7 ms·

It's a lot about race You just made it about race, but really it's talent pool and demographics and education/skill levels. If a software group moves to downto

by personZ 12y ago

It's a lot about race You just made it about race, but really it's talent pool and demographics and education/skill levels. If a software group moves to downtown Detroit, it seems destructive to hold that as a negative, as if having some bright spots is somehow a negative because that software group doesn't hire the pipe fitter with the a grade 7 education.

dahart 12y ago
No. The story of Detroit's decline and it's comeback has been about race for decades. Talent pool, education, demographics, and skill levels in Detroit are a function of race, which dylanbox has experienced first hand and shared. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit#Race_and_ethnicity http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit#Race_and_ethnicity
- personZ 12y ago
  The context of this discussion is the "rebirth" of Detroit, not race riots or the 1950s. If Detroit's rebirth is a high-skill, high-tech industry, the exclusion of many Detroit residents has everything to do with skills and education, and absolutely nothing to do with race.
  - dahart 12y ago
    Quoting Wikipedia: "Detroit remains one of the most racially segregated cities in the United States." This is about today, not about the 1950s. The rebirth of Detroit depends in part on the racial conditions that led to today, and the racial conditions we have today. "De facto educational segregation in Detroit (and by extension elsewhere) was legally permitted by the U.S. Supreme Court in Milliken v. Bradley, 418 U.S. 717 (1974).[42]" How do you expect skills and education to have nothing to do with race when Detroit's education system is bounded and defined by race?
    - personZ 12y ago
      This is an absurd extrapolation. By this definition we can say that literally everything is "a lot to do with race". Is that useful?
      - AnimalMuppet 12y ago
        If true, then yes, it's useful to note, and to say.
dylanbox 12y ago
One thing you definitely see is the problem with professional networks. They're pretty racially divided. You walk around the tech hubs in Detroit and you'll find that one is primarily white, and another primarily black. Networking events are often pretty similar. I don't think a lot of the lack of hiring of minorities in Tech Startups in Detroit is anything malevolent, but more a product of a lack of awareness of people who exist outside their professional networks. There are a number of great colleges in the Detroit area (Wayne State, Lawrence Tech, UofD Mercy) but I've rarely seen people get hired out of those colleges and into the tech startups around town. It's often the interpersonal networks which tend to align themselves around the race and class of the person hiring. tl;dr It's not about racism, but about personal networks that often align with race

by personZ 12y ago

dahart 12y ago

No. The story of Detroit's decline and it's comeback has been about race for decades. Talent pool, education, demographics, and skill levels in Detroit are a function of race, which dylanbox has experienced first hand and shared. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit#Race_and_ethnicity http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit#Race_and_ethnicity

personZ 12y ago
The context of this discussion is the "rebirth" of Detroit, not race riots or the 1950s. If Detroit's rebirth is a high-skill, high-tech industry, the exclusion of many Detroit residents has everything to do with skills and education, and absolutely nothing to do with race.
- dahart 12y ago
  Quoting Wikipedia: "Detroit remains one of the most racially segregated cities in the United States." This is about today, not about the 1950s. The rebirth of Detroit depends in part on the racial conditions that led to today, and the racial conditions we have today. "De facto educational segregation in Detroit (and by extension elsewhere) was legally permitted by the U.S. Supreme Court in Milliken v. Bradley, 418 U.S. 717 (1974).[42]" How do you expect skills and education to have nothing to do with race when Detroit's education system is bounded and defined by race?
  - personZ 12y ago
    This is an absurd extrapolation. By this definition we can say that literally everything is "a lot to do with race". Is that useful?
    - AnimalMuppet 12y ago
      If true, then yes, it's useful to note, and to say.

dylanbox 12y ago

One thing you definitely see is the problem with professional networks. They're pretty racially divided. You walk around the tech hubs in Detroit and you'll find that one is primarily white, and another primarily black. Networking events are often pretty similar. I don't think a lot of the lack of hiring of minorities in Tech Startups in Detroit is anything malevolent, but more a product of a lack of awareness of people who exist outside their professional networks. There are a number of great colleges in the Detroit area (Wayne State, Lawrence Tech, UofD Mercy) but I've rarely seen people get hired out of those colleges and into the tech startups around town. It's often the interpersonal networks which tend to align themselves around the race and class of the person hiring. tl;dr It's not about racism, but about personal networks that often align with race