherently evil. When I inform you of your privilege, I am not cursing you, but rather pointing your attention to some responsibilities individuals hold with their privileges.
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Understanding that extra responsibilities come from privilege can lead us quite nicely into our coding realm. How many of you maintain a legacy codebase? Almost everyone, I assume. When inheriting a project, you recognize that previous developers did their best, yet often overwhelmed with deadlines, they created hacky solutions.
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These situations introduce what we all call technical debt. Just like you can't ignore past mistakes with technical debt, the same applies to the context of privilege. No one can dismiss it; when we work, we must be mindful of what came before us.
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To illustrate, consider that our entire humanity has such a legacy—it's deeply entwined with the concept of technical debt we face. We should act reflectively before making decisions.
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In our industry, there is a tendency to decontextualize topics. When discussing code, we often privilege principles like the single responsibility principle and seek to create simplistic, isolated services that operate independently of their environment.
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However, we must realize this principle does not apply outside coding standards. Context is necessary in social sciences and politics. When we lack context, we cannot fully understand or engage in discussions. So let’s refrain from approaching societal topics as we would our codebases.
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I would like to address some common arguments often raised against discussions about inclusion and equity. The first is the notion of 'intention versus impact.' When a person of color raises a concern, often someone will respond by saying, 'But they didn’t mean any harm.' But intention does not negate harm.
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For instance, if you were throwing a frisbee in the park and it accidentally hit someone's face, causing them injury, you would still need to apologize and offer help regardless of your intentions.
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On the other hand, if you are mentoring someone from a marginalized community with good intentions but you are not well-informed, you may inadvertently cause more damage than help unless you educate yourself thoroughly.
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Another common argument is the 'all lives matter' idea, which emerged in response to the Black Lives Matter movement. When people say 'all lives matter,' they tend to ignore that black lives are disproportionately at risk in our society.
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While all lives indeed matter, it is crucial to acknowledge the specific realities faced by marginalized communities, rather than equating everyone's experiences as the same.
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I urge you to recognize the unique burdens marginalized groups face, rather than placing yourself in the same category as them. We are not equally oppressed. Additionally, I want to emphasize the concept of microaggressions.
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Microaggressions are subtle comments or behaviors that belittle or insult marginalized groups. For example, the comment 'Oh, you speak so well,' is an example of a microaggression.
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It's essential to see that while one instance may seem small and unimportant, those who are continuously subjected to such comments feel the weight of them over time, just like receiving mosquito bites repeatedly.
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We must also navigate the misinterpretation of terms like 'reverse discrimination.' It does not exist; there is no such thing as reverse racism or reverse sexism because discrimination stems from power imbalances.
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Oppression must be contextualized against historical and societal frameworks. If discrimination were to occur against privileged groups, it does not equate to the discrimination minorities face.
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In practice, this means we don't seek equality by giving everyone the same box to step on; rather, we should determine what equity looks like and provide additional support to those who need it to ensure everyone can participate.
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Ethics aside, it's also essential to consider the business implications of diversity. Without a diverse team, you won't create an inclusive product. When modeling users, we tend to assume everyone has the same basic attributes.
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For example, we generally assume every user has a first and last name. However, this assumption can exclude large portions of the population, such as those from cultures where naming conventions differ.
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This cognitive bias leads to significant oversights. Addressing these assumptions is crucial; failing to do so can develop issues that impact user interactions on your platform.
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Another example is the 'racist camera' phenomenon, where technology fails to recognize or properly identify individuals from different backgrounds. The history of biases in cameras must be acknowledged to ensure technology benefits everyone equally.
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Finally, let’s address safety; for women and children, airbags were historically designed without consideration for their physical size, which led to tragic outcomes. Consequently, diversifying your team is paramount to avoid such incidents.
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As a call to action, hire diversity professionals to support you. Ensure your company maintains open, transparent communication, and listen to your employees about their experiences.
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This privilege exists even within the tech industry, where most of you can find jobs easily. Use your privilege to advocate for others who may not enjoy the same opportunities.
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It's important to support various diversity initiatives beyond gender, including those that pertain to racial minorities, refugees, and disenfranchised communities.
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By participating and advocating for inclusivity, we contribute toward building a more equitable tech community. Thank you all for your time!