Zuckerberg's Quest to Explore Future Featured Mostly White Men (bloomberg.com) 217
Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg completed his 2019 "personal challenge" on Monday, his version of a New Year's resolution. From a report: This year he pledged to "host a series of public discussions about the future of technology in society -- the opportunities, the challenges, the hopes, and the anxieties." The problem? Almost all of Zuckerberg's discussions were with fellow white men -- who have always dominated the technology industry. In the six discussion videos Facebook posted throughout the year, 8 of Zuckerberg's 9 guests were male, and all of them were white. Seven were professors or doctors -- and all but one were over the age of 40. The group's homogeneity speaks to one of the biggest criticisms of Silicon Valley: That tech is primarily driven and shaped by the decisions of white men, a reality evident in the employee demographics for almost all major technology companies. Facebook has positioned itself as a leader in the push to diversify the industry, and even promised earlier this year to double its female workforce in the next five years.
What? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:What? (Score:5, Informative)
White liberals are the only racial group to hate themselves.
you don't have to hate yourself... (Score:2)
... to not want to hang around with Mark Zuckerberg!
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
White liberals are the only racial group to hate themselves.
Which is fine by me, except that they angrily demand that everyone else share their hatred.
Re: (Score:2)
White liberals are the only racial group to hate themselves.
As JoeyDot said: "How is this even news?"
Re:What? (Score:5, Insightful)
Black Pride, Black lawyers / reporters / doctors association et al are all deemed Ok.
White anything is a big no no.
It's not so much that they hate themselves, it's more that they are not allowed to be any other way, otherwise they get labelled as Nazi's, or right wingers or rednecks or whatever.
Re:What? (Score:5, Insightful)
I know more than a few woke white liberals that hate themselves (it was a little shocking the first time one of them said "fuck white people"). There is absolutely hatred against white people among SJWs.
Most of the time, yeah, it's to alleviate guilt. They've been made to feel very guilty for being white, so they'll hate on white people to make up for things outside their control. Instead of working towards equality, they try and uplift non-white people while depressing white people (though usually in ways that don't directly affect themselves). So they just perpetuate the cycle of bigotry and discrimination, which is pretty ironic.
Re: (Score:3)
I kind of suspect that this comment of yours is going to be moderated down as well, but I re
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Just give it up already.
Re: (Score:3)
they clearly hate people who don't conform to their narrative.
FTFY. On the conservative/further-right side, I tend to see more hate against non-whites, so I don't think what you wrote is very accurate. I do see the occasional "race traitor", but there is less of a focus on white people's race and that's something you hear more from alt-right/nazis rather than your run-of-the-mill conservative. Whereas the regressive left hates on white people since they're seen as the root of all the problems.
But I do agree that the ideology is the root that causes them to hate peopl
Re: What? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
It's not about "offense" in many cases, and you do what so many others do; you lump white people into a very broad category, and you seem to think that there is a hegemony among white people. There isn't. I really shouldn't have to explain it to you; you actually do realize it ("even though many white people have no access to that power."), but then you seem to forget what you just wrote.
Telling anyone to shut up on the basis of their skin color is overwhelmingly racist. Period.
People like you? You're par
Re:What? (Score:4, Interesting)
You only see it when you're consistently passed over for opportunities because you're a bit too different from those making selections.
As a white jew I think I have definitely missed opportunities I would not have had if I were not Jewish. I also think I have missed opportunities for being ugly and not beautiful. Obviously beautiful people have way more opportunities. Why do you SJWs never consider jews or ugly people as being disadvantaged? We are not one of your chosen races are we and looks are never part of the discussion even though they should be. No one wants to hire or work with fat or ugly people. SJWs see things a certain way, but it is not a way that reflects actual reality. It represents only a particular narrative that you want to believe in.
