From time to time a person appears that is both intelligent and has morally questionable views. Sometimes these views stem from mistaken reasoning and the tendency to think "I was right on so many cases, I'm also right on this one." There are many cases in the history of mankind, like Descartes who advocated vivisection. This does not invalidate their contribution to science.
Shockley was a controversial figure who died alone. It is not fair to identify him with Bell Labs. Also, people gradually dissociated from him as it was more clear his views are extreme. We can find these kinds of people in any culture, it means nothing in the context we're discussing.
This might be an American thing, though. A while ago I came across an essay that basically said UNIX is racist [0]. It's hard to have meaningful conversation in such circumstances.
> We must historicize and politicize code studies. And, because digital media were born as much of the civil rights era as of the cold war era (and of course these eras are one and the same), our investigations must incorporate race from the outset
Nobody is arguing about contributions to science. You said, "everyone at Bell labs looked the same. So what?"
I told you exactly why people at Bell Labs looked the same and why that is a problem. If someone refuses to hire black people because they think black people are inferior, the answer isn't, "so what?"
Shockley was a controversial figure who died alone. It is not fair to identify him with Bell Labs. Also, people gradually dissociated from him as it was more clear his views are extreme. We can find these kinds of people in any culture, it means nothing in the context we're discussing.
This might be an American thing, though. A while ago I came across an essay that basically said UNIX is racist [0]. It's hard to have meaningful conversation in such circumstances.
[0] https://dhdebates.gc.cuny.edu/read/untitled-88c11800-9446-46...
- one of key quotes:
> We must historicize and politicize code studies. And, because digital media were born as much of the civil rights era as of the cold war era (and of course these eras are one and the same), our investigations must incorporate race from the outset