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Howard University opens a new campus at the Googleplex

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Re: Howard University opens a new campus at the Googleplex

#41

Post by txru »

xienze wrote: post #20
throwa34567 wrote: post #6

I'm very happy to see this. I grew up in a town that, before I was born, decided to actively integrate (from being an historically all white, wealthy suburb) and I'm certain I'm better off for growing up in a diverse community. I'm in mountain view now and it's all "silicon valley white", and something actively needs to be done. I worry when I realize my kid can go a week or more without seeing a black person, and I'…

So, let's say you were born in China. Would you have a similar level of anxiety about never seeing anyone outside of your ethnic group? I find it very odd how white people are seemingly the only ethnic group so hung up on seeing people of different races one day-to-day basis. On a related note, if being around so many white people bothers you so much, why aren't you living in, say, East Palo Alto or Richmond?

I think this is part of the implicit contract of the American 'melting pot'. A vanishing percentage of Americans are actually descended from America, and for better or worse, integrating or failing to integrate people has been a major part of our history-- from slavery and genocide to New York being arguably the most important city in the world.

So, what could be seen as white people seeming to have a pathological need to observe those with different melanin is, I'd argue, a representation of our awareness of that compact. If we're all living here, and they're all living there, is it possible that they're not too happy, or that they're being forced to live with substandard lives or living situations? If that's the case, that could potentially breed societal instability and rupture, as happened in the '60's and '70's.

From my personal perspective, I don't necessarily want to live in Compton or Camden, but it's certainly the case that I want people who live there to be able to move to where they want in America-- "not judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character".

Re: Howard University opens a new campus at the Googleplex

#42

Post by [deleted] »

bpodgursky wrote: post #40
_m8fo wrote: post #3

One thing I struggle with is measurement of progress. For example, what Google is allowing here with Howard U is obviously good for the AA community. However, is Google in general doing things that are good or bad for AAs in general? It's difficult to say. Excessive advertising can be used to poor people's disadvantage by creating more debt by encouraging more unnecessary expenses. AAs consist of a disproportionally…

Wow, seriously? Google is out to get poor people? Let's not talk about how Google made access to an entire world of information 100x easier and cheaper, so anyone with a cheap tablet or phone can get information you used to need a $1k encyclopedia for. Let's not talk about how Google drove Android, a platform which gave a huge number of people internet access by giving them $100 phones or tablets. Let's not talk abou…

[deleted]

Re: Howard University opens a new campus at the Googleplex

#43

Post by greglindahl »

bpodgursky wrote: post #40
_m8fo wrote: post #3

One thing I struggle with is measurement of progress. For example, what Google is allowing here with Howard U is obviously good for the AA community. However, is Google in general doing things that are good or bad for AAs in general? It's difficult to say. Excessive advertising can be used to poor people's disadvantage by creating more debt by encouraging more unnecessary expenses. AAs consist of a disproportionally…

Wow, seriously? Google is out to get poor people? Let's not talk about how Google made access to an entire world of information 100x easier and cheaper, so anyone with a cheap tablet or phone can get information you used to need a $1k encyclopedia for. Let's not talk about how Google drove Android, a platform which gave a huge number of people internet access by giving them $100 phones or tablets. Let's not talk abou…

Do you find that using words like "shallow" and "petty" to describe arguments that you disagree with fosters good conversation?

Re: Howard University opens a new campus at the Googleplex

#44

Post by dragonwriter »

monkmartinez wrote: post #25

Where are the all Hispanic Schools? How about some Hispanic related "campuses?"

Historically-Black Colleges and Universities are a product of the history of absolute exclusion of blacks from other institutions in much of the US.

While Hispanics have faced disadvantages and discrimination, they have not faced the kind of outright exclusion that blacks faced for about a century under Jim Crow.

Re: Howard University opens a new campus at the Googleplex

#46

Post by bpodgursky »

greglindahl wrote: post #43
bpodgursky wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, seriously? Google is out to get poor people? Let's not talk about how Google made access to an entire world of information 100x easier and cheaper, so anyone with a cheap tablet or phone can get information you used to need a $1k encyclopedia for. Let's not talk about how Google drove Android, a platform which gave a huge number of people internet access by giving them $100 phones or tablets. Let's not talk abou…

Do you find that using words like "shallow" and "petty" to describe arguments that you disagree with fosters good conversation?