Personally as a white (but still disadvantaged) person I would not claim to speak for any other races or claim to 'understand' their experience. You don't understand them at all and honestly you should probably just shut up about it. You don't know what it is like to be any disadvantaged minority that you claim to be fighting for. I actually think you are also probably a racist, but you don't recognize that you are. At least the conservative racists usually realize that that is what they are. Liberal racists SJWs are the ones sticking their fingers in their ears and saying LALALALALA. And yes color blindness is the only non-racist way to deal with the problem, but that was so 1980s and Gen X. However any other way is racist and not in a good way.
Re:What? (Score:5, Insightful)
Is it really impossible to believe that some people actually think diversity has benefits beyond alleviating guilt?
TFA isn't calling for a diversity of opinions, only a diversity of skin color.
They would have been satisfied if Zuck had talked to a white Stanford professor, a black Stanford professor, and an Asian Stanford professor.
But if he had talked to a white guy working on village connectivity in Kenya, or a white expert on segmentation caused national firewalls, that would not be good. Better to talk to an Indian Stanford professor instead.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
It's calling for diversity of experience. Being non-white is a different experience to being white.
Re: (Score:3)
Being non-white is a different experience to being white.
Go talk to an African-American who has been to Africa. They quickly realize they are much more American than they are African.
Geography, legal jurisdiction, and socio-economic status make a way bigger difference than race when dealing with tech.
Disclaimer: I am white, but the rest of my family is not.
Re: (Score:3)
Whites have very different experiences from one another, and it's ridiculous how that always get ignored or rejected as irrelevant.
Jeezus, do you think that every white person is just a clone of every other white person?
If I grew up on a farm in northern Manitoba, white person #2 grew up on New York, and white person #3 grew up in Miami, you think there would be no differences in experience?
Sheesh!
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
True, but have you looked at the CVs of these white guys Zukerburg has been talking to? They are almost all exactly like him. Rich parents, private school, top university, financial assistance to start their business, got lucky by being in the right place at the right time and being willing to screw other people over.
Now most of them also have charities set up in their names too.
They have an extreme lack of diversity when it comes to experience and thought. They all think and do the same stuff.
Re: (Score:2)
TFA isn't calling for a diversity of opinions, only a diversity of skin color.
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their tech."
Re:What? (Score:5, Interesting)
The simple result is that white liberals are the only group that have a pro out-group bias. It's a bit crass to describe it as "only racial group to hate themselves" but that data does demonstrate that they view white people less favorably than other ethnic groups and that this is an outlier and unique among all other groups which demonstrate a pro in-group bias.
Is it really impossible to believe that some people actually think diversity has benefits beyond alleviating guilt?
No, but when it's these idiots that are pushing that diversity it's definitely much more difficult.
Re: (Score:2)
ANES
That is a very unfortunate acronym.
Re: (Score:2)
Let's reduce the posed argument further, which states that the posit is three white guys are going to come to a white guys perspective. If you involve other people from other racial and ethnic sources, you come to a more representative discussion of the populace whose future you're discussing.
I don't believe Zuck is a liberal. I don't believe he's necessarily racist either, only that Zuck is far more interested in his personal wealth and future, and seeing things outside of THAT box is going to be still mor
Re: (Score:2)
Just in case you were not aware of it, the real racist racists (not the SJW version I mean) don't believe jews are white no matter how white their skin is. They definitely would not consider Zuck as one of them. A silly position, but from an SJW perspective they sort of have a point. Because a jew will be discriminated against in many of the same circumstances that a black person would be. It is one reason the SJW position is so silly.
Skin color is definitely not the only trait that unfairly affects your su
Re: (Score:2)
The nature of social justice is a vector far away from what your opinion seems to be, if I'm not mistaken.
It's more like wealthy people believe they've somehow been gifted with the seemingly amazing accumulation of assets that they have, and are therefore highly qualified, money being their motivator and success, to laird over the rest of humanity. Show me a humble billionaire, but don't waste much time because there simply aren't any.
