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For black CEOs in Silicon Valley, humiliation is a part of doing business

(www.bloomberg.com)
677 points saeedjabbar | 3 comments | 16 Jun 20 15:19 UTC | HN request time: 0.649s | source
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hn_throwaway_99 ◴[16 Jun 20 21:01 UTC] No.23544053[source]▶
I thought this was a great article. One of the most interesting things to me was how the embarrassment/defensiveness of the white people involved was one of the biggest blocks to the black CEOs in their advancement, e.g. the VCs who "just wanted to get the hell out of there" after mistaking a white subordinate for the CEO.

I've recently been reading/watching some videos and writings by Robin Diangelo on systemic racism - here's a great starting point: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7mzj0cVL0Q. She also wrote the book "White Fragility".

Thinking about that, I'm just wondering how different it would be if one of those people who mistook the employee for the CEO instead turned to the CEO and said "I'm sorry, please excuse me for the instance of racism I just perpetrated against you, I promise it won't happen again." I realize how outlandish that may sound writing that out, but I'd propose that the fact that it does sound outlandish is the main problem. Everyone in the US was raised in an environment that inculcated certain racial ideas, subconsciously or not. We can't address them if we're so embarrassed by their existence as to pretend they don't exist.

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1. SkyBelow ◴[16 Jun 20 21:25 UTC] No.23544384[source]▶
Isn't this part of a different problem of not being allowed to be wrong? It has major impacts on racism (and sexism and other forms of discrimination) making it worse, but also is a factor when someone is wrong in other areas of life and can have negative impacts because owning up to a mistake is something our experiences have taught us to avoid. Why is it that we have a shared experience that you should flee a mistake instead of owning up to it? Is fleeing, or sometimes just outright ignoring, a mistake seen as a more socially rewarded action than owning up to the mistake?

One area to look is politicians apologizing for being wrong and the extent that is treated a weakness by their political opponents.

I think a society where the better choice of action is to own up to a mistake makes for a better society.

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2. ccsnags ◴[16 Jun 20 21:48 UTC] No.23544663[source]▶
Everyone is flawed. That comes with being human. It would be nice to live in a society that allows for people to make mistakes without burning them at the stake. This is not the world we live in, sadly. We have to change that by being forgiving and not piling on.

Apologies, in 2020 USA, just put a giant target on your head and don’t seem to be making much of a positive impact. Change that, you change the game.

People like their scalps too much right now.

3. brlewis ◴[16 Jun 20 22:03 UTC] No.23544840[source]▶
No. A VC is expected to be wrong most of the time. They can be right only once and be an excellent VC. A VC should not have a difficult time owning up to a mistake under normal circumstances. In this case, they should be able to apologize, move on, and be extra attentive during the presentation to try to make up for the wrong.