Nice article! What offends me about Snapchat is the CEO’s response to the diversity question and the picture of all their white, male personnel.

My brother-in-law works in finance. We’re both black. From time to time he’s brought in on hiring decisions. He discovered that many white people, even those in Human Resources, don’t know which predominantly black colleges and universities are good. They toss aside the resumes of well-qualified people of color because the interviewers are ignorant of that person’s qualifications.

So don’t let anyone tell you that people of color don’t apply for jobs in finance, or tech or any other kind of jobs. I know of many cases where they apply and are overlooked, never get the interview. Never get a chance.

I’d be interested to know if the people hiring at Snapchat could name even two of the top black universities, if they knew the names of the job placement/guidance counselors at those schools, if they had visited the schools or spoken to any students there. I’m sure they have those connections with their own alma maters. Diversity is not some mysterious puzzle. If a company is really interested in improving their diversity there are steps they can take to do so, making themselves less isolated, ensuring their products appeal to more people and opening up larger markets all the while.