Unconscious bias, whistleblowing, international law, and compensation for slavery [Note: Content Warning - links to reports on slavery, bigotry/hate, violence/abuse/war. Reader discretion is advised]

Note: CONTENT WARNING - some of this content is about upsetting, disturbing or triggering events & attitudes. Seek competent help - including professional - if you need it. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that linked articles may contains names and/or images of deceased people. READER CAUTION IS RECOMMENDED! For anyone distressed by anything in this post, or for any other reason considering seeking support, resources are available in Australia here, here, and here. In other nations, you will have to do an Internet search using terms such as “mental health support - <your nation>” (which, for instance, may lead to this, this, and this, in the USA, or this, this, and this, in France [biased towards English-language - my apologies]), or perhaps try https://www.befrienders.org/. 

Note: in my “from the news” posts, quotes are shown italicised and blue, my comments are in a different shade of blue, and “good” items are shown in green. 

There are a few items from my news posts this week that I wish to highlight and comment on. 

The first is: 

in an acknowledgement of the endemic problem of unconscious bias,   “Queensland University of Technology defends removing 'merit' from hiring policy”   https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-17/qut-defends-removing-merit-from-hiring-policy/103114562  

I have been fighting those with character flaws such as amathia, misogyny, internalised sexism, etc on this for decades. Reading this is an incredible validation and relief for me ... but the troglodytes are already circling their wagons to fight against any change for better (possibly out of guilt-driven systems justification?).

 

The second is: 

in an act that, in my opinion, does not change the need for improved whistleblower protection (if anything, it shows a stronger need for such protection),   “War crime whistleblower pleads guilty to leaking info”   https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/news/crime-news/2023/11/17/david-mcbride-war-crime-guilty   

Improved protection for whistleblowers is still necessary, in my opinion. An element of breaking confidentiality or even laws is necessary in whistleblowing that goes beyond an organisation/government body - as was exemplified by the trial of Daniel Ellsberg for leaking the  Pentagon  Papers, a trial he knew was coming, and a trial that that further exposed the wrongdoing of the US government, and led to a dismissal of all charges. 

The key issue here is whether voters need to know the matter in order to make informed decisions - and embarrassment of the government/people with power has nothing to do with it, but gossip does not count as a valid need to know (it is, in fact, evil).

Thirdly, there have been some good reminders of the importance and background to international law: 

“The Nuremberg Charter and the War on Gaza”   https://www.juancole.com/2023/11/nuremberg-charter-gaza.html   and  “The New Humanitarian | International law matters even when the West abandons it”   https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/opinion/2023/11/07/international-law-matters-even-when-west-abandons-it   and   “Axis War Crimes against Hospitals in the 1930s and 1940s led to our Int'l Humanitarian Law, which Israel Ignores”   https://www.juancole.com/2023/11/hospitals-humanitarian-ignores.html   

These are well worth a read. Related to them, there is this: 

“Biden-Xi meeting at APEC a reminder of the importance of global summits in dangerous times”   https://theconversation.com/biden-xi-meeting-at-apec-a-reminder-of-the-importance-of-global-summits-in-dangerous-times-217373  

Finally, there is this: 

“A Ghana reparations summit agrees on a global fund to compensate Africans for the slave trade”   https://apnews.com/article/accra-slavery-reparation-conference-08f10f083359e9be57b74d6f6e983a8f   

This is good, if long overdue, news - and I will be endeavouring to continue monitoring developments on this matter. 

Also of relevance to that, is: 

“Study finds anti-Black bias among White Americans is rooted in perceived threat, not dislike”   https://www.psypost.org/2023/11/study-finds-anti-black-bias-among-white-americans-is-rooted-in-perceived-threat-not-dislike-214393?trk=feed_main-feed-card_feed-article-content   

 

Assumptions / basis 

In writing this, I have assumed / started from the following: 

• this blog states quite clearly that it is about political and human rights matters, including lived experience of problems, and thus I will assume readers are reasonable people who have noted the content warning in the post header;

Possible flaws 

Where I can, I will try to highlight possible flaws / issues you should consider:

• there may be flawed logical arguments in the above: to find out more about such flaws and thinking generally, I recommend Brendan  Myers’ free online course “Clear and Present Thinking”; 
  
• I could be wrong - so keep your thinking caps on, and make up your own minds for yourself.
  

 

If they are of any use of interest, the activism information links from my former news posts are available in this post. 

 

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Remember: we need to be more human being rather than human doing, and all misgendering is an act of active transphobia/transmisia that puts trans+ lives at risk.