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Why are there so few black tech entrepreneurs?

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Re: Why are there so few black tech entrepreneurs?

#41

Post by Ancapistani »

founderofcolour wrote: post #36
Mc91 wrote: post #6

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 ju…

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

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”.

Re: Why are there so few black tech entrepreneurs?

#42

Post by Ancapistani »

brainless wrote: post #24
Ancapistani wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are ~1.4 billion people in India. The subset of those who are able to afford to immigrate to the US is a small fraction of that - a fraction that by definition has either the financial means to do so or extreme motivation and persistence. In light of that, it’s not at all surprising to me that people of Indian descent in America are disproportionately successful.

There are 1.4 billion people now. Indians have been doing some wonderful things in the US for a couple decades now. Which means even previous generation expats were probably having more chance at success than Black Americans? I am happy with where Indians are but I'm just trying to understand, in the light of recent situations, how deeply Black Americans feel they don't have any chance at success within their own cou…

Even going as far back as when India was a British possession, the Indians who were able to immigrate was still the best-suited for success. In fact, I’d expect that the disparity was greater then that now - the caste system was even more strictly enforced, and it took more resources to move halfway around the world in 1960 than it does in 2020.

Re: Why are there so few black tech entrepreneurs?

#43

Post by Ancapistani »

mytailorisrich wrote: post #27
brainless wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, but do you think we would have continued that if, like other commenters here are sharing, Indians could not succeed - if they were systematically stopped from succeeding?

Black people are not systematically stopped from succeeding. Here in the UK Indians 'succeed' because, as I mentioned, they invest massively in education. If you look at the grammar schools (selective state schools) exam, quite often the majority of children in the room are Asians. The same route is open to black people, to white people, to anyone. The issue is much more complex than claiming that a specific group is…

I think this is a difference of language.

It’s clear that Blacks are less likely to succeed in the US than Whites. One can phrase that as “Blacks are disadvantaged” or “Whites are advantaged”. Both are true statements, but one leads to positive actions and the other to negative.

As a society, our goal should not be to eliminate the advantages of one group above another. We should be trying to provide more advantages to everyone, both as a population and individual groups.

Re: Why are there so few black tech entrepreneurs?

#44

Post by mytailorisrich »

Ancapistani wrote: post #43
mytailorisrich wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Black people are not systematically stopped from succeeding. Here in the UK Indians 'succeed' because, as I mentioned, they invest massively in education. If you look at the grammar schools (selective state schools) exam, quite often the majority of children in the room are Asians. The same route is open to black people, to white people, to anyone. The issue is much more complex than claiming that a specific group is…

I think this is a difference of language. It’s clear that Blacks are less likely to succeed in the US than Whites. One can phrase that as “Blacks are disadvantaged” or “Whites are advantaged”. Both are true statements, but one leads to positive actions and the other to negative. As a society, our goal should not be to eliminate the advantages of one group above another. We should be trying to provide more advantages…

We can't provide "advantages" to everyone. We can provide opportunities (maybe that's what you mean) by investing in education from an early age, including services related to education like nurseries and extended hours.

Then, people take the opportunity, or their don't.

Race should not be relevant. My problem with current climate is that it perpetuates race as something to notice and to treat specifically when we should aim for the opposite.

Re: Why are there so few black tech entrepreneurs?

#45

Post by foogazi »

founderofcolour wrote: post #22
Ancapistani wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Out of curiosity - the 25-year-old white VP seems very specific, so I assume it’s based on a personal experience. When were you able to enter the field, compared to them? Do they have more experience at an earlier age? To be clear, I am in no way arguing or trying to minimize your experiences. I’m looking for holes in my own view of the problem, which I stated in a top-level comment. Based on that I would expect that…

Yes, we have 4 such cases in a relatively small company, all in early to mid 20s. None with any degrees of note nor any prior successes or any prior superchargers (such as McKinsey). This is a specific experience. However, as I see our employees go to other companies, it is fascinating to follow a nice upward stairwell people of non-color follow. Meanwhile, PoC with extensive experience are told, "oh next year, you w…

> I entered the company at just above entry level despite quite a bit of experience.

Why?

Is it a special company where it might be advantageous to do this or was it lack of alternatives?

Re: Why are there so few black tech entrepreneurs?

#46

Post by threatofrain »

Ancapistani wrote: post #2

While bias in hiring is certainly an issue, I don’t believe that its the primary factor. Most of this disparity is due to differences in opportunity. Blacks in the US are less likely to have the resources at their disposal to enter our field. They are less likely to have two parents at home, to be able to afford college on their own, to have the familial financial and emotional support system necessary to have the re…

What's sad is that all these kinds of investments would take two decades to see fruit, but in tech years that's forever.

Re: Why are there so few black tech entrepreneurs?

#48

Post by [deleted] »

umvi wrote: post #16

Like mentioned in the article, only 13% of Americans are black[0]. Secondly, nearly 30% of that 13% are living in poverty[1]. So really you only have ~8% of Americans who are both black and not in poverty. From there it gets whittled down further for cultural reasons. You could similarly ask "where are there so few white rappers?" or "why are there so few male nurses?" and find cultural reasons and pressures involved…

[deleted]

Re: Why are there so few black tech entrepreneurs?

#49

Post by renewiltord »

Interesting note that with sufficient discrimination, even non-discriminating agents will have the discrimination propagate to them. If I know that a black woman is going to have a hard time raising loans, hiring, finding a business partner and a white guy is going to have an easy time doing all that, even a non-discriminating VC will just go for the latter. After all, you're just blindly chasing outcomes. And there's no edge to be had by choosing someone who is holistically less likely to succeed because the environment doesn't favour them.

Re: Why are there so few black tech entrepreneurs?

#50

Post by exolymph »

Ancapistani wrote: post #41
founderofcolour wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

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 t…

> 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...

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