The continuing discussion about my thoughts on
discrimination and accommodation got me to thinking . . .




I am absolutely in favor of laws that make it illegal to
fire people for being gay, Jewish, black, or anything else except
incompetent.  That's discrimination, and
it's wrong.




I do my best to live that way, myself.  That means I do my best to treat every person
who walks in the door of my company the same way, regardless of race, religion,
sexual orientation, or whatever.  I
really don't care about those things.  If
someone is nice, I try to be nice.  If
they are nasty, I throw them out. 




I suspect my own Asperger's makes me oblivious to many of
the differences in people that are allegedly the basis for discrimination
elsewhere.  Therefore it would be more
accurate to say I have no idea if a person is gay or straight (unless they say
so) than it would be to say I treated them the same because they were one way
or the other.  However, I don't know if I
would be any different even if I knew. 
The differences ethnic/racial/sexual differences others may remark on
generally do not matter much to me.




But that's just me.  I
think other people have a right to their opinions, even if I disagree with
them.




For example, I also believe in an employer's right to let
someone go if he does not fit in with that person's team.  That, to me, is the essence of what we call
employment at will, a management tenant which prevails in the USA.  In a small group, everyone has to fit
together, and you inevitably have situations where one person does not fit,
even though they may be technically competent.




I don't think it's wrong to let someone go, in that
circumstance.  My company is small, with
a dozen employees.  One person with a bad
attitude can drag everyone down in a little place, and I think it's wrong to
force us to tolerate the person.




So what if the reason the person doesn't fit is that they
have autism?  That makes it a hard
question.  I don't know if a blanket
answer for that circumstance exists, at least for me.




Being a large white heterosexual male, I am one of the least
likely sorts to suffer discrimination. 
The only time I really felt discriminated against was when I worked
briefly in a Japanese-run company, where it was made abundantly clear that
people like me were lesser animals. 
Finding that attitude among engineers was shocking at the time, but I
know many other folks experience the same thing every day.




So what did I do?  I
left.




As much as I favor laws against discrimination, I am
realistic enough to know laws don't change how people feel.  If my co-workers don't like me for some
reason, I have never been inclined to force my fit in an organization.  I don't want to be where I am not wanted.




I feel like fighting discrimination often places the fighter
in the role of being a victim.  That is
the essence of the thing . . . someone done me wrong, and I want to change the
world so they cannot do it again.  In
that role, one is powerless, and hoping to gain power.  While discrimination fighters have accomplished
great things, I feel like I want to act in a more immediately positive way in
my own life.  That means I support the
fight against discrimination but I choose a path where I am accepted, because
that make me feel ok right now.




In my world view, when someone does me wrong, I change the
circumstances of my life so they cannot do it again.  My focus is on me, and what I can change in
myself or my life circumstances.  Those
are the only things really under my control




When I express this view, some autistic people say it's easy
for me, because I have always been able to find work.  That's true. 
I am lucky that way.  What do I say
to someone who stays in a job where they are disliked for being who they are,
yet they are terrified they cannot find another job?




I don't know what to say to that.  I have always been so stubborn that I have
not been able to stay.  Even when I had
no place to land, I always jumped.  I did
that in music, cars, electronics jobs, and even publishing.  It's always worked.  By worked, I mean I have always been able to
find a new and better direction.




One consequence of my recent essays is that I've been
criticized for suggesting that people in a minority group (like autistics, 1%
of the population) are more likely to achieve success in nypical society if
they make certain changes to fit in.




I think I've made it clear how we may change to fit in while
still being true to ourselves and out values. 





That does not mean I think society should not be more
accepting.  Of course I favor greater
acceptance.  I'm just trying to be
realistic.  I can't make other people
change.  I can only change myself.  So that's what I advocate.




I'd be interested in other views on this.
(c) 2007-2011 John Elder Robison