So, like every new shiny hammer, it seeks a nail. Oh, see where my money
Re: (Score:2)
So you are saying that all white people are billionaires? What you are talking about has nothing to do with skin color, but then you mention 'three white guys'. So wtf.
Re: What? (Score:2)
>It's not communism, and not socialism, it's about justice and equity for the basis of merely being human, and deserving dignity for that fact.
Very nicely done. You snuck in equity then pretended like requiring everyone to get the same outcome in life is just basic dignity.
No, sorry. Dignity means you are entitled to the sweat of your own brow, the fruits of your own labour, and the bullies can't humiliate you and take it from you. Most of what SJWs have done is colonize and appropriate, shaming original
Re: (Score:2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Re: (Score:2)
Well I am not 'white' what the fuck even is that. I don't identify as white, I consider that whole concept us utterly idiotic, why the fuck would I identify as a skin colour. Technically I am olive skinned and readily change colour, so what colour am I, the colour I choose. There is only one race on this planet the human race. There are plenty of divide an conquer arseholes floating around in corporations and governments, seeking to get us to hate each other, rather than hate on the corrupt at the top.
Colo
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
None of this rings true. For example, can you cite an article or something praising Crazy Rich Asians for being diverse?
It certainly got praise for having a mostly Asian cast, which until that point was unheard of in a major Hollywood movie. But diversity? I don't think so.
"How is this even news?" (Score:3)
It's getting to the point where I can tell a msmash post just by the headline.
Re: (Score:2)
It's news because the percentage of totally white people is declining, but somehow they're supposed to be the ones to tell us all what the future will be like. Mixed-"race" people are the fastest-growing group in the US, primarily hispanics like myself. The next-fastest growing group is supposedly "asians", which I thought we weren't saying any more :)
well OOBVIOUSLY (Score:2)
well obviously if you want to discuss future of technology you do that with kids from north korea.
because obviously they are the experts.
look it's already silly if they're focusing on who is talking with who instead of what is talked about. even if they had been talking about how to bring internet to the poor kids in africa, thats not noble enough, because obviously it should have been some poor african kids who should have been discussing something they have no means of affecting at all, I guess.
who should
Re: (Score:2)
So many words, and yet....nothing.
Seriously, you didn't really say anything. You just insulted and called names.
Stop this.
Stop doing this.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
So many words, and yet....nothing. Seriously, you didn't really say anything. You just insulted and called names. Stop this. Stop doing this.
And he shared some profound cosmic truth about the greater injustice of our time, the persecution and victimisation of the N-American white male? White N-American males are possibly the most privileged group of humans on the face of the earth.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Is it really privilege to enjoy the benefits of something you built for yourself?
Re: (Score:2)
Did you keep records? I mean, well done - you deserve a reward, but the least you deserve is your expenses.. Seriously. That is a lot of fucking work for one person!!!!!!!!!!!!
Re: (Score:2)
Are you saying you personally built it? Or that you should benefit from your ancestor's having built it, but not take any responsibility for the questionable methods they used?
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Ah, the original sin argument. Religion and cults do that kind of stuff to to shame and guilt people into doing the things that they want.
More like telling them things they don't want to hear. I'm not saying you shouldn't enjoy the profits you reaped from all of these centuries of perpetrating these injustices, just excuse me for not giving a shit how loudly you whine and claim to be a victim when ever this stuff is rubbed in your face.
Re:What? (Score:4, Insightful)
You are in deep with the original sin stuff, huh? I don't know how to break this to you, but I wasn't alive during those times. And, if you're living even a quasi-comfortable existence in the US, you also "profit" off that.
All you're doing is showing that you're a bigot. You're a bigot against the "right kind of people", but you're still a bigot.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
That's a beautiful straw man you've created. To bad it doesn't have anything to do with the words I've been writing.
You are the one who is defending the idea that anybody who points out that over the last 400 years white people have ethnically cleansed N-America, stolen the land and reshaped it after their own will with slave labour is victimising white people. It's a really interesting idea, you massacre millions of native Americans and then claim to be the victim. One has to admire the sheer audacity and sense of entitlement it takes to do that.
