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Microsoft has been accused of preventing Jews at the company from forming ethnic identity groups similar to those provided to others, including blacks, Latinos, Muslims, which, according to the Louis Brandeis Center for Human Rights, constitutes a violation of their civil rights.
I’ll let the dismal stories of antisemitism, both at Microsoft and at a New York labor union, speak for themselves. For as J.D. Salinger said about a very different matter, “The facts at hand presumably speak for themselves, but a trifle more vulgarly, I suspect, than facts even usually do.” You can find out more about those facts here: “Microsoft Accused of Antisemitic Discrimination,” by Dion J. Pierre, Algemeiner, May 15, 2025:
Microsoft Corporation denies Jews the right to form ethnic affinity groups despite maintaining a robust system of them for other identity categories, the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law has alleged in a blistering letter urging the tech giant to correct what it says constitutes a flagrant violation of civil rights meriting legal action.
According to the letter, Microsoft employees may join Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) which correspond to “ethnic or racial identity” and foster “extra opportunities for professional development, career advancement, and the ability to collectively oppose discrimination in the workplace.” However, the company rules out Judaism as the basis for starting a Jewish ERG, nor does it recognize Jews, as does the US government, as an ancestral group. Thus, Jews at Microsoft are excluded from a form of social networking that can boost a career at the company to the highest levels of success, according to the Brandeis Center.
“Providing all employees equal access to professional benefits and opportunities, including Microsoft’s Jewish employees, is the right thing to do and is compelled by various federal and local anti-discrimination statutes,” said Brandeis Center co-chair Kenneth Marcus, who served as assistant civil rights secretary in the US Education Department under former President George W. Bush. “This discrimination must stop.”
ERGs also act as advocacy groups which combat discrimination, the Brandeis Center argues in the letter, providing employees a peer group which shares “their lived workplace experiences.” Additionally, the groups facilitate “corporate charitable giving” to community organizations providing essential social services and “educational events.” The groups further receive copious funding from the Microsoft Corporation’s department of human resources, an indicator of upper management’s faith in their purported missions.
“Jewish Microsoft employees are only permitted to organize themselves as an ‘Employee Community,’ a structure vastly inferior to an ERG in multiple ways,” the letter states. “Employee Communities receive no funding and only limited support from Human Resources and are not allowed to host educational events, participate in inclusive product design programs, or work with external groups outside of the annual Microsoft Give campaign.”
It continues, “Moreover, Microsoft’s insistence on defining Jewish identity inconsistent with its Jewish employees’ own self-definition has contributed to an environment that many Jews at Microsoft view as indifferent to antisemitism at best and antisemitically [sic] hostile at worst. Surely a Jewish ERG at Microsoft could have helped Microsoft avoid repeatedly failing to issue appropriate statements condemning rising antisemitism similar to its statements concerning other -isms, and failing to recognize important events in the Jewish calendar as Microsoft does for employees of other identities.”
On Wednesday, the author of the letter, Rory Lancman, who is the Brandeis Center’s senior counsel and director of corporate initiatives, implored Microsoft to accept that “Jewish employees have the same professional needs and aspirations as other ethnic minorities.”
He added, “Instead of dictating the terms of Jewish identity to its Jewish employees, Microsoft should listen to them and accept that to be Jewish is to be part of a people, not merely a faith … [They] can’t be denied those same opportunities to express themselves collectively about antisemitism, seek a better working environment, and achieve professional advancement.”…
It’s all too much, too sickening. Will Microsoft, perhaps after Steve Ballmer makes a call to Bill Gates, do something about the company’s failure to provide Jewish workers with the same opportunity to form an ethnic affinity group? I’ll be watching. Care to join me?
“Microsoft’s insistence on defining Jewish identity inconsistent with its Jewish employees’ own self-definition”
To be fair, nobody has a consistent definition of who is or isn’t a Jew. The Ashkenazi definition is not even self-consistent. Orthodox Ashkenazi say it is matrilineal descent, Reform Ashkenazi say either patrilineal or matrilineal, Karaite and Beta Israel say patrilineal descent only. There is no common ethnicity, no common cultural touchstones, not even any common DNA. There is no defining authority who can legally, ethically, morally, religiously or in any other way state who is authentically Jewish and who isn’t.
So, this really isn’t Microsoft’s fault. When even Jews cannot consistently define who is Jewish and who isn’t, then what chance does anyone else have?
I guess we know what your obsession is. The other day you had at least three posts bashing Jews
Spot on, brother. Another home run.
I’m not trying to be mean but the whole Jewish schtick is a farce. If being a Jew was really an ethnicity it wouldn’t matter which parent was Jewish. It’s just so absurd.
But, to pretend like the orthodox do, that being Jewish is magically passed down by the mother isn’t even biblical! Throughout the Bible the status of a child was passed down through patrilineal descent, and that includes the Jews and there are verses throughout the Bible that overwhelmingly show that. However, if the Jews want to use matrilineal, at least the orthodox, the DNA shows without question their matrilineal DNA is European; not from the Levant. They fail their own “Jewish Law” test.
That’s why there is the running joke “ask two Jewish scholars what or who is a Jew and you’ll get four different answers.”
Anyone can be a Jew through conversion. It’s against Jewish law to use genetics to determine who a Jew is. Yet, I hear the ignorant rhetoric “I’m Jewish by blood” “we are a race”, “we are an ethnicity” “we are a people”, “we are a religious group.”
They try to act like there is some continuity between Hebrews, Israelites and today’s Jews of Europe.
Total clown show. And Bruce Jenner is really female
One more thing. In additon, to show you how clueless these people are there was a study conducted. It surveyed Jews and asked “what is a Jew? What does being a Jew mean?”
What do you think the overwhelming answer was? It wasn’t about religion, geography, culture, etc.
The answer among the majority of Jews, I believe close to 80%, stated “remembering the Holocaust”
Lol 😂 you can’t make this up
Every antisemite announces himself as the world’s foremost authority on Jews, Judaism, and Jewishness. Not to put too fine a spin on it, but go fuck yourself.
Appreciate your input, but can you cite specifically how I’m an antisemite? Is anything I stated a lie? No. Pointing out the discrepancies and inconsistencies makes someone a Jew hater?
I don’t need to be the world’s foremost authority to make appropriate observations. I’m pretty well versed on the topic as you can see.
Let’s keep it professional.
Final thing. European Jews aren’t semites .
Nuff said
“extra opportunities for professional development, career advancement, and the ability to collectively oppose discrimination in the workplace.” This sounds like rampant discrimination to me. I’m willing to bet nothing like this exists for whites.
What is a Jew? Your Mother is Jewish. Gosh, that was easy.
Not knowing Cardona’s past contributions I am not sure of what he means but there is no question much of what he said is true.
One can love and respect Judaism and still notice the incongruities.
Personally I find the idea of ALL of the “sectarian” groups obnoxious and stupid. If I employed that many people I would not want them splitting up into groups.
Microsoft would do well to say no more of this to all of them.
The Tower of Babel at the water cooler. Not a good idea. When you are at work at MICROSOFT you speak Microsoft.
I have no love whatsoever for MS and use Linux when I have the choice.