Silicon Valley and Black Coders: Howard University fights to join the tech boom • Hacker News Board

Re: Silicon Valley and Black Coders: Howard University fights to join the tech boom

#351

Post by venomsnake » Thu, Jan 21, 2016, 10:00 PM UTC

wan23 wrote: post #234

golergka wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haven't you heard that racism = power + prejudice, so black people by definition can't be racist because they don't have power? (This is not an opinion that I agree with, but a lot of people actually think that way).

The topic of race in america is a complex one. But our understanding of it evolves over time, just like in every other field of study. As a technical matter, the definition of racism is "prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior". That last part is important. Things can be racially motivated and negative without being raci…

And strange smells coming out of the apartment are not specific problems. You are not entitled to having your culture or culinary tradition accepted or valued. Change the spices and it won't smell.

Re: Silicon Valley and Black Coders: Howard University fights to join the tech boom

#352

Post by thex10 » Thu, Jan 21, 2016, 10:01 PM UTC

systems wrote: post #50

“There are not a lot of people of color in the Valley—and that, by itself, makes it kind of unwelcoming” i dont like this attitude, i am not sure what is should be called, but you should feel relaxed in your own skin, accept diversity, and dont mind it when most of the people around you, are not the same color why is it unwelcoming ... maybe not what you hope for, but why call it so negatively

> why is it unwelcoming

I imagine history has a lot to do with that.

And then there's the present. People have died because of Existing While (Insert minority color here), without any remorse/accountability/justice, and this shows no signs of abating because our country would rather blame the minority than the culture that allows the slaughter. If you happened to be one of those colors, how on earth would you feel relaxed in your own skin?

Re: Silicon Valley and Black Coders: Howard University fights to join the tech boom

#353

Post by crpatino » Thu, Jan 21, 2016, 10:02 PM UTC

rezistik wrote: post #328

The issue I take with this is that American assimilation is a two way street. Every culture puts in and takes out. Tacos, sausages, pizza, sushi, these are American foods as much as they are Mexican, German, Japanese, or Italian. Some of them more American than their source in ways. It's not about forcing White Angle-Saxon culture. It's about forging American culture and identity.

So, because you eat tacos, you understand me?

Let's try, please let me know when you know at least half of this kind of tacos (the animal is beef unless otherwise specified) of your list. Maybe we can have an interesting conversation then:

1. Sesos (boiled brains). 2. Lengua (boiled tongue). 3. Tripas (deep fried pork intestine). 4. Moronga(fried pork blood). 5. Ojo (boiled eyeballs). 6. Higado (fried liver). 7. Tuetano(boiled bone marrow). 8. Cuerno (marrow, from the cow's horn). 9. Pepena (fried organ meat, mostly hearth, lungs and intestines). 10. Chicharron (fried porkskin).

If you don't think that's gross, I salute you and comend you for being a brave omnivorous. But most white people I know would not touch non-steak meat with a 10 foot pole if they could help it.

Re: Silicon Valley and Black Coders: Howard University fights to join the tech boom

#354

Post by thex10 » Thu, Jan 21, 2016, 10:02 PM UTC

abricot wrote: post #77

systems wrote: post #50

“There are not a lot of people of color in the Valley—and that, by itself, makes it kind of unwelcoming” i dont like this attitude, i am not sure what is should be called, but you should feel relaxed in your own skin, accept diversity, and dont mind it when most of the people around you, are not the same color why is it unwelcoming ... maybe not what you hope for, but why call it so negatively

"There are a lot of black people, and I'm white, so that's kind of unwelcoming". I wouldn't have used that argument in any discussion...

Do you deny that you might feel it, though?

Re: Silicon Valley and Black Coders: Howard University fights to join the tech boom

#355

Post by cgy1 » Thu, Jan 21, 2016, 10:07 PM UTC

rcavezza wrote: post #16

What surprised me from the article is that only 8 out of 10 students at Howard are black. Howard is a historically black university and I assumed the percentage would be 90%+. I did some research and found out that the latest numbers I found were 91% "Black or African American" students at Howard. http://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/howard-university/stu... Offtopic - but Howard has an amazing marching band. They…

AFAIK, Howard and some other HBCUs do actively recruit non-black applicants (and may even use affirmative action to do so).

Re: Silicon Valley and Black Coders: Howard University fights to join the tech boom

#356

Post by blueatlas » Thu, Jan 21, 2016, 10:09 PM UTC

michaelborromeo wrote: post #319

igonvalue wrote: post #281

The clickbait article headline is "Why Doesn’t Silicon Valley Hire Black Coders?" The answer is buried three quarters of the way into the article: > When they started interviewing seniors, companies found — as Pratt did at Howard — that many were underprepared. They hadn’t been exposed to programming before college and had gaps in their college classes. So why isn't the article titled, "Why Aren't Enough Black Coders…

Based on my experience interviewing a handful of developer candidates graduating from Howard, not being prepared is the best way I can describe the impression they left. It felt like they only had a smattering of CS courses, none of which pushed them very hard. In other words, they should fix their curriculum.

