The Whiter, Politer Racism

No hoods needed, just hold out on the opportunities

Response: That was beautifully written.

There is nothing wrong with your vision, Dr. Dalencour. What you are seeing is exactly as you describe: Systemic lack of support and services around economic representation of People of Color in Silicon Valley. The essays that sparked this thread summed up the view of most White people here: What problem?

I have written on my experience having worked in IT for 30 years and still, to this day, I’m told: “We have found candidates with abilities superior to yours. You are interesting and we are certain you will have no problem finding opportunity.”

I stand by my statement: The new racism or ageism or discrimination in general, promises it will rectify what it calls an unacceptable social or cultural oversight in its hiring of People of Color.

It apologizes profusely and hires a Middle-aged White man to oversee(r) the problem. No problem…

These same agencies will hire barely-skilled labor on the idea that cheap, White, indebted, college graduates are better workers than experienced older workers with decades of proven expertise. At the same time they’re wondering where their innovative edge has gone.

Meanwhile, workers who have had to navigate a hostile world, find a way to keep moving, feed their families, remain creative and optimistic in selling their skills and ideas to anyone capable of looking past their Brown skin, languish while their abilities, squandered on survival are in touch with the very creativity corporations are needing to survive: The ability to do more with less.

The new racism is being held hostage by venture capitalists who believe in the myth of the “White Geek Savior,” who will pull a Unicorn up by its bootstraps when the truth is less known. Most startups fail; due to a lack of vision, lack of experience, and a lack of diverse viewpoints.

Mostly they die because what they are attempting to create rarely meets the needs of the world at large.

What would they know about the diverse needs of a diverse world? Not a thing. And they intend to keep it that way.

New racism’s creed: We no longer have to beat you in the streets, use fire hoses and shame to keep you down. We have laws which undermine your chances for education, imprison you on drug charges while Whites sell that same drug for profit and an Ivy League education, should you get one, doesn’t have to mean a thing. Ultimately those in power know this one rule.

They don’t ever have to say yes.

Lip service can take decades. Entire generations can languish while they decide if we are worthy.

If we don’t speak out, if we don’t speak up, if we can’t work together, they will continue to rig the game. They simply have no motivation to do otherwise. We can’t depend on them to do the right thing. Their fear of being where we are, dependent upon an ethical person amid the wolves, who is willing to risk their career to hire a minority, is what drives them.

The fear we experience when we ask ourselves, after sending out the five hundredth resume: Am I good enough? And you know the answer is yes…

That is what they fear. Being held to the same unrealistic standards they hold us to.