Is There Room for Diversity in Silicon Valley?:
In the CNN documentary series, “Black in America,” eight Black entrepreneurs in the NewMe Accelerator program share their struggles to launch start-up businesses in a place where minority representation is virtually nonexistent. In an interview that ignited a firestorm on Twitter this week, Mike Arrington, an industry leader and founder of TechCrunch, revealed an even harsher reality: “This is a white and Asian world up here — it just is,” he said. Arrington, who also commented that he doesn’t know of a single Black entrepreneur in the Valley, was harshly criticized for his apparent acceptance of the racial disparity.
For what it’s worth, Stanford is 35% non-Hispanic white, and Palo Alto is somewhat less non-Hispanic white than the national average. Sometimes people have a script, and they’re going to stick to it.
I don’t get your point. Yes Stanford is 35% non Hispanic white but you don’t see that in high tech companies. Ever. I see Asian and White. And that’s it. Matter of fact I don’t think I’ve ever met a black CEO of a startup company in the valley or in my home state.
Tim, you missed the point.
Tim states up front that he missed the point. I, too, cannot find one and would appreciate clarity of thesis.
The thesis could hardly be any more clear; it’s right up there in the title of the post. The article quite oddly presupposed that Asians, at 5% or so of the population, somehow aren’t a “minority” in America. The point is the tension between the conventional English definition of “minority” that worked fine for centuries and the post-1970 Newspeak definition.
Tim is right. Silicon Valley is not Stanford and Palo Alto; it’s a network of computer technology companies with headquarters in that area.
That a lack of minority employees should be considered a problem, absent any evidence of discrimination, is absurd, but that seems to be the pass we’ve come to. (And, yes, Asians are not a minority in this context.)
Count me among those who don’t get the point. I think it has something to do with Stanford being minority white, but I don’t see how that’s relevant to actually starts and works in tech companies.
“where minority representation is virtually nonexistent.”
“This is a white and Asian world up here — it just is,”
The point is that the article complains about a lack of minorities when they really mean a lack of Black people. Asians occupy a kind of quasi-White status when people engage in diversity-speak.
I guess Arrington has never heard the term “NAM” (non-Asian minority). Or better yet, “ice people” and “sun people”.
to me clearer to those confused: anyone who goes to the google cafeteria will notice that it is VERY diverse. (in fact, reputedly some of the best chinese food in the south bay) but we’re not talking about the plain literal meaning of ‘diverse’ and ‘minority’ here. instead of being honest about the issue, the lack of blacks in the tech sector (though interestingly stanford is 10% black, and that university is a major feeder, so they must not major in engineering), they talk about “minorities” and “diversity.”
Given the way tech companies have supported liberal candidates, I say it’s only right that we release the Kraken known as “diversity” upon them. Let the SWPL computer janitors in Silicon Valley know the joy of having the office Shaniqua screw up their time cards and vacation hours week after week after week.
The Stanford statistics are misleading. They don’t add up to 100%. It is likely that the others are white people who decline to give their race. It is likely that many of the 7% international students are caucasian. Also, a large percentage of the hispanics are white people of more than 75% European ancestry who would identify as such if not for the advantage of being a minority.
The Stanford statistics are misleading.
no they’re not. they’re about right. what about estimates don’t you get? dumbass.
I beleve the point is that thumb-sucking articles about minority-underrepresentation in fields that are loaded to the gills reveal the extent to which a particular agenda distorts the thought process of those committed to advancing it.
I meant, “…loaded to the gills with Asians..”