Re:What? (Score:4, Insightful)
But that's not what you're doing. You're putting blame on people today for the actions of people yesterday. So you didn't actually understand what I wrote, or you did and you're just having a ball yelling at the straw man you created.
Yes. People in the past have done some shitty things. Some of those things have been on the basis of race. And yes, some of those were perpetuated by people with white skin.
But, no, I'm not responsible for what those people did. Your perpetual "it was you!" is rooted in deep bigotry. You feel justified in your bigotry, you feel like there's justice in the things you say, but you're only able to perpetuate bigotry. While you have the mindset that you do, you will only contribute to racism; you will never come close to eradicating it.
You live in a black and white world with no nuance. You need less critical race theory and more critical thinking.
Re: (Score:2)
I like your Aryan handle - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]. Burn in Hell.
I like your handle too, it is very fitting:
coward
noun
a person who is contemptibly lacking in the courage to do or endure dangerous or unpleasant things.
Re: (Score:2)
You seem a whole lot more whiny and triggered than he, he just mentioned a growing trend that is evident by looking at a number of this year's headlines and Twitter feeds. I guess the "victimhood" field is so cluttered today that people get outright hostile when someone else threatens to steal the spotlight.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
And look at that. An angry, profane, vindictive Libtard spreading hate. Proving the OP's point for him.
No, just stating the obvious. The least victimised humans on the entire N-American continent are conservative white males.
Re: (Score:2)
But somehow it's a problem when they are in Zuckerberg's group.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Given the topic... (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
I'm sure all the comments will be civil, level-headed, and insightful.
Given the post title, I'm sure it was meant to be a giant 'Efff You to the majority of Slashdot's reader demographic. One of those cases where an editor's story post is itself flamebait.
Re: (Score:2)
Even this joke is modded "flamebait" by at least one person.
Gee I wonder what msmash is doing here (Score:5, Insightful)
Well do you expect him to be biased like you? (Score:5, Insightful)
If most of them are white men, then he necessecarily will discuss it with white men. Duh.
Are you a sexist racist or why do you have a problem with that?
Or are you a discriminating prejudiced bully that implies sexism and racism in others by default?
If yes, then I suggest you Check Your [SJW] Privilege!(TM)
P.S.: Oh, and, yeah, Zuckerberg is an asshole. (Score:2)
That doesn't mean it's OK to be prejudiced (aka irrationally judging and discriminating) against him or harm him like he does others. Unless, of course, you see him as some kind of role model for you...
Addendum 2: Why are there so few large men ... (Score:3)
... in the list of little girls? /s
I demand more large hairy men to be in this group that is defined as "people with vaginas and two X chromosomes whose brain developed female, under the age of 8"!
This is an outrage of sexist "ageist" discrimination!!
Re: (Score:2)
Of all the different things, race is the
Re: Well do you expect him to be biased like you? (Score:2)
I have to agree to a point. I really canâ(TM)t fault him in this case, as much as I would like to. There are few white women in the IT field specifically in the areas of the technology and coding aspect. There are vastly fewer people of color, that are female, in the tech industry. There are plenty of tech males of Asian and Indian descent, but otherwise its not as populated.
There are two sides to this coin that suggests that theres a bias against women in the tech industry. One rather overlooked side
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
Diversity is good, but... (Score:3, Informative)
So no analysis of what was said, just criticism of who said it. Tech is tech. Do you think minorities don't deserve the same technology as white males?
Re:Diversity is good, but... (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Seven were professors or doctors
In other words they were qualified. Or one would hope so. Some professors I'm not so sure about... particularly the ones who worry about diversity first and facts second.
Re: (Score:2)
Do they want the same technology as white males?
Have you seen that video of the hand dryer that only detects white hands and doesn't work for Indians? I'm guessing they don't want that.
