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

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677 points saeedjabbar | 4 comments | 16 Jun 20 15:19 UTC | HN request time: 0.793s | source
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ibudiallo ◴[16 Jun 20 22:05 UTC] No.23544856[source]▶
I usually choose to believe in "the honest mistake". It happens, two people walk in, one of them is the CEO, you assume it is the one on the right. And then when you realize it is a mistake, you apologize. We are only human.

But when it happens over and over and over, you can't help but feel frustrated. You realize that people natural instinct is to think you are the subordinate. One second your are on stage at Techcrunch (I was in 2017), where you have clearly introduced yourself. You get off-stage, they greet your colleague and ask him the questions as if he was on stage.

I was often in the interview room waiting for my interviewer, only to have him show up, and tell me I must be in the wrong room. A simple "Hey are you XYZ?" could have avoided this frustration.

I've written an article about my experience working as a black developer, I'll post it here in the near future. You wouldn't believe how lonely it is. In my team of 150 people, we were two black people.

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1. tbyehl ◴[17 Jun 20 05:28 UTC] No.23548134[source]▶
> You wouldn't believe how lonely it is. In my team of 150 people, we were two black people.

One of the strangest realizations I've had in my adult life is that when Silicon Valley people talk about improving workplace diversity, they don't mean black people. There are virtually no black people in Silicon Valley. Two on your team of 150 under-represents the population but not nearly as much as in places with a larger black population.

Has anyone ever pitched you on Atlanta? Tech here has a long way to go to match the local demographics but being a black developer (or manager, executive, founder, VC, whatever) isn't nearly as novel. Tho, our casual and not-so-casual racism outside the workplace is probably worse than Silicon Valley.

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2. ibudiallo ◴[17 Jun 20 06:17 UTC] No.23548344[source]▶
I mostly know California, this is where I learned to navigate the system. People often recommend the tech scene here or there, and it is tempting to just move.

But to tell you the truth, I don't want to start over. The devil you know...

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3. blitmap ◴[17 Jun 20 06:33 UTC] No.23548431[source]▶
First, I wanted to say congratulations on having that Techcrunch experience! That is very cool :)

I am white. I am often talking among my white colleagues who make statements like "I just want to work, I don't understand all the focus on diversity. Racism isn't something I consider when I go to work to make software." I understand this. I don't go to work trying to increase or lessen racism, it's simply not in the viewfinder.

However, I've talked with some of them about how it subtley changes your perspective and erodes your peace of mind to go to work among peers you don't outwardly identify with. We hope people go to office parties and learn finer details of those they work with and bond. This doesn't always happen. What helps immediately is being able to look around the room and see people who look like you.

I've been really happy to see how discussions about diversity have changed in the last 10 years. When we sit down with HR and do a workshop about diversity it is NOT about race at all. The emphasis has been on appreciating and drawing from diverse life experience from people who may appear commonplace. I've watched the language change into something more constructive and it pulls people away from simply thinking "I'm the one Asian dude in this department". I remember at my last job I started learning a fair amount of Tagalog because 3 folks around me came from the Fillipines and wanted to share awesome homecooked meals. I really valued that experience.

I have always lived and worked in California. I've been cautiously optimistic seeing people grow curious about others' upbringings and cultures, especially with oversharing from outlets like Instagram.

Anywho, glad to have you here, sir :)

4. swat535 ◴[17 Jun 20 15:47 UTC] No.23552785[source]▶
They also don't mean more Middle Easterners (Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt,..) or Asians or Muslims or Sikhs or Natives, more diversity basically means more white women.

I think it's a noble cause but unfortunately the biases are deeply rooted in SV culture.