The top comment was a hit piece, not an attempt at honest conversation.

It's whataboutism, to distract from the actual conversation. "Oh, Google is doing a good thing, but what about all the bad things they do"

If you feed it, you talk about what they want you to talk about, which is inherently negative about Google in this case. It's a standard tactic of state-sponsored propaganda machines (not that I think it is in this case).

Re: Howard University opens a new campus at the Googleplex

#47

Post by mtanski »

monkmartinez wrote: post #25

Where are the all Hispanic Schools? How about some Hispanic related "campuses?"

The reason we even have HBCs in the first place because most universities did not accept black people. So HBCs were created by black people and their allies.

Many HBCs pre-date the civil right changes and school integration prior to the 1960. Many of them go back to the Civil war and some event pre-dated the war.

There's also HSI, short for Hispanic Serving Institutions. This concept was create in the mid-1960s. Unlike HBCs, institutions could be designated HSI as a result of a federal law. And the law didn't require that these were primarily representing hispanics. Instead the law allowed general institutions to be labeled HSI if they enrolled a certain percentage of latina/latino students along with some additional socio/economic pre-conditions.

As you can see HBCs / HSIs are somewhat different concepts and have a different history. Additionally, in recent years there's been an iflux of hispanic students to HBCs as well.

I hope that other large organizations like Google have more partnerships with HBCs/HSI/Native/Tribal educational organizations. This seams like a start, no real to not cheer it on.

There's no reason to pit groups against one another... it's much better to work together. There's a great datapoint in the history of the VRA (Voting Rights Acts) the people who became enfranchised with the first passing of it fought for expanding the VRA via the 1975 amendment to expand the VRA to other groups including Hispanic/Native/Tribal & Asian minorities. Prior to that states and manipulates in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, south California were actively working to suppers the Hispanic (such as the Chicanos) vote.

Re: Howard University opens a new campus at the Googleplex

#48

Post by SamReidHughes »

lr4444lr wrote: post #22
Blackthorn wrote: post #8

Nobody's really worried about competent students not being able to perform.

Very inaccurate statement. http://www.apa.org/research/action/stereotype.aspx

You're talking about this phenomenon? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotype_threat#Failures_t...

Re: Howard University opens a new campus at the Googleplex

#49

Post by woodruffw »

bpodgursky wrote: post #40
_m8fo wrote: post #3

One thing I struggle with is measurement of progress. For example, what Google is allowing here with Howard U is obviously good for the AA community. However, is Google in general doing things that are good or bad for AAs in general? It's difficult to say. Excessive advertising can be used to poor people's disadvantage by creating more debt by encouraging more unnecessary expenses. AAs consist of a disproportionally…

Wow, seriously? Google is out to get poor people? Let's not talk about how Google made access to an entire world of information 100x easier and cheaper, so anyone with a cheap tablet or phone can get information you used to need a $1k encyclopedia for. Let's not talk about how Google drove Android, a platform which gave a huge number of people internet access by giving them $100 phones or tablets. Let's not talk abou…

I think you should read the OP more charitably.

They're not saying that Google is "out to get" poor people - they're saying that Google's advertising practices cause disproportionate harm to the poor. I don't think that Google's executives mean to diminish the welfare of the hardest off, but that they're (possibly willfully) ignorant of the broader consequences of their business model.

This collaboration with Howard, as well as the other humanitarian/public services you've mentioned, seem to support the latter.

Re: Howard University opens a new campus at the Googleplex

#50

Post by QML »

djtriptych wrote: post #23
xienze wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, let's say you were born in China. Would you have a similar level of anxiety about never seeing anyone outside of your ethnic group? I find it very odd how white people are seemingly the only ethnic group so hung up on seeing people of different races one day-to-day basis. On a related note, if being around so many white people bothers you so much, why aren't you living in, say, East Palo Alto or Richmond?

Buuuut this isn't China. It's America. Ethnic diversity is part of the DNA here.

China may not be ethnically diverse but certainly it is culturally -- so I don't get the hypothetical born in China example.
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