Hey so here's a thing about banning "political discussions" from a space because they're "divisive:" that does not resolve the division. It just says "if you feel marginalized or unsafe here, keep it to yourself, we don't want to hear it."

The way to reduce division is to set clear standards and show folks who don't meet those standards the door.

Which I guess "don't talk about politics here" is doing that--it's just that your clear standards are extremely low and you're showing folks who exceed them the door.

It is in fact possible for political discussions to go too far in the other direction, where it's so pervasive that marginalized employees can't just do their jobs without also doing Exhausting Discourse. You solve that with leadership and boundaries, not gag orders.

You can "both sides" about tabs vs spaces. You can't "both sides" politics when the politics are about who is a person.

neutral in the face of injustice, can't stay still on a moving train, etc etc etc. Parging over a crack in your foundation doesn't keep the building dry.