How To Be A Successful (African) American in Silicon Valley

http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/04/greed-trumps-race-how-to-be-a-successful-african-american-in-silicon-valley/

by dguido • 14 years ago

115 53 14 years ago

colmvp2• 14 years ago

I find it odd that HN loves to upvote 'more women in tech' articles but never promotes any article related to increasing African American or the Latin American population in the tech community.

coor• 14 years ago

I for one only actually care about women in tech to improve my dating pool. Not sure what more minorities would do for me.

rdl4• 14 years ago

I care about the "people in tech" pool containing as high a percentage of the "qualified people who could be in tech" as possible, as both a hirer and a buyer/user of tech. If there are qualified women or minorities who aren't working in tech for artificial reasons (their early-childhood education deterring them, racism or sexism in the workplace, etc.), that affects me as a white man.

I don't have as much self-interest in whether people from Ohio, Eskimos, or women are proportionally represented. (I sort of care in an abstract way, because tech jobs are great and a good way to live a happy life, but if there were some innate reason why gingers were comparatively far better at medicine than at tech, I wouldn't cry that there were few gingers in tech.)

The nice thing about capitalism is that even with my own self-interested motivation, it tends to solve problems like this.

joenathan• 14 years ago

What about minority women? that's a two for one.

arcatek• 14 years ago

I'm pretty sure this post was marked [Dead] few hours ago.

rayiner5• 14 years ago

Are blacks underrepresented among engineers, relative to their representation among college graduates?

There's also the issue that male-female disparities are generally more tractable problems. One of the saving graces of gender inequality is that it's not deeply tied in with socioeconomic class.

anewguy2• 14 years ago

"Underrepresentation does not equal racism" contradicts the academic party line ("systemic racism"). If a white person said something like that, they would get a lecture in "denying privilege". If an asian person said it, he would be ignored.

But I agree that the author's way of thinking is far healthier for any given individual. Which is why the author is so successful.

flexxaeon3• 14 years ago

It doesn't contradict "systemic racism", it clarifies it. i.e. "a college degree does not equal intelligence"

slurgfest• 14 years ago

What do you mean by "academic party line"? The university system is not a party (let alone a communist party). Phrases like "denying privilege" are not general to all of academia, they are specific to certain people. What is your interest in portraying all academics as people who deliver lectures in denying privilege (or whatever)?

Leave the people who develop knowledge and disseminate it for the rest of society alone with your political agenda.

anewguy2• 14 years ago

I have never heard an academic in a race-studies, Sociology, or Communications department seriously grapple with criticisms of the "systemic racism" hypothesis for the white/black performance gap, and nor have I heard any other hypothesis offered. Students and professors outside those departments dutifully recite the same theories. As far as I can see, academia is a den of groupthink and cultural Marxism when it comes to such issues.

daybowbow• 14 years ago

Really appreciate this article - very thoughtful. Re: the "Increase the pipeline" section, I agree this is a great place to start. But while "the reasoning behind such skewed ambitions begins at home," I think it's also more of a media problem. We can name rap artists and basketball players because for the media, sports & entertainment are king. Thankfully, we can point our kids to Barack Obama - my daughter already knows "Pesident Obama" she's not even two yet, and our kids will aspire towards a broader set of ambitions. But we could also use a little help from the media highlighting achievers in other realms.

guylhem6• 14 years ago

Excellent article, full of excellent thoughts and ideas. I hope it'll remain frontpage material to clear some misrepresentations.

"Heard Yeezy was racist, well, I guess that’s on one basis, I only like green faces."

I guess I'm like Kanye then: I'm green-biased, because in the end, that's the only thing that matter - profits :-)

"Underrepresentation does not equal racism" is also a great idea to cite - who cares about one's representation?

Profits are what matters. Is there a white resentment about having too few white players in the NBA? As long as they are good and get well paid, who cares?

phaus• 14 years ago

I don't blame my not being in the NBA on the fact that I am white. I blame it on the fact that I'm short and I suck at basketball.

dasil003• 14 years ago

That quote reminds me of Mitch Hedberg's color joke:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El65C0u_J3U

Anechoic2• 14 years ago

Profits are what matters

No, opportunity is what matters. "Underrepresentation does not equal racism" is true but it may (and I stress "may") be an indicator of disparate impact, and so underrepresentation shouldn't be dismissed.

