Gosh this was fun!We got an email yesterday from a person who identified themselves as a reporter. Not gonna go into those details, as we respect the individual's privacy and would never want to put them on blast-- cancel culture is the worst! However, they did end up writing an article about us so we feel totally free to post something you could easily find on the internet yourselves. There were a couple of typos and a few factual errors, and, as the reporter could not be reached for comment, we took it upon ourselves to do our best to make sure they could find a copy of our edited version by posting it here. Enjoy!
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Below the images are the answers to some frequently asked questions for people who still don't quite get
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We'd like to thank the good people at Unite America First-dot-com for the opportunity to provide feedback.
Ok but seriously, behind every email or article like this, there are actually some good underlying questions. We've received a few (somewhat gentler than this) inquiries along these lines, and we'd like to take the opportunity to answer them directly.
Q: Are you really selling stickers to businesses who promote your agenda?
Nope! The stickers we sell are for personal use only, and are slightly different in design from the ones for businesses. For businesses to receive a FREE sticker that they can choose to post or not post, they'll have to receive a certain number of reviews submitted to our site by members of the public, an algorithm will determine when they reach a certain threshold, THEN we'll print and ship. The original Green Book had individuals mail in post cards with their reviews. They were believed at face value on an individual level. That method's not working out so well these days, therefore we fully intend to collect lots and lots of submissions for a location and let the data speak for itself. We repeat-- we are NOT selling stickers to businesses. We aren't even giving the official stickers to large donors or investors! The Business Sticker can only be earned by earning the trust of the people they serve, and absolutely no one will be forced into displaying their free sticker.
Q: What gives you the right to tell people what businesses align with your own personal values?
Our digital version of the reimagined Green Book will not have locations or spaces generated by us. All locations and spaces will be user-generated by anyone who wishes to use the platform, as it was with the original Green Book.
Q: Why do Black people need all this special treatment? Why does it always have to be about race? I treat everyone the same.
When we talk about the why behind our work we speak from the very personal experiences of our own individual identities, because that is what we know. We do not and cannot speak for all women, all Black people, or all people of marginalized identities. We only speak for ourselves. We found that when we do that, people from all walks of life have found something they can identify with, so we continue to lead these efforts with the goal of helping everyone find something in our work that can help them on their own journey through life, regardless of identity.
Q: This seems like a slippery slope to segregation-- all of a sudden having places for Black people and places for white people.
We are not calling for or promoting segregation. Inclusive Journeys is working to provide a platform that identifies safe spaces for all. We do not intend to make the recommendations ourselves, these recommendations are crowd-sourced like any other review site. We will not be saying whether or not spaces are safe and welcoming, instead we will let the communities that utilize those businesses be the judge. Our goal is to provide statistically significant data sets for individuals and businesses to make informed decisions on their own. We will make sure to work on our communication about this going forward, to ensure clarity on this perception. We see our website being a place where anyone can let us know how they felt in a space, again, regardless of identity. After all, it’s what customer service is all about!
Q: Isn't putting business on blast like this "cancel-culture"?
The original Green Book only listed safe, welcoming and inclusive spaces, and was not about ‘cancel culture’ in any way. As a reflection of that history, we are hoping that the vast majority of reviews are positive, supportive reports, as we feel most businesses in America are really doing well most of the time. If someone does have a negative experience, there will be a space for them to document it. Our data-driven model will use an algorithm (not subjective analysis) to determine if a large number of individuals from a certain identity have experienced the same thing. In this way, we use data and not emotion, subjectivity or a singular narrative to establish any patterns of possible discrimination. If a pattern does emerge based on data collected from a large number of individuals, a user could then look at that data and decide for themselves if they would like to be a customer of that business or not.
We do not intend to make the recommendations ourselves, rather, our goal is to provide statistically significant data sets for individuals to make informed decisions on their own. In order to avoid the pitfalls of ‘cancel-culture’, businesses will have the opportunity to see breakdowns of their data reports for themselves, with access to back-end reports on the anonymized demographic breakdowns of what their customers are experiencing. Additionally, we will be providing personalized support, recommendations, and even customized trainings upon request. In this manner, we can be pro-business, and help business owners maximize their customer base and help grow the economy (and hopefully their profits!) in a time when business owners need all the help they can get. Once again, business owners are free to use our services or not, sign up for the trainings or not, act on our recommendations or not. We do not want to force anyone into doing business in a way that is not true to their core personal values, rather, we’d like to see businesses have access to customer experience data and and resources so that they can make informed decisions in the same way their customers will be able to.