Is this really a problem specifically with Howard, or more a problem with CS curriculum in general? I ask this leaving the likes of CMU, Stanford, MIT, out of the equation - I'm thinking more about the "non-elite" CS programs, of which there are many, many more.

I am mentoring a CS student at another university and have had some challenges bringing this student along because the fundamentals are just not being taught. I took some time to compare it to Howard's curriculum, and I see some really practical courses offered at Howard - a 1 credit intro to OO and Java, Unix Lab, etc. Not that these make one a computer scientist, but when hiring entry level kids out of college, I would expect these skills to be somewhat solid, and that is not the case with really any CS programs today.

Re: Silicon Valley and Black Coders: Howard University fights to join the tech boom

#357

Post by serge2k » Thu, Jan 21, 2016, 10:12 PM UTC

School-Cotton wrote: post #272

pingou wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well I'm not an expert but it seems to me that in France we expect minorities to leave a good part of their culture and become "real french", eat cheese, wear beret and never walk without a baguette under their arms, whereas in the US I was under the impression that there's a lot more effort from minorities to differentiate themselves. I don't think we can really talk of a "black culture" in France (at least not in t…

You keep talking about "Blacks" vs. "real Americans" as though "real American" is defined as "belonging to White culture". Blacks in the US are not a "less-American" minority. US culture is multipolar. Why would Blacks assimilate to White culture? Why not Whites assimilate to Black culture? To me this sounds like saying Europe is bad at integrating minorities because French people haven't become German or English yet…

> To me this sounds like saying Europe is bad at integrating minorities because French people haven't become German or English yet.

That's actually an interesting comparison to the states. The US has a lot of the regional cultures thing going on as well.

Re: Silicon Valley and Black Coders: Howard University fights to join the tech boom

#358

Post by kenjackson » Thu, Jan 21, 2016, 10:14 PM UTC

igonvalue wrote: post #281

The clickbait article headline is "Why Doesn’t Silicon Valley Hire Black Coders?" The answer is buried three quarters of the way into the article: > When they started interviewing seniors, companies found — as Pratt did at Howard — that many were underprepared. They hadn’t been exposed to programming before college and had gaps in their college classes. So why isn't the article titled, "Why Aren't Enough Black Coders…

That's not clickbait though. It's a reasonable title for the article. Your may be closer to the truth, but the original title is completely valid and the article's content addresses the issue fairly. It's not clickbait.

Re: Silicon Valley and Black Coders: Howard University fights to join the tech boom

#359

Post by MisterBastahrd » Thu, Jan 21, 2016, 10:14 PM UTC

golergka wrote: post #31

rquantz wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People of lower economic circumstances may not have had access to computers prior to college.

In 1990? Likely. In 2010? This article is supposed to be about US, not a third-world country, right?

... apparently you don't know any poor people. Most today MIGHT have a tablet, and probably have a cell phone, but a desktop or laptop is a luxury.

Re: Silicon Valley and Black Coders: Howard University fights to join the tech boom

#360

Post by devalier » Thu, Jan 21, 2016, 10:19 PM UTC

dang wrote: post #333

devalier wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The imgur photo came from the Bell Curve by Charles Murray. There was some controversy about parts of the book, but the fact that blacks score one standard deviation lower on IQ tests was never disputed. You can also find this by just googling "race and SAT scores" "race and LSAT scores". Look at the official results put out by those organizations, and you will find that on every single test the average black score i…

HN accounts aren't supposed to be used just for ideological purposes. HN is a community, and the threads are conversations. That dynamic isn't served when someone shows up only to post lengthy, prepared screeds on tendentious topics.

If the top article on the Hacker News home page contradicts the evidence and the data that I have read, what am I supposed to do? I did not paste in a pre-written screed. I have read a lot on this subject, so I had a bunch of links and sources at my fingertips. It seems to me that posting as someone who has read a lot on this issue, and who can cite sources, is a much greater net contribution to the discussion than otherwise.

And yeah, I understand that my particular account has an ideological bent to it. I wish one account could fully represent who I am. But I am a active HN member with a long history of posts on all sorts of issues. But for obvious reasons, in cases where I believe the truth is highly politically incorrect, I have to post on a different account. I do try to respect the spirit of the guidelines, but I am not sure what I should do differently going forward.