I think there's a good case to be made that the problem with institutionalized racism is terrible not just because society loses out on a great mathematician, but rather, because it hurts individuals by discriminating against them.
Just because he turned out to be a great mathematician doesn't make his story any more painful or wrong.
You are absolutely correct. People absolutely do get hurt when they are discriminated against. As a second-class citizen in my country, I truly understand this.
The point I was trying to make was that the people doing the discriminating also get hurt in the process, thanks to lost opportunities such as the loss of this mathematician. There's really no benefit whatsoever to promoting irrational discrimination such as racism.
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I think there's a good case to be made that the problem with institutionalized racism is terrible not just because society loses out on a great mathematician, but rather, because it hurts individuals by discriminating against them.
Just because he turned out to be a great mathematician doesn't make his story any more painful or wrong.
You are absolutely correct. People absolutely do get hurt when they are discriminated against. As a second-class citizen in my country, I truly understand this.
The point I was trying to make was that the people doing the discriminating also get hurt in the process, thanks to lost opportunities such as the loss of this mathematician. There's really no benefit whatsoever to promoting irrational discrimination such as racism.