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I was expecting stories from his father, or about his father. Instead, the author talks about IBM's "support" of Nazi Germany and ends with statistics on the l

I was expecting stories from his father, or about his father. Instead, the author talks about IBM's "support" of Nazi Germany and ends with statistics on the low amount of African-Americans employed in the tech industry. Yet the percentage of blacks and non-Asian minorities in high-tech professions consistently remains under 2%. For minority women, the numbers are even more dismal. Recent studies conclude this is not a “pipeline” problem — qualified candidates can be found.

grawprog 7y ago
Honestly, I have to agree the title was misleading. It should have been something like 'The history of IBM's support of eugenics' or something. I too was hoping for at least some specific anecdotes of his father's time there, especially as the introduction mentioned years of racism and such towards him. Yet what followed did not elaborate on any of that or really connect to it at all. Much of that I'd read elsewhere over the years.
tasogare 7y ago
> and non-Asian minorities Ah, the classical trick of excluding data points that don't fit the narrative. It's far more convenient to blame the Bad White Man for everything than to ask the real questions.
- zapita 7y ago
  And what is the real question? Say what you mean.
  - sushid 7y ago
    The real question is why are Asians over represented in this field despite the fact that Asians also experience systemic racism and come from various socioeconomic backgrounds? Look into NYC’s high school exam if you want to see the same problem in another light. Asians are over represented there as well and there’s a fight to make it capped per racial groups.
    - lallysingh 7y ago
      What happens to Asians when they get pulled over by police?
    - handlegoeshere 7y ago
      Citation needed on the claim that Asians experience systemic racism in America.
      - jakelazaroff 7y ago
        Here's one data point: although Asian Americans are not underrepresented in the workforce, they are underrepresented in management positions. https://hbr.org/2018/05/asian-americans-are-the-least-likely-group-in-the-u-s-to-be-promoted-to-management https://hbr.org/2018/05/asian-americans-are-the-least-likely...
      - veidr 7y ago
        Fellow unavoidably privileged white man, that absolutely doesn't need further citation. It should be obvious from lived experience to any adult American, whites included. There is only one other demographic group, other than ours, which doesn't experience systemic racism in America: white women. (For them, it's systemic sexism.) Getting killed or physically assaulted without cause during routine traffic stops and misdemeanor arrests isn't the only kind of racism. (Although it is clearly worse than, say, being underrepresented at the top levels of management.)
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
- ceejayoz 7y ago
  Excluding or accounting for outliers is a pretty common thing in statistics. Also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_minority https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_minority
- jakelazaroff 7y ago
  Race isn’t split up into white and non-white monoliths. One subgroup can experience racism in ways that others do not.
- rat87 7y ago
  racism is a major problem and a how to fight racism in hiring as well as society is a real question. Asian minorities also suffer from racism but it doesn't necessarily work the same way or have the same stereotypes attached
  - 77697throw 7y ago
    Exactly. Talk about affirmative action in academics, and most people will agree it’s something to consider. Talk about affirmative action in sports, and people will laugh.
rolltiide 7y ago
What I gathered from that article was how all of those tangential problems would have been approached with different perspectives if there was more decision-making representation from currently underrepresented people. Instead of taking on any government contracts because "we can't be responsible for what an administration does and can't predict how they'll be viewed in the future, and the only way we'll get any blowback for this is if that country got invaded by multiple coalitions at once and all of their administrative records are leaked, what are the odds of that!" Its might be "hey maybe their views are also affecting our customers, and also the other people on the board and their families, here is a different way we can boost revenues"

grawprog 7y ago

Honestly, I have to agree the title was misleading. It should have been something like 'The history of IBM's support of eugenics' or something. I too was hoping for at least some specific anecdotes of his father's time there, especially as the introduction mentioned years of racism and such towards him. Yet what followed did not elaborate on any of that or really connect to it at all. Much of that I'd read elsewhere over the years.

tasogare 7y ago

> and non-Asian minorities Ah, the classical trick of excluding data points that don't fit the narrative. It's far more convenient to blame the Bad White Man for everything than to ask the real questions.

zapita 7y ago
And what is the real question? Say what you mean.
- sushid 7y ago
  The real question is why are Asians over represented in this field despite the fact that Asians also experience systemic racism and come from various socioeconomic backgrounds? Look into NYC’s high school exam if you want to see the same problem in another light. Asians are over represented there as well and there’s a fight to make it capped per racial groups.
  - lallysingh 7y ago
    What happens to Asians when they get pulled over by police?
  - handlegoeshere 7y ago
    Citation needed on the claim that Asians experience systemic racism in America.
    - jakelazaroff 7y ago
      Here's one data point: although Asian Americans are not underrepresented in the workforce, they are underrepresented in management positions. https://hbr.org/2018/05/asian-americans-are-the-least-likely-group-in-the-u-s-to-be-promoted-to-management https://hbr.org/2018/05/asian-americans-are-the-least-likely...
    - veidr 7y ago
      Fellow unavoidably privileged white man, that absolutely doesn't need further citation. It should be obvious from lived experience to any adult American, whites included. There is only one other demographic group, other than ours, which doesn't experience systemic racism in America: white women. (For them, it's systemic sexism.) Getting killed or physically assaulted without cause during routine traffic stops and misdemeanor arrests isn't the only kind of racism. (Although it is clearly worse than, say, being underrepresented at the top levels of management.)
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
ceejayoz 7y ago
Excluding or accounting for outliers is a pretty common thing in statistics. Also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_minority https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_minority
jakelazaroff 7y ago
Race isn’t split up into white and non-white monoliths. One subgroup can experience racism in ways that others do not.
rat87 7y ago
racism is a major problem and a how to fight racism in hiring as well as society is a real question. Asian minorities also suffer from racism but it doesn't necessarily work the same way or have the same stereotypes attached
- 77697throw 7y ago
  Exactly. Talk about affirmative action in academics, and most people will agree it’s something to consider. Talk about affirmative action in sports, and people will laugh.

rolltiide 7y ago

What I gathered from that article was how all of those tangential problems would have been approached with different perspectives if there was more decision-making representation from currently underrepresented people. Instead of taking on any government contracts because "we can't be responsible for what an administration does and can't predict how they'll be viewed in the future, and the only way we'll get any blowback for this is if that country got invaded by multiple coalitions at once and all of their administrative records are leaked, what are the odds of that!" Its might be "hey maybe their views are also affecting our customers, and also the other people on the board and their families, here is a different way we can boost revenues"