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Jesse Jackson To Take On Silicon Valley's Lack of Diversity

Posted by Soulskill on from the equality-in-industry dept.

New submitter wyattstorch516 writes "San Jose Mecury News reports that Jesse Jackson will lead a delegation to HP's next board meeting to discuss the hiring of technology companies in regard to African-Americans and Latinos. 'About one in 14 tech workers is black or Latino both in the Silicon Valley and nationally. Blacks and Hispanics make up 13.1 and 16.9 percent of the U.S. population, respectively, according to the most recent Census data.' Jackson sent a letter to HP, Apple, Google, Twitter, Facebook, and others about meeting to discuss diversity issues."

16 of 397 comments (clear)

  1. Fuck that guy. by jcr · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Seriously, I was sick of his guilt-peddling bullshit decades ago.

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    1. Re:Fuck that guy. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      there is probably a more nuanced discussion to be had about affirmative action

      but having been in the hiring seat, I can tell you that almost every single
      applicant is white and male, and very few of those are actually qualified

      so unless Jackson thinks HP should hire unqualified people just because
      they are black or latino, he should probably focus his efforts earlier
      in the pipeline

    2. Re:Fuck that guy. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I agree. If a person is qualified, ill hire him regardless of race. Just because you are black or latino you should not get any special treatment. If we do let unqualified people in, then it perpetuates the problem by highlighting their lack of skill.

    3. Re:Fuck that guy. by AlphaWolf_HK · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Pretty much. I've had arguments with a lot of people over affirmative action, and 95% of the time they think it helps Asians get a job and education. Basically they think it helps everybody but whites, and they themselves are huge advocates of white guilt. They quickly shut up once I show them facts about how affirmative action actually fucks over Asians pretty bad, in fact it screws them much worse than white people, mainly because they have an even higher interest in higher education and the high tech career fields than whites do while being an even smaller portion of the population than blacks.

      The problem with affirmative action is it assumes that a given percent of every race is interested in x career or y school, but that just doesn't reflect reality one bit. Take music for example; by far more black people are into rap, but there's nothing inherent about rap that makes them like it more or white people like it less. The underlying cause of this schism is a simple cultural difference. The same thing is likely to cause them to be less interested in IT careers, so they don't even apply for those jobs.

      --
      Careful with names containing L slashdot.org/~AiphaWolf_HK slashdot.org/~AlphaWoif_HK slashdot.org/~AiphaWoif_HK
    4. Re:Fuck that guy. by presspass · · Score: 5, Funny

      PS before the trolls chime in with their 'fuh fuh dur yer a racist fuh fuh" nonsense, I will have you know that I own not one, but three color TVs.

      You mean: "TVs of color".

    5. Re:Fuck that guy. by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I agree. If a person is qualified, ill hire him regardless of race. Just because you are black or latino you should not get any special treatment. If we do let unqualified people in, then it perpetuates the problem by highlighting their lack of skill.

      If you do bring in unqualified people, regardless of demographic, you'll find your qualified people frustrated with having to help them all the time and resenting they get paid the same as people who do half the work.

      damned if you do... damned if you don't

      --

      A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    6. Re:Fuck that guy. by gandhi123 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      "The problem with affirmative action is it assumes that a given percent of every race is interested in x career or y school, but that just doesn't reflect reality one bit. "

      It's not just this. Even when black students are interested in STEM careers, affirmative action puts them in a position where their white and Asian classmates are much better prepared and capable to handle difficult STEM classes. As a result they get poor grades, feel demoralized, and transfer to easier majors. This is called the "mismatch problem."

      http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03...

      Recently, economists from Duke studied the effects of Prop 209, comparing undergraduate graduation rates for blacks, Hispanics and American Indians before and after the ban. In a paper being considered for publication by The Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Duke economists conclude that mismatch effects are strongest for students in so-called STEM majors — science, technology, engineering and math. These subjects proceed in a more regimented way than the humanities, with each topic and class building on what came before. If you don’t properly learn one concept, it’s easier to get knocked off track.

      The Duke economists say that lower-ranked schools in the University of California system are better at graduating minority students in STEM majors. For example, they conclude that had the bottom third of minority students at Berkeley who hoped to graduate with a STEM major gone to Santa Cruz instead, they would have been almost twice as likely to earn such a degree.

      and

      http://blogs.sciencemag.org/sc...

      More Evidence that Admissions Preferences Discourage Minority Students from Majoring in STEM

      Recently Science Careers commented on Mismatch, a provocative and persuasive new book that examines the effects of giving large admissions preferences to minority college students. One of the unintended consequences of such measures, write authors Richard Sander and Stuart Taylor, Jr., is to steer minority students away from majoring in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. This happens, they argue, because large preferences encourage students to attend colleges where their academic credentials place them toward the bottom of their college classes. Science majors, however, overwhelmingly come from the upper end of their college classes, regardless of where they go to college. Students admitted with large preferences--as many African American and Hispanic students are--are therefore deprived of the realistic opportunity to earn STEM degrees.

    7. Re:Fuck that guy. by galabar · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I don't think "affirmative action" means what you think it means. "Affirmative action" as applied is a system were underrepresented minorities are given a preference in admissions and hiring. Asians aren't an underrepresented minority in just about anything. In fact, they represent overwhelming majorities in many areas and are the most hurt by skin-color preference programs (aka "Affirmative Action"). We may hold different opinions on whether we should judge someone based on the color of their skin (I don't think we should), but we certainly can't argue fact, and how "affirmative action" is applied is fact.

  2. Why are there so few black engineers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Black culture doesn't reward or encourage intelligence.

    1. Re:Why are there so few black engineers? by aurizon · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Actually, black culture penalizes anyone black who allows his/her intelligence to get them ahead. Any child who does so is beaten and bullied by the other black kids, so they learn to hide their abilities and blend in. Some emerge and excell, but sadly, too many are lost to the lifestyle.
      As a retired teacher, I have seen this and it is hard to eliminate, and if you try, it is risky.

  3. Show us. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Maybe Jesse should start his own company, hire strictly based on race, and compete.

  4. Tech is full of minorities by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Just not his minorities, queue the shakedown parade.

  5. Give old man a break... by enterix · · Score: 5, Funny

    He just wants Jessie Jr to find decent job after he's out of prison...

  6. Unjust by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    When you think of all the good people that suffered long, painful deaths from cancer this year, it is simply a travesty of justice that Jackson was not one of them.

  7. Not Our Fault by Gre7g · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I've been in the tech industry (software, circuit board design, chip design, and then back to software) for 24 years. I've worked with engineers with heritage from India, China, Korea, various eastern European countries, and probably a couple other countries in Asia. I've never had a black or latino co-worker. In all those years, I've only ever seen us interview a single black candidate, and he so inadequate that he got sent home after speaking with a single interviewer.

    Hiring is not the problem. A lack of black and latino candidates worth hiring is.

  8. Good. by Karmashock · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think everyone should be subjected to this race baiting bullshit as consistently and aggressively as possible.

    This is the solution to people like this... they exploit white guilt. And in exploiting it, they use it up.

    Look at this very forum... look at all the people saying "f this guy"... exactly. Those are the people that are already tapped out of guilt.

    I'm amongst them of course. But not everyone has gotten there yet. Let Al run rampant... Everyone he comes into contact with will be inoculated against his tactics.

    --
    I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.