4 ms·

So what group do you use the word black to refer to? It is commonly used to refer to African-Americans in the US. Since YC's target is predominantly US applican

by Jun8 12y ago

So what group do you use the word black to refer to? It is commonly used to refer to African-Americans in the US. Since YC's target is predominantly US applicants the intended group is understood to be African-Americans. The article says: "It's adding black colleges to its recruiting swing this fall, as well as reaching out to groups with strong ties to the black community to increase the pool of applicants, Altman said." I very much doubt that when Altman said "the black community" and "black colleges" he had in mind people from African countries or black skinned people from India.

owenmarshall 12y ago
> So what group do you use the word black to refer to? African Americans in the US. African entrepreneurs that come to American colleges, like Ashifi Gogo of Sproxil that I mentioned before. "Black skinned people from India"? Sure, them too. All those groups are underrepresented in technology and could bring valuable perspective to what matters to the African American community, the Nigerian community, the Indian community, the Afro-Caribbean community, ... But we've gone down a rabbit hole here. The point I was making through example was that underrepresented groups - blacks, Hispanics, women - have different perspectives that deserve attention, because there are damn good ideas there.