No, Hank Williams, you’re the asshole.
UPDATE: Jakob didn’t even create the norbum.org site — We’re both assholes. 
So that little snowball I started a few days ago led up to a post by Hank Williams titled “Williams: Jakob Lodwick and David Karp are assholes.” (The title has since been updated).
You see, the idea behind Jakob’s original post was obviously to have some fun tempting random passerbys to figure out his new URLs. In doing so, I was having fun by speculating what it was he was working on. I had more fun with it yesterday. Is this news? Hardly.
Jakob decided to have some fun based on a user comment. The user’s comment was that “maybe it’s a crowd sourcing effort about Nordstrom’s new lineup for bums.” This is pretty funny by itself, given the odd domain name. Jakob had some fun with it by posting the quick little site that he made. Is this a giant morally wrong thing to do? Not really. It was done in lighthearted fun. We’re all having fun here except you, Hank.
Somehow, Jakob invoked your protective gene and you went as far as calling him David assholes on a pretty well-read blog. This is fine, as you have your opinion, but please remember what the power of a readerbase can do to someone’s reputation.
In all actuality, posting photos of the homeless is hardly making fun of them. Saying a website is about homeless fashion is not offensive.
That said, the thing that prompted me to post this wasn’t your anger — it was your use of race to draw a parallel between your feelings and the feelings of homeless people. I would like to know how being black has anything to do with being homeless. Are you saying that because you’re black you’ve faced ridicule? Do you think you’re less welcome in the tech community because you’re black? Would you be upset if someone made a website about the fashion of black people and African Americans? If you’re going to draw a parallel, please don’t play the race card. Given that you’ve only posted 3 times in the last year on your own blog, I can see something had to upset you.
Lighten up a bit. Have fun with life. This isn’t as big of a deal as you’re making it out to be, unless you think you’ve found your cause… in which case there are far more important ways to protect the homeless in this world.
If you want a parallel, I’ve got one for you. I’ve been homeless before. Although it was relatively brief compared to a lot of people in this country (a few weeks), it was still the worst experience of my life. I can promise you, I would much rather be black than homeless. Do you see now why I consider your parallel to be asinine? The next time you decide to call someone an asshole, make sure you’re not being one yourself.
Hank Williams
January 2, 2008 @ 10:11 pm
“It was done in lighthearted fun. We’re all having fun here except you, Hank.”
So far you are the only one who has said you thought it was funny, so you should perhaps speak for yourself and speak in the singular.
“That said, the thing that prompted me to post this wasn’t your anger — it was your use of race to draw a parallel between your feelings and the feelings of homeless people. I would like to know how being black has anything to do with being homeless.”
I thought that this would be obvious, but it may have been just a bit too subtle for you. The point is that minorities or historically-disadvantaged-in-some-way folks (black, gay, female, homeless, fat, etc.) are often more sensitive to insults - be it to their own group or to others. You are the poster child for my point since you have absolutely no understanding of what I am talking about or that there is anything wrong with what Jakob did. Re-read the Chris Rock quote if you *really* want to understand, though I doubt you do. But given that everyone from Valleywag, to CenterNetworks thought norbums was uncool and unfunny, perhaps you should reconsider your perspective.
“Are you saying that because you’re black you’ve faced ridicule?”
I was not “saying” that but since you asked, most every black person has faced ridicule. But more importantly, I have been arrested, had a gun pointed at me by police officers, accused of crimes for walking in the wrong area, called a nigger by a car salesman, etc. Having had these kinds of experiences is a fairly typical experience among my peers.
“Do you think you’re less welcome in the tech community because you’re black?”
Interesting question. No, but I do think that others are more welcome. The root cause is people wanting to work with people they have worked with before and people they are comfortable with. As an interesting example In around ‘95 I interviewed for a position as VP of product development at Viacom Interactive Services. I had great references a great resume, and a great conversation with the EVP by phone. When I walked in the door, the *first* thing the hiring manager said was “well its clear your not quite the right person for this job but I really wanted to meet you.” The “interview” lasted less than 10 minutes.
That said, this is not my general professional experience. I don’t think anything prevents me from doing what I need to do. I have truly been blessed. I have been successful in raising millions of dollars. I have met amazing people (meeting Bill & Hillary while they were in the white house was a highlight). I have created successful products. But is race an additional challenge, yes. Did I connect these challenges to what Jakob did, no. I merely believe that I am more sensitive to these type of slights than you are. That is empirically true as you have demonstrated with this post, since you don’t get it at all.
“Would you be upset if someone made a website about the fashion of black people and African Americans? ”
Wow. Are you serious? You really don’t understand the difference?
James Thomas
January 2, 2008 @ 10:53 pm
The only thing that I said was funny was the user’s guess. It was a pretty absurd guess, which was the reason it was funny. It was pretty off the wall. Jakob mocking that user’s guess by “confirming it” with a parody was funny as well… not because of the content, but because of the gesture that this user’s absurd guess was valid even as a parody. I don’t think anyone is making fun of homeless people, here.
I’ll address that in the response for my second-to-next mini quote…
Going for the context of a sentence… the last sign of someone desperately trying to make an argument.
My experiences growing up were identical. I came from a not so great area and received no different treatment than my black friends. I’ve been called a cracker, I’ve been stolen from, I’ve been punched, spat on, etc. You think I’m ignorant, but I’ve had damn similiar experiences. I’m calling *you* ignorant, because you think experiences like this only happen to “historically-disadvantaged-in-some-way folks”.
So you’re saying that your race is the reason people want to work around familiar people? Or are you implying that people are uncomfortable around you because you’re black?
When I was interviewing for jobs in Orlando, I had an interview with the Orlando Visitors Convention and Bureau. After meeting the manager (he was black), and the two programmers (also black), I had a short interview of about 10 minutes. At the conclusion, I was told that I didn’t get the job because they were looking for an African American to fill the position because they had to “meet a balance”. It sucked, but you’re not the only one who has been turned down for a job here because of race. It’s strange how we’re so alike.
Glad to hear it. Black people do face challenges because of the ignorance of the some of the population. Do keep in mind, though, that a white person in a black community receives similiar treatment. It is not impossible for someone of another race to understand your position. I would also like to propose to you that race has little to do with it. Education and ignorance do. The uneducated and ignorant in the world are the ones responsible for racism. It’s more rampant below the poverty line because of the lack of education… but it does carry all the way to the top in the form of ignorance. There have been a lot of political and religious figures who were racists, and that carries in both directions, white and black.
I completely get it. That’s my entire point. Because I understand your situation I can tell you that your parallel to homelessness is unacceptable.
That said, we’re getting off the topic. Usually people are homeless as a result of personal troubles; whether it be addictions or problems holding on to money. Smaller numbers of people are homeless as a result of unfortunate circumstance; veterans, disaster victims, etc.
Trust me when I say I don’t support making fun of the homeless, in any way shape or form. I do, however, posess the ability to tell the point of a joke… homeless people, in this situation, are not the joke. The absurdity of the suggestion is the joke. Why can’t you find that funny?
James Thomas
January 3, 2008 @ 1:22 am
By the way, I think we’re gonna have to agree to disagree on this one. I got what I wanted to get off my chest. Normally I don’t like to air my personal past on my tech blog, so this is all for me on the topic.
Have a good one, Hank.