The recent protest in Charlottesville has ignited strong response from the general public, the media, and even tech companies. Discord clamped down on white supremacist chatter on its client by shutting down the altright.com server and numerous accounts associated with the violent incident. Domain registrar GoDaddy withdrew its registration contract with neo-nazi website Daily Stormer, and Google did the same when approached by Daily Stormer.
Now, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has detailed his thoughts on the matter too.
In an internal email obtained by Quartz, Nadella said that the company finds the violent events at Charlottesville "horrific". He noted that Microsoft stands for diversity and inclusion, and that there is no room for hate and bigotry that was promoted by "white nationalists" this past week. The full content of the executive"s memo can be read below:
This past week and in particular this weekend’s events in Charlottesville have been horrific. What I’ve seen and read has had a profound impact on me and I am sure for many of you as well. In these times, to me only two things really matter as a leader.
The first is that we stand for our timeless values, which include diversity and inclusion. There is no place in our society for the bias, bigotry and senseless violence we witnessed this weekend in Virginia provoked by white nationalists. Our hearts go out to the families and everyone impacted by the Charlottesville tragedy.
The second is that we empathize with the hurt happening around us. At Microsoft, we strive to seek out differences, celebrate them and invite them in. As a leader, a key part of your role is creating a culture where every person can do their best work, which requires more than tolerance for diverse perspectives. Our growth mindset culture requires us to truly understand and share the feelings of another person. It is an especially important time to continue to be connected with people, and listen and learn from each other’s experiences.
As I’ve said, across Microsoft, we will stand together with those who are standing for positive change in the communities where we live, work and serve. Together, we must embrace our shared humanity, and aspire to create a society that is filled with respect, empathy and opportunity for all.
Feel free to share with your teams.
Satya
This is not the first time that a tech firm has encouraged diversity as part of its growth culture. Last week, an engineer was fired from Google for circulating an anti-diversity memo that argued that women were less likely to be in top positions at larger companies mainly due to biological differences between the two genders.
Recently, Kevin Plank and Brian Krzanich, CEOs of Under Armour and Intel respectively, departed US President Trump"s manufacturing council following his rather late condemnation of the racist and white supremacist acts that shook Charlottesville.
Source: Quartz