Paul Judge worked his way to the top, and I'm happy for him. That doesn't mean that the only reason other folks haven't (of any race/gender/background) is because they didn't work hard enough.

majormajor2• 14 years ago

So the last line made me think: why do I hate the idea of the All-American Basketball Alliance[1], but support programs to increase diversity in software?

But it's not a contradiction: I have seen nothing to lead me to believe that a talented player of any race will not get a fair chance in the NBA. It's all about winning, but the opportunity is there for everyone.

So isn't SV all about winning too? Yes, it is—but we know a lot less about what leads to winning. There are no draft combines where everyone gets show what they can do. Nobody writes code competitively directly against other programmers on TV to prove they can produce at a high level. Companies play it by ear. The NBA knows how to evaluate talent. We don't.

Here's a fun example: "PayPal once rejected a candidate who aced all the engineering tests because for fun, the guy said that he liked to play hoops. That single sentence lost him the job. No PayPal people would ever have used the world “hoops.” Probably no one even knew how to play “hoops.” Basketball would be bad enough. But “hoops?” That guy clearly wouldn’t have fit in. He’d have had to explain to the team why he was going to go play hoops on a Thursday night. And no one would have understood him."[2]

Welp, guess I wouldn't have been able to get hired at PayPal. Not only do I like to play basketball, I've said "shooting hoops" a lot. You're going to turn down someone who aced your tests because of a hobby and the phrase he used to describe it? You really think that's the secret to success? You're flying by the seat of your pants in a world without good metrics and you don't know which things you did contributed to your success and which things didn't. You're actively discouraging diversity of culture (which is not directly the same thing as diversity of gender/race, but it makes it a lot harder to have the latter).

And it's that still-sometimes-present active discouragement of diversity that I find frustrating about many parts of the programmer community.

[1] a basketball league venture in the southern US that required players be white, that I believe folded quickly a couple of years ago

[2] http://blakemasters.tumblr.com/post/21437840885/peter-thiels...

guylhem6• 14 years ago

IMHO, it may be a contradiction - there is no need for any specific program to encourage some specific group (even if one is a member of a given group, and could take advantage of the program for profit in the short run, because one don't get better in the long run by having it easier it the short run)

I can't say anything about paypal - I wasn't there, and I don't like to pass judgements.

But if they indeed were that dumb not to hire a good candidate only for the sports he plays, it's no wonder their product sucks more an more. Personally, I'm eagerly waiting for a competitor until bitcoin gets more momentum.

BTW one thing I'd like to say - the opportunity in coding is there for everyone - it's even more open than the NBA because the judge is the market, and with the current technology everyone can easily start a tech company and compete globally.

It's a pure and perfect competition.

There's no need to be hired be a company - you create your company and show your product to the market. If it works, if it does what people need, you will get money.

randallsquared2• 14 years ago

Uniformity of culture would presumably increase quality and speed of communication, and remove needless distraction from the process of producing. I can definitely see why even a company committed to diversity of gender, race, religion, and so on would want to hire only those who "fit the company culture".

raganwald3• 14 years ago

> "Underrepresentation does not equal racism" is also a great idea to cite - who cares about one's representation?

It does not 'equal' racism, but then again I don't want to even use the word "racism" in a discussion unless I'm 100% confident everybody agrees on the definition. All too often in discussions like this, I encounter people who have their own pet definitions for the meaning of words like "equality" and "freedom" and "racism/racist."

Now I'm guessing you are posting a rhetorical question, but I'll answer it as if you have an open mind and want to hear from people with a diversity of viewpoints. I don't measure results by representation, but I care deeply about removing obstacles to equal representation

> Profits are what matters

To you. Not to me. Or at least, not more than equality of opportunity.

http://raganwald.posterous.com/the-keep

drumdance• 14 years ago

I think "racism" is a really toxic word. Just hearing the word, I think of Klan rallies, Bull Connor with firehoses, lynch mobs etc. So when somebody accuses some one else of racism, it seems ridiculous because no sane person alive supports those things. And if you are called a racist, it's natural to get defensive.

