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Why so Few Black People in Silicon Valley?
Metro ^ | July 24, 2013 | Christiana Cobb

Posted on 07/31/2013 11:39:36 AM PDT by nickcarraway

Silicon Valley, one of the country's most diverse melting pots, is inexplicably short on one ingredient: black people. Why?

Penny Speight spent much of her childhood trying to find a place to fit in.

Raised in her grandmother's home in Stockton, she spent little time outside of school, church and with her family. "I wouldn't say there were a ton of black people," she says of her hometown, "but I was raised by my black family and I was always around them." Her life at home had a soundtrack—grandma approved of Whitney Houston tracks "I Believe in You and Me" and "Joy to the World," while Snoop Dogg, Outkast, Fugees and BET videos were off-limits. The sounds were accompanied by the familiar smell of collard greens, fried chicken and candied yams. But life outside the home wasn't always so easy.

Speight is bi-racial, both black and white, and despite the fact that she identifies herself as African American, she found that as she was growing up, her classmates didn't see her as such, based on the fact that she had lighter skin. In high school, she moved to Clearlake, a town with few black people. College would be different, where Speight, 21, anticipated more diversity and a larger black population at San Jose State University. "I was overwhelmed with all the people and all the things you could do, because Clearlake is very small," Speight says. "When I came to San Jose State, I became more open-minded. It was like a whole new world."

What she didn't encounter, to her surprise, was a strong African American presence, on campus or in the city.

"I was hoping there were going to be more black people here, because in Clearlake there were like five black people," Speight says. "I was disappointed with the lack of community. We are so small, we should be more united, but we're not."

Santa Clara County is one of the most diverse areas in the country, and yet the black population has remained remarkably low over the last half-century and is even shrinking.

According to the most recent county census, the white population peaked in Santa Clara County in 1960 at 96.8 percent. According to the 2010 census, Caucasians accounted for 47 percent. (It wasn't until the '70s when Latino/Hispanic became its own category.) Over time, though, the Asian and Latino communities have substantially increased.

The Asian population was below 3 percent in the '50s and '60s, but grew to nearly 8 percent in the '80s, 17.5 percent in the '90s and 32 percent in 2010. The Latino community has experienced similar growth, going from 12.2 percent in 1950 to 20.5 percent in 1980 and 26.9 percent in 2010.

Meanwhile, the black population has remained surprisingly low, from less than 1 percent in the '50s and '60s to 1.7 percent in the '70s. African Americans accounted for 3.7 percent of the population in the '90s, but by 2010, that percentage dropped back down to 2.6, or about 46,428 people.

Steven Millner, an African American studies professor at San Jose State, has lived in Santa Clara County since 1968, and over the years he has seen the black population's ebbs and flows.

Many African Americans moved to San Jose in the 1940s and 1950s for job opportunities in the cannery business, Millner notes. Cannery jobs, located near the black communities, were a sufficient means of income at the time. But when the canneries closed, Silicon Valley's working class also left the area.

In the 1960s, Millner says, technology firms recruited black engineers, making San Jose one of the country's most educated African American clusters. But many of these engineers have since retired and migrated out of the area.

"In the last 10 years, it's been a flow away from Santa Clara County," Millner says, pointing out that the African American children of those who prospered in the '60s have dispersed throughout California and the nation.

"A lot of times the children of black professionals go to historically black colleges," Millner says, listing several prominent schools in the South.

Meanwhile, San Jose has grown and attracted a diverse collage of cultures with the growth of Silicon Valley's technology industry, according to Tomas Jimenez, a sociology professor at Stanford University.

"In this area there's a huge demand for people in the science, technology and math industries, and so we draw internationally for a high skilled workforce," Jimenez said.

In 1968, San Jose State students and Olympic sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos made civil rights history, raising their black-gloved fists as a salute to black power during the medal ceremony at the 1968 games in Mexico City.

