[Mc91]

Tech entrepreneurs come out of IT.

In the US, when I was a teenager, blacks kids who were into computers were doing the same things the other people going to computer clubs and whatnot did. Some knew more than a lot of the white kids. As people graduated high school, went to college, got internships and jobs, somewhere along that route a lot of them fell off.

Also, I worked at some places with a lower manager that just seemed to have it in for the staff black IT person for no discernible reason, making life more difficult for them etc.

[athms]

I have been in the IT business for thirty years in Silicon Valley and have interviewed hundreds of candidates, not one of them was black. I can count on one hand the number of blacks I have worked with in that period of time.

Black college students are over represented in low earning majors. Blacks that focus on high paying majors go into law, medicine, or business. If black leaders want more black IT executives, they need to push black kids into IT related careers.

https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/african-american-majo...

>I worked at some places with a lower manager that just seemed to have it in for the staff black IT person for no discernible reason

That mentality can be seen in anybody. When I did consulting in the late 1990s, I had a client company where an Indian manager refused to promote or hire non-Indians. Same company, an engineer from Taiwan gave bad marks on interviews if the candidate was of Korean descent. He told me, "I won't work with gooks."

[dingsbumps]

> That mentality can be seen in everybody

Various humans have various racial biases -- but that doesn't mean we should just throw our hands up and give in to those biases! Seeing those biases should spur us to recognize them as real and damaging, rather than normalize them

[founderofcolour]

Also consider that having an arrest record (or worse) (which I think we can finally agree happens to black people -- being arrested for no reason) precludes you from many jobs

[Ancapistani]

I feel like I’m going out on a limb here, but I’ve made it a personal goal to try to reconcile the language used in political conversations as best I can.

> being arrested for no reason

I think a lot of people in the US would disagree with this statement. It’s (typically) not precisely true, but the idea I believe you’re expressing absolutely is.

Blacks (and other minorities) in the US are policed more aggressively than Whites. This is a fact, and I don’t know anyone who would disagree with it. I suspect it’s very uncommon for them to be arrested for no reason, though. Rather, they are investigated for little to no reason, and for crimes that are rarely or never enforced for others.

A White guy driving down the road with a joint in his ash tray is less likely to get pulled over. He’s less likely to be asked to allow a search of his vehicle. The cop is less likely to be looking for contraband. If it’s found, it’s more likely that the cop will either completely overlook it or decline to charge him with possession. If charged, it’s less likely he’ll be convicted. If convicted, he’ll likely get a lighter sentence.

By saying “for no reason”, we emotionally charge the debate and give people with opposing views a straw man to attack. Worse, I’ve found that people who are simply ignorant of the issues or who haven’t examined their own views at all to latch on to this and never even consider the reality of the situation. Instead, it’s easier for them to think “this person has an agenda, and they’re wrong because this is technically false”.

[exolymph]

> Blacks (and other minorities) in the US are policed more aggressively than Whites. This is a fact, and I don’t know anyone who would disagree with it.

Many actual black people, for one:

> When asked whether they want the police to spend more time, the same amount of time or less time than they currently do in their area, most Black Americans -- 61% -- want the police presence to remain the same. This is similar to the 67% of all U.S. adults preferring the status quo, including 71% of White Americans.

> Meanwhile, nearly equal proportions of Black Americans say they would like the police to spend more time in their area (20%) as say they'd like them to spend less time there (19%).

https://news.gallup.com/poll/316571/black-americans-police-r...

[Takharsec]

Just because they want more of a police presence doesn't mean they want aggressive policing.

If you live in a rough neighborhood, it is reassuring to have a police officer nearby or at least in the area. However, that doesn't mean you want that police officer harassing you for trivial offenses.