Q: Are you really selling stickers to businesses who promote your agenda?
Nope! The stickers we sell are for personal use only, and are slightly different in design from the ones for businesses. For businesses to receive a FREE sticker that they can choose to post or not post, they'll have to receive a certain number of reviews submitted to our site by members of the public, an algorithm will determine when they reach a certain threshold, THEN we'll print and ship. The original Green Book had individuals mail in post cards with their reviews. They were believed at face value on an individual level. That method's not working out so well these days, therefore we fully intend to collect lots and lots of submissions for a location and let the data speak for itself. We repeat-- we are NOT selling stickers to businesses. We aren't even giving the official stickers to large donors or investors! The Business Sticker can only be earned by earning the trust of the people they serve, and absolutely no one will be forced into displaying their free sticker.
Q: What gives you the right to tell people what businesses align with your own personal values?
Our digital version of the reimagined Green Book will not have locations or spaces generated by us. All locations and spaces will be user-generated by anyone who wishes to use the platform, as it was with the original Green Book.
Q: Why do Black people need all this special treatment? Why does it always have to be about race? I treat everyone the same.
When we talk about the why behind our work we speak from the very personal experiences of our own individual identities, because that is what we know. We do not and cannot speak for all women, all Black people, or all people of marginalized identities. We only speak for ourselves. We found that when we do that, people from all walks of life have found something they can identify with, so we continue to lead these efforts with the goal of helping everyone find something in our work that can help them on their own journey through life, regardless of identity.
Q: This seems like a slippery slope to segregation-- all of a sudden having places for Black people and places for white people.
We are not calling for or promoting segregation. Inclusive Journeys is working to provide a platform that identifies safe spaces for all. We do not intend to make the recommendations ourselves, these recommendations are crowd-sourced like any other review site. We will not be saying whether or not spaces are safe and welcoming, instead we will let the communities that utilize those businesses be the judge. Our goal is to provide statistically significant data sets for individuals and businesses to make informed decisions on their own. We will make sure to work on our communication about this going forward, to ensure clarity on this perception. We see our website being a place where anyone can let us know how they felt in a space, again, regardless of identity. After all, it’s what customer service is all about!
Q: Isn't putting business on blast like this "cancel-culture"?
The original Green Book only listed safe, welcoming and inclusive spaces, and was not about ‘cancel culture’ in any way. As a reflection of that history, we are hoping that the vast majority of reviews are positive, supportive reports, as we feel most businesses in America are really doing well most of the time. If someone does have a negative experience, there will be a space for them to document it. Our data-driven model will use an algorithm (not subjective analysis) to determine if a large number of individuals from a certain identity have experienced the same thing. In this way, we use data and not emotion, subjectivity or a singular narrative to establish any patterns of possible discrimination. If a pattern does emerge based on data collected from a large number of individuals, a user could then look at that data and decide for themselves if they would like to be a customer of that business or not.
We do not intend to make the recommendations ourselves, rather, our goal is to provide statistically significant data sets for individuals to make informed decisions on their own. In order to avoid the pitfalls of ‘cancel-culture’, businesses will have the opportunity to see breakdowns of their data reports for themselves, with access to back-end reports on the anonymized demographic breakdowns of what their customers are experiencing. Additionally, we will be providing personalized support, recommendations, and even customized trainings upon request. In this manner, we can be pro-business, and help business owners maximize their customer base and help grow the economy (and hopefully their profits!) in a time when business owners need all the help they can get. Once again, business owners are free to use our services or not, sign up for the trainings or not, act on our recommendations or not. We do not want to force anyone into doing business in a way that is not true to their core personal values, rather, we’d like to see businesses have access to customer experience data and and resources so that they can make informed decisions in the same way their customers will be able to.