Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not trying to be a troll ... kinda racist as fuck?
I'm sorry if I came across as trollish, I was just trying to reinforce how weird the concept is to me.
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YC Open Office Hours for Black and Hispanic Founders
21–30 of 282 posts
Re: YC Open Office Hours for Black and Hispanic Founders
#22So this is basically open to anyone (not just YC program people)? My wife here in Europe would love a helping hand with her new business.
Re: YC Open Office Hours for Black and Hispanic Founders
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because, at least in America, all of the time is 'white male time', and people of color and women often feel intimidated in spaces that are dominated in this way, so efforts are made to encourage a focus on marginalized people.
I see. It just that the concept just feels weird to me, targeting specifically a few types of people. I suspect having that here where I'm from (Portugal), would have been construed as being racist. Again, not being a troll, just trying to understand.
A lot of Americans think this is racist too. It's basis is rooted in the fact that "white people" still haven't repaid "black people" for slavery.
Re: YC Open Office Hours for Black and Hispanic Founders
#24This is very exciting! Is the program open to those of Brazilian descent?
They did mention they planned on later opening rounds specifically for foreign founders. But if you are based in the U.S., I think they'd consider you a hispanic founder and thus eligible for the current round, yes? I'm Brazilian too, btw, so kinda curious about this. Although I have no start-up aspirations just yet :-(
Re: YC Open Office Hours for Black and Hispanic Founders
#25I'm not trying to be a troll, I'm just trying to find a justification. Having something that says you can only can come in if you are "Black, Hispanic, Women, Veterans, and International founders" kinda racist as fuck? It sounds exactly like segregation to me. Again, not trying to be a troll. Not American, just trying to understand.
Good question! My best answer is that many members of these groups have an even harder time starting a startup. In addition to all the normal outreach we do to all startup founders (6500+ applied for the last batch) we also want to do targeted outreach to underrepresented groups in order to close the gap.
Re: YC Open Office Hours for Black and Hispanic Founders
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not trying to be a troll ... kinda racist as fuck?
I'm sorry if I came across as trollish, I was just trying to reinforce how weird the concept is to me.
Group X is not well represented, due to many factors. We can't address those factors, but we can help Group X in our organization.
Re: YC Open Office Hours for Black and Hispanic Founders
#27I'm not trying to be a troll, I'm just trying to find a justification. Having something that says you can only can come in if you are "Black, Hispanic, Women, Veterans, and International founders" kinda racist as fuck? It sounds exactly like segregation to me. Again, not trying to be a troll. Not American, just trying to understand.
Just apply anyway if you're European American, Asian-American, or have familial originals in the Balkans / Middle East / SEA. Playing the race card is a political move various corporations' head-honchos in the spotlight of society must submit to doing in America, but it doesn't mean they aren't willing to help someone who is a "gem in the rough" and earnestly needs their help just because that person isn't black / hispanic / woman.
But say you submit two applications of virtually same quality except one is stereotypical black/hispanic/woman, and the other stereotypical white, and the latter gets rejected, then you have a case regarding true racism, as oppose to just political correctness.
Re: YC Open Office Hours for Black and Hispanic Founders
#28Really happy to be launching this - if anyone has any questions I'm happy to hang for the next 10-20 minutes to answer them
Hey Micael, exciting to see YC continuing to battle the inequality that exists in the startup world. I'm curious -- why did you chose to craft the program along racial lines, as opposed to along socioeconomic lines, which seems to be the recent trend in higher ed affirmative action?
Agree with Sam's comment on this thread - we should do both
Re: YC Open Office Hours for Black and Hispanic Founders
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hey Micael, exciting to see YC continuing to battle the inequality that exists in the startup world. I'm curious -- why did you chose to craft the program along racial lines, as opposed to along socioeconomic lines, which seems to be the recent trend in higher ed affirmative action?
Because racism still exists: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/10/the-blac... "For her research, Pager pulled together four testers to pose as men looking for low-wage work. One white man and one black man would pose as job seekers without a criminal record, and another black man and white man would pose as job seekers with a criminal record. The negative credential of prison impaired the employment ef…
That's a poor study to cite. If you took two people of any one race and sent them looking for jobs, probably as often as not one would fare much better than the other just because of individual variability. You get hired based on your interview(s), not your resume.
Re: YC Open Office Hours for Black and Hispanic Founders
#30You planning to open up such a thing for the handicapped as well?
I mean, until the ACA came along, I pretty much took a risk-aversion pattern career path so I wouldn't get thrown into the "prexisting condition" abyss, and I'm probably not alone here. Personally speaking, a lot of handicapped folk I've met through the years are quite clever, innovative, and determined, because starting life at the plate with a 3-2 count is a lot different than being on 3rd base, if you catch my metaphorical drift. Just curious.