4 ms·

I don't mean to diminish the point they're making in the article at all, but there are some parts that jump out... "And imagine that the worst happens, that yo

I don't mean to diminish the point they're making in the article at all, but there are some parts that jump out... "And imagine that the worst happens, that your startup fails. You're still good, right? You can just go back to whatever school that you decided to take a leave of absence from . . . or just draw from your trust fund. But when you start a company and you're a black entrepreneur, in some cases there is no alternative. It's a much different experience." The vast majority of people don't have trust funds and family that can write $50,000 checks on a whim. Obviously in some communities that percent is 99.99% vs 99%, but we're still comparing economic class rather than race.

pessimizer 12y ago
>we're still comparing economic class rather than race. Then it's important to be truthful and realistic about the distribution of race across economic classes. "The vast majority" is not a statement of a number or percentage, and will be a different number whether you're talking about black people and white people, or Oregonians and Arkansans.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
ajross 12y ago
"Trust fund" is perhaps a bit spun. But if you look at it as a social class issue (yes, the quote says "black", but it sounds like a point about poverty to me), the truth is that an awful lot of young "software entrepreneurs" spend their time living at home: They walk about in their middle class neighborhoods with quality internet access, solid development hardware available on their parents' dime, quiet private bedrooms with nice furniture, and easy access to a private car when needed. Think of starting the next Facebook in an urban apartment where multiple siblings have to share the bedrooms and laptop and maybe the point will be clearer.
- sliverstorm 12y ago
  I wish they would properly frame it as a social class issue. I try to read past it, but it still rankles when they present it as race. I didn't have it as hard as some kids do, but not every white kid has/had a trust fund, fast internet, fast computers...
  - jquery 12y ago
    I grew up in near-poverty in a trailer next to farm, sharing a bedroom with two siblings and a computer with five siblings. The challenges are largely similar across race, even the socialization challenges. That's why these articles about all the privileges I supposedly had/have are so frustrating. My challenges are/were invisible AND my accomplishments are being continually diminished by these individuals, meanwhile they are getting a platform in mainstream publications, have numerous diversity programs to lean on, and are (in tech) rewarded doubly for the same good work. Nobody cares about trailer park white (or asian) kids and the enormous challenges they face or the ladder they had to climb. That's the problem with identity politics and social theory. It a notoriously unreliable bracketing system based on utterly superficial traits, only done for its simplicity and political correctness, not for its accuracy.
- humanrebar 12y ago
  > Think of starting the next Facebook in an urban apartment where multiple siblings have to share the bedrooms and laptop and maybe the point will be clearer. Or from a rural trailer park. Racial demographics aside, rural areas are consistently the poorest areas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural_poverty#Case_study:_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural_poverty#Case_study:_Unite... ...and especially poignant here, poor kids in rural areas have dial-up internet at best and no city libraries or internet cafes to walk to. And the smart and driven ones have no access to STEM magnet schools.
  - waterlesscloud 12y ago
    Tangential, but I once heard sci-fi writer Bruce Sterling say that he was more interested in writing about what happened with technology in the hands of someone sitting in a mobile home eating cheetos than with some guy in a suit in an office tower.

pessimizer 12y ago

>we're still comparing economic class rather than race. Then it's important to be truthful and realistic about the distribution of race across economic classes. "The vast majority" is not a statement of a number or percentage, and will be a different number whether you're talking about black people and white people, or Oregonians and Arkansans.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

ajross 12y ago

"Trust fund" is perhaps a bit spun. But if you look at it as a social class issue (yes, the quote says "black", but it sounds like a point about poverty to me), the truth is that an awful lot of young "software entrepreneurs" spend their time living at home: They walk about in their middle class neighborhoods with quality internet access, solid development hardware available on their parents' dime, quiet private bedrooms with nice furniture, and easy access to a private car when needed. Think of starting the next Facebook in an urban apartment where multiple siblings have to share the bedrooms and laptop and maybe the point will be clearer.

sliverstorm 12y ago
I wish they would properly frame it as a social class issue. I try to read past it, but it still rankles when they present it as race. I didn't have it as hard as some kids do, but not every white kid has/had a trust fund, fast internet, fast computers...
- jquery 12y ago
  I grew up in near-poverty in a trailer next to farm, sharing a bedroom with two siblings and a computer with five siblings. The challenges are largely similar across race, even the socialization challenges. That's why these articles about all the privileges I supposedly had/have are so frustrating. My challenges are/were invisible AND my accomplishments are being continually diminished by these individuals, meanwhile they are getting a platform in mainstream publications, have numerous diversity programs to lean on, and are (in tech) rewarded doubly for the same good work. Nobody cares about trailer park white (or asian) kids and the enormous challenges they face or the ladder they had to climb. That's the problem with identity politics and social theory. It a notoriously unreliable bracketing system based on utterly superficial traits, only done for its simplicity and political correctness, not for its accuracy.
humanrebar 12y ago
> Think of starting the next Facebook in an urban apartment where multiple siblings have to share the bedrooms and laptop and maybe the point will be clearer. Or from a rural trailer park. Racial demographics aside, rural areas are consistently the poorest areas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural_poverty#Case_study:_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural_poverty#Case_study:_Unite... ...and especially poignant here, poor kids in rural areas have dial-up internet at best and no city libraries or internet cafes to walk to. And the smart and driven ones have no access to STEM magnet schools.
- waterlesscloud 12y ago
  Tangential, but I once heard sci-fi writer Bruce Sterling say that he was more interested in writing about what happened with technology in the hands of someone sitting in a mobile home eating cheetos than with some guy in a suit in an office tower.