Jesse Jackson: Tech Diversity Is Next Civil Rights Step 514
theodp writes: U.S. civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson called on the Obama administration Monday to scrutinize the tech industry's lack of diversity. "There's no talent shortage. There's an opportunity shortage," Jackson said, calling Silicon Valley "far worse" than many others, such as car makers that have been pressured by unions. He said tech behemoths have largely escaped scrutiny by a public dazzled with their cutting-edge gadgets. Jackson spoke to press after meeting with Labor Secretary Tom Perez for a review of H-1B visas, arguing that data show Americans have the skills and should have first access to high-paying tech work. Jackson's Rainbow Push Coalition plans to file a freedom-of-information request next month with the EEOC to acquire employment data for companies that have not yet disclosed it publicly, which includes Amazon, Broadcom, Oracle, Qualcomm and Yelp. Unlike the Dept. of Labor, Jackson isn't buying Silicon Valley's argument that minority hiring statistics are trade secrets. Five years after Google's HR Chief would only reassure Congress the company had "a very strong internal Black Googler Network" and its CEO brushed off similar questions about its diversity numbers by saying "we're pretty happy with the way our recruiting work," Google — under pressure from Jackson — fessed up to having a tech workforce that's only 1% Black, apparently par for the course in Silicon Valley.
Experience outside the valley (Score:5, Informative)
I can't speak for what it is like in Silicon Valley but where I work in the deep south I would estimate that at least 30% of my fellow tech workers are of African ancestry.
Confusing position (Score:5, Informative)
I'm confused... is Jackson arguing for more Americans, or more black people, or more black Americans, to get tech jobs?
After listening to Jackson over the years, it's now almost a reflex for me to argue against his statements. But I'm still sketchy on what they are in this case.
Is Jackson arguing against diversity? (Score:5, Informative)
He seems convinced that the tech companies with the fewest black developers make the most amazing products.
It seems he's basically arguing that there's a correlation (and therefore maybe causality) between being diverse and not leading the market.
Re:Confusing position (Score:2, Informative)
>> is Jackson arguing for more Americans, or more black people, or more black Americans, to get tech jobs?
Whatever gets him paid.
http://www.solargeneral.com/jeffs-archive/black-civil-wrongs/jesse-shakedown-jackson-gets-beer-distributorship-for-son/
Re:He just doesent' get it.. (Score:1, Informative)
Ah, yes. The good ol' meritocracy. The dream of capable men and women everywhere. No more having to put up with coworkers that are incapable of doing the work. Just like not a single profession anywhere, ever. (Except maybe prostitution, but even that could be up for debate.) The fact is, being smart has very little to do with it. Getting the job done is what matters.
You think. Or maybe there's racism in areas that aren't directly part of the job, but are part of getting the job. Like education (check) or HR (check). Of course, then it needs to be said that Mr. Jackson needs to focus his efforts elsewhere, and there's just not any money in that, so good luck.
We already have to work with those that can't carry their own weight. I've worked with plenty of Indians, and fully half of them were below average. The other half were good enough to get their work done (which is what matters). I've never worked with any Chinese. But of the mix of white and black (yes, black!) people I've worked with, there was always only a 50/50 chance of any single person being good at their job. These people were from various nationalities and environments. Some had years of experience, others were so green they needed mowing. And they were always a mixed bag. 50/50 is about the best you can hope for.
lack of diversity? (Score:4, Informative)
Does the article really mean to say "lack of diversity"? My company's IT department is a little over 80% east Indian, which although technically (probably) meets the definition of "lack of diversity", misses the usual colloquial definition of "too many white guys".
Re:Mod parent DOWN (Score:5, Informative)
If Jesse wants to wage the next race war, he should start by getting more black kids interested in STEM and education in general.
Jackson isn't interested in waging race war, he wants to shakedown businesses for money for his organization and those of his cronies. Making it about race is just his form of extortion. Notice that whenever he goes after some company, it's suddenly made all better when it makes a donation to his cause and/or hires one or more people of Jackson's designation. I really admire the way the CEO of Cypress Semiconductor refused to knuckle under to Jackson back in 2001 after Jackson labeled Cypress a "white supremacist hate group.’” I hope every Silicon Valley target of his does the same.
Re:Confusing position (Score:5, Informative)
Reverse discrimination.
Sorry, but discrimination is discrimination. There is no direction. It either takes place or it doesn't. Using the term reverse gives advantage and power to one group over another.
Re:Mod parent DOWN (Score:4, Informative)
Perhaps he could even get a bunch of athletes and rappers to just read to kids.
That's assuming these athletes and rappers can even read. http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/07/... [cnn.com]
He's a crook (Score:5, Informative)
Jesse Jackson is a crook and runs a business, not a charity... it's called the Rainbow/PUSH coalition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R... [wikipedia.org]
They show up, accuse your business/industry of racism, do not letup until... you donate money to their cause, then they drop the issue.
It's a scam.
Just take a look at NASCAR.
About 15yrs ago, NASCAR tried to break out of the south and become a mainstream sport. They were largely successful. Jesse Jackson saw this as an opportunity, went on morning talk shows and accused the industry of racism for their lack of black participants. Now, I'm not even going to argue that point... there are very few African Americans in NASCAR. It may very well have a problem with race... that's not the problem.
What's the problem then? NASCAR then donated around $250,000 to Jesse Jacksons Rainbow Coalition and suddenly they were right with black America, Jessie Jackson dropped the issue and said NASCAR didn't have a race problem. NASCAR didn't add a single black employee or change any of their policies. The problem isn't that there isn't a racial divide in NASCAR or even Silicon Valley. The problem is Jessie Jackson doesn't care. He just wants to use that disparity to extort money from those businesses. He's a scam artist and a crook, and it's sad he's seen with such reverence in this country. He's done nothing but harm the black community and he should be ashamed of himself.
Re:RACIST! (Score:2, Informative)
Jesse Jackson is the worst Racist evarrrrrrr..
Butttt, buttttt, butttt I'm BLACK, I MUST BE PROTECTED AND GIVEN PREFERENCE BECUZ I"M BLACKKKKKKKKKKK
Sorry Jesse, you're butt-hurt.
Find qualified people who actually applied for the positions and were rejected because of their race, then you might have a leg to stand on, otherwise, here's a case of shut-the-fuck-up.
Re:He just doesent' get it.. (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.nber.org/digest/sep... [nber.org]
The National Bureau of Economic Research sent out 5,000 resumes to 1,300 jobs randomly assigning black or white sounding names to the resumes. The black sounding names received 50% less callbacks than the white sounding names.
That's what a technical interview is (Score:5, Informative)
There have been questions of my ability to do what is on my resume that are legit.
I do a lot of technical interviewing, and that is the whole point of a technical interview, to verify that you actually do possess the skills that you have claimed to possess.
It's not because you're black. It's because you're interviewing. I could tell so many stories of wild resume claims, you'd laugh.
Here's one from today, for an interviewee who was an "expert in J2EE".
Q: What are some different types of EJBs and how do they differ from one another?
A: [uncomfortable silence].
Q: Sorry, let's back up a bit. Tell me about your role in your last project that used J2EE.
A: Uhh, I think I made a JSP once in college before I left to go work at a startup.
As you might expect, his resume got filed away in the recycling bin.