The words "prejudice" and "bias," however, are not nearly as emotionally charged, and it's possible to interrogate the situation more rationally.

He gives the example of Arrington not knowing any black entrepreneurs. I highly doubt it's because he's a member of the KKK. However, it's extremely possible that he has unconscious biases that make it less likely he will meet or remember black entrepreneurs.

If you accept that hypothesis for a moment, you can start brainstorming solutions. But if you just say he's a racist, the only solution is to stop hating people of color. What?!

guylhem6• 14 years ago

> I care deeply about removing obstacles to equal representation

Depending on the costs to removing such obstacles (if there are any), I might agree (ie if it's cheap enough), but even then I have my doubts about mandatory equality and the danger it represent for efficiency.

Humans being are a different bunch, with their own interest and abilities. I don't want to have "equal representation" in something I suck at/don't care about, because it would bring less efficiency.

I guess if you follow your idea, you start campaigning for the size of NBA players to reflect the natural gaussian of the population - and then their weight too.

But 5' 200 lbs players might be less efficient and make the matches less interesting.

> > Profits are what matters

> To you. Not to me. Or at least, not more than equality of opportunity.

Then we have differing opinions. Equal opportunities exist. Equal representation is a slippery slope. It will damage efficiency and profits.

colmvp2• 14 years ago

Well it depends. Your argument about too few white players is a little misleading. Lots of white athletes go into other professional sports (football, baseball, hockey, soccer).

On the flipside, it's pretty hard for Latin American, African American, and Asian Americans to be full-time actors as most American shows/movies cast Caucasian Americans. Doesn't matter how good an actor the individual is if they are excluded purely because of their race.

protomyth4• 14 years ago

I had a buddy (Native American) who spent a lot of his acting career playing VC. Probably didn't make Asian Americans too happy.

guylhem6• 14 years ago

that is a real problem however, and sometime made worse by the instance of the public that the actor ethnicity matches the character. That's stupid, considering most of the traditional stories have very few non whites (ok, there's Othello, but that's a bit short!)

It's not just racism - more like a weird expectation that's hard to understand. I remember reading something (about Rhianna IIRC) not being black enough to portrait some civil rights leader.

WTF??? We live in a diverse society. I couldn't care less whether the actor of ethnicity A should be supposed to play a character I know or suppose to be of ethnicity B - as long as he's good, who cares?

It might even make a better story (ex: Romeo must Die vs Romeo & Juliet)

physcab• 14 years ago

> Is there white resentment about having too few white players in the NBA?

This is like saying is there black resentment for lower graduation or employment rates. There's quite a bit of evidence that the stereotype that white men can't play basketball significantly reduces ther chance at succeeding at the professional level. If the resentment is there, it manifests itself at a subconscious level that no one, not even the "victim" is aware of.

azarias• 14 years ago

As an aside, I am amazed how much conversation CNN's story has fueled and continues to fuel...and it has been so many years! Whether it was a good representation or not, it was one of the first to really discuss the topic, and there is a lot of value in that.

flexxaeon3• 14 years ago

Yep. That and I'm sure that it sparked more people of color to move upon tech.

ari_elle• 14 years ago

Great article indeed!

During all of the arguments he made i couldn't help but think about the "lack of successful women in tech/business"-discussion that is - i guess - currently going on not only in my country.

1) Underrepresentation does not equal racism

or bias against women

2) News reports are focusing on the wrong part of the story and there are many women very successful already

3) Greed trumps gender

And also when he mentions possible solutions:

-) Increase the pipeline

Exactly. Often many women in my classes were very good at maths/science, yet only very few went on to really study something like maths/science or something strongly business-related.

thisrandomguy• 14 years ago

This article is great.

How To Be A Successful (African) American in Silicon Valley

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