While a statue of the two men stands on campus to commemorate the iconic moment, there is little connection to the students of today, says Reverend Jethroe Moore, president of the NAACP chapter in San Jose.

"San Jose State was the birthplace of a great civil rights movement, but San Jose does not teach that, advertise that or promote the fact that this was started by blacks," he says. "They tend to hide it, and black people tend to be one thing that this county hides."

Moore adds that the minimum wage ordinance in San Jose began as a campaign started by an African American student at San Jose State, a fact that is often overlooked.

In the '60s and '70s, employment opportunities in the manufacturing industry attracted black workers, but "there were choices and decisions made that hindered the growth of the black community," Moore says. He says that part of Northern California's institutional racism has been keeping those who live in other cities from getting to San Jose. "We are one of the biggest cities in the nation but there isn't a black community," Moore says. "BART was never extended to San Jose. Why?"

Answering his own question, Moore claims that BART was originally designed in such a way as to lessen opportunities for people of color or low income. He notes that at the time there was economic prosperity in Silicon Valley and a large tax base to pay for the extension of BART, but the rail line wasn't expanded. With many African Americans living in the East Bay, transportation impediments made it harder to commute.

Rick Callender, vice president of the California and Hawaii NAACP, adds that institutional racism can be as subtle as established cultures hiring those with similar backgrounds.

"If jobs weren't there and your community isn't there, then you go where jobs and your community are," Callender says.

Judge LaDoris Cordell, who now serves as San Jose's independent police auditor, has lived in Santa Clara County since 1971, when she started attending Stanford University. She has seen housing prices skyrocket since that time, which especially affects lower-income families, such as many African Americans and Latinos. "I see a great divide getting bigger and bigger between the haves and have-nots," Cordell says. "I'm not happy about what I'm seeing.... My daughters don't live here because they can't afford it. They would like to come back, but they can't.

"How do you break the cycle? I don't know."

Although the African American community continues to shrink, those emigrating from Africa to Silicon Valley seem to have increased. "Those who are African American tend to be African, and their emergence in this area has been one of the more fascinating developments," Millner says. "They have refugee status, which is recognition that they come from a war-torn background as opposed to waiting 10 to 12 years for an immigrant visa." But as more people from Eritrea, Ethiopia and Nigeria come here, a shift is taking place in the black community.

Although first- and second-generation African families may appear to be the same as those whose ancestors were brought over on slave ships, their experiences tend to differ, Millner says. "There is a divide between the black community and Africans," he says. "If there is going to be black growth, it's going to come from those groups."

As for Speight, she has not given up on San Jose's potential to be an attractive place for young African Americans.

"Overall my experience has been good," she says. "I've met a ton of great people, but I really envision us being closer together and uniting for a common goal: equality. I see us doing great things here, but we have to come together."


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet; Local News
KEYWORDS: 2010census; blacks; community; diversity; mathiswrong; siliconvalley
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To: Hotlanta Mike
Because...everyone knows that all the best looking Silicone Beings are white.


21 posted on 07/31/2013 11:55:26 AM PDT by Bloody Sam Roberts (So Obama "inherited" a mess? Firemen "inherit" messes too. Ever see one put gasoline on it?)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

“What percentage of blacks are electrical or software engineers?”

FAMU is churning out black electrical and software engineers who graduate with a 4.0. I’ve interviewed several elctricals and they had no understanding of the material they were supposed to have learned. I asked a fellow employee and adjunct professor why. He said that if he did not pass them along he wouldn’t be back next term. So, they have the paper but in Silicon Valley, they must perform with the best of the best. In my experience that’s no longer people from the US university system. The astonishing thing is that foreign born and trained engineers, who learned English as a second language frequently write better reports and letters to customers than do those who were born here, Caucasian or any other race. Our education system has deteriorated in just the last 20 years to sub-standard.


22 posted on 07/31/2013 11:55:30 AM PDT by Gen.Blather
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To: nickcarraway

How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice.

