I'm tired. And if I -- an enormously privileged member of the ML community -- am tired, you can bet that less-privileged members are absolutely exhausted and crushed. Why? Here is a short list of things I have heard in the ML or ML-adjacent community over the past month. 1/11

"What's going on in the US right now around racism doesn't really affect the ML community because there are so few Black ML researchers." No. The lack of Black ML researchers is because of the structural racism and systemic oppression that people are protesting. 2/11

"Are you saying there's racism in ML? Give me examples!" Yes, there's racism in ML. Why are there so few Black members of the ML community? Racism doesn't just mean hate crimes -- it means systemic oppression, including living with continual, inescapable microaggressions. 3/11

"This is a US problem -- there isn't really racism in Europe." 4/11

"I didn't know what to do, so I didn't do anything." That isn't good enough. You're a researcher -- you know how to learn about a topic. 5/11

"I'm too busy to read a book -- explain it to me." No. This is your privilege talking. I can assure you that people are too busy to experience racism on a daily basis but they have to do it anyway. 6/11

"White men just aren't stepping up to do D&I work, so we've decided to create awards for them. We think this will better motivate them." 7/11

"I want to do something to fight racism. But I want it to be BIG and guaranteed to succeed." No. Expecting that anything worth your time to do should be big, visible, and rewarded is your privilege talking. 8/11

"Yes, this committee is almost entirely white men. We need it to consist of senior leaders and they just happen to be white men." 9/11

"Yes, most people on this committee about topic X are white, senior men who know little about X, but we've added a few junior people from marginalized groups who will educate them on X. Power dynamics? Not an issue. I (a white, senior man) will chair the meetings well." 10/11

"Won't having to prioritize ethics make ML less fun?" Yes, it will. But that's your privilege talking about your ethical debt. ML was never fun for people involuntarily represented in datasets or subject to uncontestable, life-altering decisions made by ML tools. 11/11