Don't ask the tech experts, ... (Score:5, Funny)
Because if there's anyone that understands the future of tech, it's young black lesbians with a degree in dance therapy.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Y'all really have like 3-5 jokes that you just repeat over and over.
Re: (Score:2)
Because if there's anyone that understands the future of tech, it's young black lesbians with a degree in dance therapy.
But not in wheelchairs? HATER!
Re: (Score:2)
even then, odds are most of the names you'd draw would be.. white males.
Angelica Ross be present to balance things out? (Score:2)
It's the Internet, people (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
If you're an LGBTQetcetc person with an awesome idea, GO FOR IT! How is your non-whiteness or less-than-40-years-old-ness holding you back?
From what I've seen, at quite some distance, their LGBTQetcetcness is holding them back because they're so busy obsessing over that part of their identity that they don't have time to do any complex work. I know several gay people, of various sexes, and 99% of the time I forget they're gay. None of us are in the sex industry, so our sexual proclivities are irrelevant to our work. But we're not in the land of special snowflakes either, so we just get on with work and life.
Re: (Score:2)
nobody (sane) checks the skin color of the CEO of a company before signing up for a new killer service
Even in the current climate of anti-Chinese sentiment you don't think people think twice before signing up to Chinese services? Or contracting projects out to Indian firms after reading stories like this [slashdot.org]?
You might even argue that it's a good thing that they don't do business with Chinese people because their technology might end up being copied.
Karl Wagner, lazy divisive journalism at its best (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Not just white (Score:2)
OLD white men. X’D
Oh, the humanity!
??? criteria (Score:2)
So, why DID he pick these particular people? Seriously the article didn't comment on the fact almost all of them had brown eyes did it?
I bet every one of them wore shoes too. Until we get to the point where skin color, eye color, hair color, ect are all in the same category of importance as a personal trait, we will not overcome racism. The article seems to suggest either he picked or should have picked people based on there skin color and sex?
If he didn't give it any thought then the article is sugge
That kind of goes without saying (Score:5, Insightful)
Supposing that the summary's assumption that the tech industry has always been dominated by white men is true, then that would mean you would need to go out of your way to talk to people from the tech industry who are not white men. That would mean treating people differently on the basis of race and gender: you'd pick who you wanted to talk to on the basis of their race or gender rather their merits.
Back in elementary school, the definition I was given for racial discrimination was "treating people differently because of the color of their skin." I imagine gender discrimination would fall under a similar definition. We were told that this was wrong and that you should always judge people on the content of their character, not the color of their skin. So then, I ask, what exactly are the writers at Bloomberg suggesting that Mr. Zuckerberg should be doing?
Re: (Score:2)
Sorry, the term "racism" has been re-defined in the past decade. It now means "things white people do." Have a nice day.
Unless you are white, of course.
Re: (Score:2)
Well the western tech sector is getting fairly saturated now. Everyone has a phone, everyone has social media etc. The major growth areas are China and India and Brazil and soon other developing nations.
So just from a purely economic standpoint it might be a good idea to find people who have some experience of living in those cultures and making tech products for them. The assumption that they want exactly what white western customers want is probably flawed.
So what? Support your alleged racism/sexism (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Are they the BEST at what they do?
Zuckerberg was born to a psychiatrist and a dentist who helped him get to Harvard via private schools. His application claimed he could speak Latin and ancient Greek. Then he lucked out by stealing some other guys' idea and being a bit of a dick at just the right time.
Gates was born to a lawyer and board member, so likewise gave him every opportunity and assistance including private school. The Mother's Club at the school bought them a terminal and booked time on a mainfram
I'm reminded of a quote from Martin Luther King (Score:4, Insightful)
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
I spent the first few years of my life as the only white kid in an all black school. Even the teachers hated me, and was ostracized and vilified, despite being a friendly kid. I've had first hand experience with racism, and have a low tolerance of it from any direction. I really dislike all of this anti-white & identity politics.
