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SoftBank launches $100m minorities startup fund

reuters.com

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Re: SoftBank launches $100m minorities startup fund

#21

Post by apendleton »

Thorentis wrote: post #12
somedude123 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Limiting initiatives like this based on skin color, implies that the reason for them needing help is their skin color. Systematic racism is very much real in the United States, putting minorities at a disadvantage exactly because of the color of their skin - socioeconomic background and upbringing aside. Affirmative action, and presumably this effort by SoftBank, is intended to address that.

As far as I can see, this doesn't exist in the tech world (any more). Most Fortune 500 companies go out of their way to hire minorities, even if they are less qualified. Colleges do the same. Minorities are not disadvantaged purely for their skin color in the tech world. They are disadvantaged because of their worse financial/education situation. And my point is that these traits that effect people in tech are not li…

> As far as I can see, this doesn't exist in the tech world (any more)

Bluntly: there's probably a lot that you can't see.

Re: SoftBank launches $100m minorities startup fund

#22

Post by hnhg »

nostromo wrote: post #13
sillysaurusx wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a valid stance. But reflect on why it matters to you. So what if someone is giving special opportunities to someone based on their skin color, or their gender? There are plenty of special opportunities to go around for all of us. I think you'll get a lot of flak for this sentiment. But I used to feel the same way as you. What helped me change my mind was to realize that no one is taking away opportunities from…

> So what if someone is giving special opportunities to someone based on their skin color, or their gender? Because it’s racist.

Say there was a disease that predominantly affected a given race. Would you then object to a health system producing a tailored response to that group based on group characteristics?

e.g. https://www.gaucherdisease.org/blog/5-common-ashkenazi-genet...

Re: SoftBank launches $100m minorities startup fund

#23

Post by fiblye »

somedude123 wrote: post #7
Thorentis wrote: post #2

Limiting initiatives like this based on skin color, implies that the reason for them needing help is their skin color. What about white people that come from low-socioeconomic backgrounds? Broken families? Didn't finish high-school? Abused as a child/teenager? Single parent family? Aren't these the real reasons why people are disadvantaged? People of all colors come from these backgrounds. I'm sick of the hypocrisy o…

> Limiting initiatives like this based on skin color, implies that the reason for them needing help is their skin color. Systematic racism is very much real in the United States, putting minorities at a disadvantage exactly because of the color of their skin - socioeconomic background and upbringing aside. Affirmative action, and presumably this effort by SoftBank, is intended to address that.

Intentions sound good, sure: we want to address inequality.

But is the solution “we will only consider people of specific racial backgrounds. We will reject you on the sole basis of your race”? Affirmative action has been firmly grounded in policies for decades. At what point do we do away with it, or decide that it needs to be rebalanced for groups that had potential reduced because of the results of affirmative actions good intentions? It’s made getting into college and many positions as an Asian American pure hell, despite being minorities and many coming from poverty.

Re: SoftBank launches $100m minorities startup fund

#24

Post by RcouF1uZ4gsC »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #10
Thorentis wrote: post #2

Limiting initiatives like this based on skin color, implies that the reason for them needing help is their skin color. What about white people that come from low-socioeconomic backgrounds? Broken families? Didn't finish high-school? Abused as a child/teenager? Single parent family? Aren't these the real reasons why people are disadvantaged? People of all colors come from these backgrounds. I'm sick of the hypocrisy o…

That's a valid stance. But reflect on why it matters to you. So what if someone is giving special opportunities to someone based on their skin color, or their gender? There are plenty of special opportunities to go around for all of us. I think you'll get a lot of flak for this sentiment. But I used to feel the same way as you. What helped me change my mind was to realize that no one is taking away opportunities from…

> So what if someone is giving special opportunities to someone based on their skin color, or their gender? There are plenty of special opportunities to go around for all of us.

I think this was the stance of the segregationists in the Jim Crow South. They called it “separate but equal”

“So what if someone is getting to drink from a certain water fountain based on their skin color, or their gender? There are plenty of water fountains to go around for all of us.”

I find both statements morally reprehensible.

Re: SoftBank launches $100m minorities startup fund

#26

Post by Thorentis »

hnhg wrote: post #22
nostromo wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So what if someone is giving special opportunities to someone based on their skin color, or their gender? Because it’s racist.

Say there was a disease that predominantly affected a given race. Would you then object to a health system producing a tailored response to that group based on group characteristics? e.g. https://www.gaucherdisease.org/blog/5-common-ashkenazi-genet...

Of course not, if race was proven to be the actual underlying factor. The point in the OP was that the underlying cause is not race, but other group traits (low socio-economic status, poor family background) - which people of all races can and do possess.

Re: SoftBank launches $100m minorities startup fund

#27

Post by baxtr »

Thorentis wrote: post #2

Limiting initiatives like this based on skin color, implies that the reason for them needing help is their skin color. What about white people that come from low-socioeconomic backgrounds? Broken families? Didn't finish high-school? Abused as a child/teenager? Single parent family? Aren't these the real reasons why people are disadvantaged? People of all colors come from these backgrounds. I'm sick of the hypocrisy o…

With these questions is often a matter of scale. Let's take a minority person and a non-minority person applying for the same apartment. The landlord doesn't care about their background. He just thinks the non-minority person is less likeable and gives the apt to the minority person. Fine. However, if you this 100x or 1000x, the minority people will most probably lose out because of racism.

Re: SoftBank launches $100m minorities startup fund

#28

Post by hnhg »

timavr wrote: post #9
Thorentis wrote: post #2

Limiting initiatives like this based on skin color, implies that the reason for them needing help is their skin color. What about white people that come from low-socioeconomic backgrounds? Broken families? Didn't finish high-school? Abused as a child/teenager? Single parent family? Aren't these the real reasons why people are disadvantaged? People of all colors come from these backgrounds. I'm sick of the hypocrisy o…

I personally hate these initiatives because they don't deal with problem at the core. They should have policies that address every fund they manage, not some 100m, which is peanuts for them. I really like how YC does it. Yes, there are problems with YC, but their main program is really good at taking people from different economic/social/racial backgrounds. Have tonnes of friends from disadvantaged backgrounds and de…

I suspect because it means acknowledging that there isn't particularly special about one's little in-group, and that talent also lies outside of how one identifies. For example, I've heard that good candidates are impossible to find outside of 'good universities', those being the ivy league, etc.
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