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The push for DEI has reached the peak of absurdity and danger, folks. We’re now risking life and limb to prove to some phantom source that we’re not racist by trekking through dangerous neighborhoods. Mr. and Mrs. Jones from the suburbs are now tiptoeing down the mean streets of urban America, dodging bullets and beatdowns just to avoid offending “low-income” communities. The hubbub started when Kasey Klimes, a senior UX researcher for Google Maps from 2017 to 2021, wrote a thread on X suggesting it’s racist to offer a “scenic route” option because it would route traffic away from low-income areas, who somehow depend on foot or car traffic from random suburbanites in order to thrive.

Tom’s Guide:

The thread in question comes from Kasey Klimes, who worked as a Senior UX Researcher for Google Maps between 2017 and 2021. He starts by stating that the current Google Maps algorithm is objective, and that any “shift towards “nice” or “scenic” routes is going to take some new subset of variables into account.”

The issue with this is that programming “scenic” variables would add an inherent bias into the system that would likely predominantly direct users through high-income areas due to the prevalence of those variables, for instance beautiful architecture or tree-lined streets.

This bias would then lead to Maps “inadvertently diverting foot traffic from low-income streets takes [and] tax dollars from struggling communities and funnels it instead to richer communities.”

Klimes’ thread (screengrabbed below) has now been deleted, and his X account is now locked. This is possibly due to intense attention from other users who disagree with his justifications, or perhaps Google intervened since it doesn’t want its development secrets being given away by ex-staffers.

Imagine wanting to take a leisurely drive or stroll and being routed through gang territory. Apparently, Google would love that because, hey, at least you’re not racist. The Tom’s Guide piece continues:

Google only recently added generative AI to Maps, with a purpose of learning user preferences and then helping to identify suitable spots, regardless of how complex the request is. This was improved again with a new feature that analyzes EV charging station reviews and uses the information to better direct users.

Google will need to add more new features for walkers soon however, as Apple is working to make its Maps app far more appealing to hiking fans. It was revealed that iOS 18 will let users create and save trail routes with turn-by-turn directions, and download them for offline viewing. It additionally supports popular trails at all 63 U.S. National Parks.

The first question you probably have is, why would anyone want to meander through a low-income area? Maybe to buy a burner phone, but otherwise, what’s the harm to poor communities if folks aren’t routed through these depressing, dangerous neighborhoods? Is there data showing that revenue at Church’s Chicken suddenly plummets when “scenic route” is an option on map apps? Doubtful. This seems like just another DEI maneuver that drags us away from beauty and excellence, forcing despair and hopelessness down our throats to normalize it, as if it’s part of the overall “American experience” now.

Here’s a closeup of the now-deleted thread:

 

Interestingly, we recently covered a story about a married couple enjoying a date night who took a wrong turn down a sketchy street in Chicago. They were attacked and beaten within an inch of their lives. Tragically, the pregnant woman lost her baby.

Revolver: 

Over the past several years, as America has faced an epic “Biden decline,” we’ve heard numerous horror stories about violence and decay. However, this particular story is among the worst. One accidental turn down the wrong street tragically altered the lives of a young couple enjoying a date night in the city. They inadvertently entered a Chicago “no-go zone” and were savagely beaten by a group of thug teenagers. The woman, who was pregnant, was beaten so brutally that she lost her baby—all because they dared to walk down a street “owned” by Chicago hoodlums who probably haven’t worked a day in their pathetic, worthless lives and don’t actually ‘own’ anything but the keys to a miserable, failed existence.

These animals were beyond reason; they behaved like wild beasts, only knowing how to attack. They tore clumps of hair from the woman’s head as she pleaded for them to stop.

Things are so bad  in Joe Biden’s America that you can’t even accidentally turn down the wrong street.

Collin Rugg:

NEW: Chicago woman loses her unborn baby after getting violently attacked by a group of teens while on a date night with her husband.

Infuriating.

A woman identified as ‘Nina’ says she was walking down the street when she got surrounded by teens who assaulted her.

Her crime? Walking down the wrong street.

“We own the street, we own the street. You can’t just walk around prancing in your little dress,” the gang of about 10 said.

They then held her husband back as they beat her, ripped out her hair, pepper sprayed her face and kicked her in the stomach.

“First someone approached him and hit his head, punched him in the head, and he looked back and he looked at me and told me ‘run’.”

“Another lady came to me and dragged me with my hair on the ground.”

“I started screaming she started pepper-spraying me right in the face, in the eyes.”

“Another person starts stomping all over me, and my husband ran towards me to save me and over 10 people held him.”

She lost her baby hours later.

https://twitter.com/CollinRugg/status/1798341488662962389

Is this the diverse cultural experience Google Maps wants all of us to enjoy?

It’s no longer about lifting people out of poverty and danger—now it’s about the rest of us accepting and celebrating it as if it’s some sort of enriched cultural experience. Left-wing officials are pushing a soft-on-crime agenda, empowering criminals. If that’s not bad enough, Google Maps now wants to route us into these cesspools of violence, as if we’re “dinner” for hungry predators.

You can read the rest of the report from Tom’s Guide here, which has now been updated with Google’s response.

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