Who is he supposed to talk to (Score:4, Insightful)
If Zuckerberg wants to talk to a lot of people who have the power to change the near future, then by definition that means he talks to whatever group there is... the demographics are irrelevant.
Can you point out a Lead of Color (LOC) with significant power he bypassed? No? Then what is your damage Heather?
I mean it would be great and all if Zuckerberg talked to some gender neutral albino entity, but what effect would it have on the future of technology?
&!@$ this. I thought BeauHD was bad at times (Score:3, Informative)
Seriously? This is extreme leftist / politically correct / looking for offense bait. These people are never happy, constantly naval gazing and theorizing the political angle of any and everything "Are tissues racist" etc? "Could drinking water be considered a hate crime?"
Stop it, go away, go and live in some weirdo, cultist, extreme left, fragile area of the internet, go there and sulk all you like about the rest of the world. We all know you guys, left to your own devices, will 'eat each other' as you're all hammers, looking for nails.
Terrible submission. Get out of here, slashdot has too much common sense for this bullshit.
2027. (Score:2)
The new statistics project that the nation will become âoeminority whiteâ in 2045. During that year, whites will comprise 49.7 percent of the population in contrast to 24.6 percent for Hispanics, 13.1 percent for blacks, 7.9 percent for Asians, and 3.8 percent for multiracial populations.
Because minorities as a group are younger than whites, the minority white tipping point comes earlier for younger age groups. The new census projections indicate that, for youth under 18 -- the post-millennial population -- minorities will outnumber whites in 2020. For those age 18-29 -- members of the younger labor force and voting age populations -- the tipping point will occur in 2027.
Seniors, age 60 and above, will continue to be majority white after the year 2060. The latter can be attributable in the near term to the staying power of the largely white baby boom.
The US will become ''minority white'' in 2045 [brookings.edu]
There you have it. The geek's labor force, his markets and his political base is changing. You can sell tech to seniors, but to expect them to be your driving force force or first adopters is problematic.
What? (Score:2)
Facebook sucks, but come on! (Score:4, Insightful)
This is really NOT a worthy news item, so much as another person hyper-sensitive to perceived discrimination where none really exists.
As the black woman in charge of H.R. at Apple recently said (and was attacked for!), true diversity doesn't necessarily mean a room full of people with different skin color or genders. Diversity means a group that has different strengths and weaknesses, but who were all selected as "best fits" for the work they're employed to do for the company.
The fact Zuckerberg spoke with a number of people over age 40, alone, is nice to see, IMO, because the most pervasive form of discrimination in I.T. today is really AGE discrimination. But at the end of the day, if you want to talk with experts in I.T. about where the future is headed, you want to interview the people actually helping CREATE that future today. I know the industry has all of this guilt and self-loathing because they haven't been able to attract as many minorities or women to the field as they'd like. But who cares?! You play the game with the cards your dealt. Microsoft and others keep dumping millions of dollars into initiatives to get more women to code, or to go into STEM fields. Yet the results haven't changed much. Most women just aren't interested in doing it for a living. You could dump millions into trying to get more men to take up knitting .... but results would likely be similar.
He should have done it in Japan. (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
SO ... WHAT?? (Score:2)
I see a bit of diversity there (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
but I'm not a bigot because you didn't show up.
Nobody said that was why you became a bigot, and in fact, nobody cares why you became a bigot.
Re: (Score:2)
OTOH, you just made the positive claim "you became a bigot".
Do you have evidence to back your positive claim or are you just another liberal jerk slinging shit from behind a keyboard?
Re: (Score:2)
To Go Where No Honkie Has Gone Before
http://movellas-users.s3.amazo... [amazonaws.com]
I found only ONE link and a shitty one at that.. it's like the internet itself is tryign to censor.
That strip got Berkley Breathed fired from his college paper.
What, you thought liberal intolerance to the truth is a new thing? HA!
Re: (Score:2)
I had to go back and read the title slowly as well to figure out exactly what it was saying. You don't deserve the troll mod.