How do you get to Silicon Valley? Program, program, program.

There’s no secret to it. If you don’t code (or exercise some other engineering skill) at world-class levels, Silicon Valley doesn’t need you.


23 posted on 07/31/2013 11:55:32 AM PDT by AZLiberty (No tag today.)
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To: nickcarraway

“institutional racism can be as subtle as established cultures hiring those with similar backgrounds”

Duh.


24 posted on 07/31/2013 11:56:28 AM PDT by technically right
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To: nickcarraway

This article is almost saying “Yo! Hey, HUD....over HERE! Over HERE!”


25 posted on 07/31/2013 11:56:40 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: nickcarraway

>> “How do you break the cycle? I don’t know.”

You’re a freaking JUDGE and you DON’T KNOW??? Won’t ADMIT THE TRUTH is more like it.

Well, I know, and I’ll say it. It’s not rocket science.

You marry the mother of your children, you work hard, you teach your young ‘uns about God and personal responsibility and work ethic and to value education over “culture” and hip-hop. You stay clean of drugs and don’t drink your brains out.

It doesn’t happen overnight — it takes a generation. Maybe two if you’re really screwed up, like most of African-America is.

THE ASIANS DID IT! Yep, right there in SILICON VALLEY. In SPADES. With totally MORE REAL handicaps than the race grievance BLACKS ever DREAMED of. What the hell is the problem with the blacks? I’m beyond sick of hearing their whining victim crapola.


26 posted on 07/31/2013 11:58:12 AM PDT by Nervous Tick (Without GOD, men get what they deserve.)
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To: Bucky Larson
“How do you break the cycle? I don’t know.”

Evabuddy no whut da problem is.. da crackas be keepin' us out...

27 posted on 07/31/2013 11:58:28 AM PDT by ScottinVA (If you don't care about Antonio Santiago, sure as hell don't whine about Trayvon Martin.)
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To: Gen.Blather
Our education system has deteriorated in just the last 20 years to sub-standard.

The more oversight the feral government has over anything, the worse it gets.

28 posted on 07/31/2013 11:58:58 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Who knew that one day professional wrestling would be less fake than professional journalism?)
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To: reg45
Exactly

Although the African American community continues to shrink, those emigrating from Africa to Silicon Valley seem to have increased.

The work ethic is still present in many Africans and education is highly valued.

One of my favorite professors was from Africa. After the college hired him, they realized that he was very conservative and (Gasp) a Christian. He once saw a show on cable about coconut plantations, and he was fighting mad the next day. He was angry that the show portrayed the farms as exploiting children. He was literally yelling that his working on those very farms allowed him to get his degree and presented the a huge opportunity in his country.

The school never really figured out what to do with him. LOL

29 posted on 07/31/2013 11:59:52 AM PDT by antidisestablishment (Mahound delenda est)
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To: nickcarraway

Consult Victor Davis Hansen on the technocracy’s willingness to use high taxes (that do not impact on their grossly high salaries) to push out...undesirables. There is a great piece by him, out a half year ago or so. Brilliant. And explains CA’s tax/spend problems, in terms of venture socialism of a technocratic nature.

While not specifically addressing the point of this posting, it could contain a grain of truth in the outcomes of such a demographic group in the Valley. One could look at the IT field alone (not H1B programmers from SE Asia) to find the “racism” selection in re: blacks. Suppositional- perhaps.


30 posted on 07/31/2013 12:00:04 PM PDT by John S Mosby (Sic Semper Tyrannis)
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To: nickcarraway
"Those who are African American tend to be African..."

What a drippingly pc statement. So even blacks from other countries are now "African-American"??

Good grief.

I've got black relatives in San Jose. My dad moved there after divorcing my mom in 1967. Later, two of my brothers moved there from SoCal in the early 70's, and both went to work for Hewlett-Packard. Those jobs wound up becoming careers for both of them.

