Hey Microsoft, what happened to the black guy?

The BBC reports that Microsoft has been forced to apologize after editing a photo to replace a black man's head to that of a white man. The original pic was for the firm's US website but Microsoft edited that out for the Polish market. The black man was replaced with a white man.

It makes you wonder how stupid Microsoft must be to think they could get away with it. It became a disaster which created a storm in the blogosphere.

The Barbados Free Press blog called it for what it is: racist. "In this incident we're talking out and out Klu Klux Klan racism by some Microsoft employees - and if the truth be known probably a couple of dozen employees who knew or participated to some extent."

Tim Null's Befuddled Universe blog makes a similar point. "How do decisions like this get made in the first place? Did some supervisor go, 'We need to get some people who look Polish into those photos,' then some Temp goes 'Hey, no one will miss the black guy.' Very curious. We'll probably never know. Hardly important, except it reminds us that bias and prejudice are always out there. Sigh.."

For the record, Microsoft claims to be a company that embraces diversity.

You can read about it on the corporation's statement on diversity where Bill Gates says: "The collaborative energy that is created when talented people from different backgrounds come together to focus on innovation has helped fuel Microsoft's success for more than 30 years ... we recognize that it's more important than ever to honor diversity, both inside Microsoft and in the communities where we live and work."

Except maybe in Poland!