Atlassian HipChat is a popular communication tool (somewhat like a private version of IRC) used in many companies. HipChat features a large suit of graphical emoticons (tiny images) that can be used in conversations by typing a keyboard shortcut.
At some point in 2013, several emoticons were removed because they were racist, inappropriately sexual, or homophobic. (The full list of emoticons, including the ones that were removed, is available; content warning applies.) In October 2013, user "Roman" wrote on the HipChat support forum:
Please restore (timeforthat) chat icon, our whole team was using it and liked it a lot. R.I.P (timeforthat)
The (timeforthat) emoticon was a racist caricature of a Black woman. HipChat co-founder Garret Heaton wrote in reply:
Sorry, but a vocal minority of people caused us to remove this one. :( If you want to add it back to your own group, you can get the emoticon image at http://hipchat-emoticons.nyh.name/
Heaton assumed that anti-racist HipChat users were a minority and tacitly suggested that HipChat wouldn't have removed the emoticon if not for outside pressure. He also gave instructions for adding it to an individual HipChat installation, implying support for the racist image.
