I have to rant for a minute…This isn’t really about writing but I’ll explode if I don’t write it!
I was engaged in my morning ritual of reading articles and posts on LinkedIn when I came across a post that claimed that the “Women at NASA” page had been taken down. I’ve always thought of NASA as a woman friendly place. Full of women heroes who proved that space is for everyone. I thought it had to be a misunderstanding.
So I went there:
(https://www.nasa.gov/women-at-nasa/)
and of course – being me – I quickly posted back that it was still there. Then I clicked on the “Gallery” link and saw the picture above.
Embarrassed – I added a second post confirming that yes, they in fact shut some of it down.
But I still hoped so I looked some more and “Women at NASA History Month.” – gone; I typed “Sally Ride” in the search bar. Zero results.
The individual articles are still there – for now. But it’s clear that this isn’t some misunderstanding or glitch.
Then I got mad. This is stupid, ignorant, senseless, inane, injudicious, imprudent, idiotic, imbecilic, ludicrous, and downright mean. (I love a good list, there are more words that apply but I’m too mad to think of them).
How is it that we – as a species – think that 50% of us represents diversity? Honestly, if we are being real – and you know – MATH, then white guys would be a small minority because they are not the full other 50%. Turns out that only about 8% of the global population is white guys.
I’m surrounded by white guys I love – smart and handsome and fun. And I know they mostly agree with me – kicking out women and anyone else that’s not a white guy is a bad idea. White guys alone aren’t enough to run NASA or anything else. Any more than a group of only white women, or only black women, or only Indonesian women, are smart enough to run a major institution. We NEED diversity, People.
It has nothing to do with being “Woke” (and don’t get me started on that hijacked term!). It’s how we advance, its good business and basic common sense. I mean seriously! What’s wrong with you, NASA?
Okay. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.
Tuesday Kuykendall 