[williamaadams]

unconscious bias, conscious bias, outright discrimination. What a quagmire of human existence these topics drift into eh?

No secret, I'm a 51 year old black man living in America. I've been in "high tech" all my life (Commodore Pet). I've run my own company, and worked in and around others, and now reside at Microsoft. My current non-tech mission is the promotion of diversity in hiring in core tech jobs http://www.industryexplorers.com

These are complex issues in complex times. I can say one thing though, much of the current set of biases will slowly dissipate as our children get into positions of power. Ethnicity itself is starting to get very blended. My college aged daughter (who is mixed herself) has friends of all stripes. As they form companies, and hire people, they'll hire like themselves, which is to say an eclectic bunch of people.

The next frontier in bias might be economic stratus, or hair color, or which side of the egg you break open.

I think the best we can do is be as aware as possible, and simply strive to find and work with good people, while holding everyone in high esteem and with respect.

[howwth]

deleted

[williamaadams]

I'm personally not into diversity for diversity's sake, because I'm not quite sure what that is.

What I am for is equal opportunities. In some instances, giving that "equal" to one set of people requires work because they have been put on an unequal footing for some time. This was true in America for blacks because the origin of blacks was slavery (blacks were considered chattle, nothing more than cows, pigs, and goats). That kind of disadvantage requires some amount of work to overcome. The voting rights act wasn't enacted until 1965, the year after I was born, so that's something to consider.

With respect to tech, it's really easy for me. The back of my employment badge has our company's mission statement: Empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

I believe we greatly enhance our ability to do that by creating a more inclusive and diverse workforce. It's not simply about DNA diversity (women and 'minorities'), but it's also a diversity of experiences, from around the world. I'm willing to take the math major from Tunisia and teach them to be a great coder so they can contribute their experience to our mission, and help create software that's appropriate for their origin.

So, long answer I guess.

To me, everything is about learning and growth (probably due to my current age). So, I see your experience in Oakland, and say "great, you've gained another perspective on life". Let's see what you can do with it.

[sweetjesus]

| and now reside at Microsoft

I always wanted to hear Jesse Jackson say, "You say Mi-cro-soft; I hear Jim-Crow-soft"