One brother was eased out due to restructuring or downsizing about ten years ago. My other brother retired from there at 55 last year.

My brother who retired from Hewlett-Packard has five kids, three of whom have moved to distant cities to find homes and raise families. San Jose real estate is just too expensive for young couples.

My other brother relocated to Sacramento about a year after being eased out of his job.

31 posted on 07/31/2013 12:00:39 PM PDT by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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To: nickcarraway

Maybe it’s because that’s the only group that is so focused on its identity. Most White, Asian or Latino kids going to college don’t care about the nos. of other Whites, Asians or Latinos on campus. Blacks do and then go enroll at ‘historically black colleges’. More than 1/2 a century after Rosa Parks secured for black people the right to sit wherever they pleased, they’re still *choosing* to sit with their own at the back of the bus. I don’t think any of us should bother to take that horse to water any more.


32 posted on 07/31/2013 12:00:51 PM PDT by definitelynotaliberal
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To: nickcarraway

It is called the free market. Silicon valley also has the money to insulate itself from liberalism. The money there will not tolerate diversity for diversity’s sake.


33 posted on 07/31/2013 12:00:56 PM PDT by Organic Panic
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To: nickcarraway

It is called the free market. Silicon valley also has the money to insulate itself from liberalism. The money there will not tolerate diversity for diversity’s sake.


34 posted on 07/31/2013 12:01:09 PM PDT by Organic Panic
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To: nickcarraway
"I was hoping there were going to be more black people here, because in Clearlake there were like five black people," Speight says.

And she's right about Clear Lake having so few blacks... and that's when they're on their best behavior... there are no gangs of homies hanging out on street corners looking for trouble. The negative influences will be minimal at most.

35 posted on 07/31/2013 12:01:58 PM PDT by ScottinVA (If you don't care about Antonio Santiago, sure as hell don't whine about Trayvon Martin.)
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To: jennychase
And Richmond, They were pushed out from East Palo Alto by liberals.

When I last visited East Palo Alto in 1998, it was definitely an underclass community. Has it been gentrified?

36 posted on 07/31/2013 12:04:39 PM PDT by Fiji Hill
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To: nickcarraway
hey= people working Oakland, Union City Fremont and Milpitas were legal Philipino/as, Vietnamese,Mung, etc. and illegal Mexicans who were hired by the Asian electronics corporations to work at lower wages and even under the table...

.--- only Richmond had large black electronics work forces and they had to compete with illegal workers from Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador at lower wages than black Americans etc for the same jobs; hardly any of those companies had any blacks in sales or management neither, been there done that.

The Sales forces in Fremont etc. and management were also shipped from Taiwan and China under work visas thus displacing American workers,

One Taiwanese company, Everex, had 300 employees, mostly legal Philipinos/as and only 3 Americans, one black, out of an office staff of 30. all rest were Chinese.. Everybody here knows that.

I worked electronics for 30 years in Milpitas., Union City, Santa Clara, etc., and Fremont.

37 posted on 07/31/2013 12:06:36 PM PDT by bunkerhill7 (("The Second Amendment has no limits on firepower"-NY State Senator Kathleen A. Marchione.))
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To: nickcarraway

A). There is no shortage of dark-skinned people in Silicon Valley. If you seek to explain the lack of people of African descent there on “racism,” why does this not apply to people of Indian descent?

B). The contempt for learning in inner-city culture is not discussed at all, as usual.


38 posted on 07/31/2013 12:07:48 PM PDT by denydenydeny (Admiration of absolute government is proportionate to the contempt one has for others.-Tocqueville)
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To: nickcarraway

Penny Speight spent much of her childhood trying to find a place to fit in.

I think I’m going to cry. This is SO sad...


39 posted on 07/31/2013 12:08:53 PM PDT by Altura Ct.
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To: nickcarraway

Why is this even a point of discussion? Why are so many people concerned about the American Negro? Liberals treat them like pets, to be fussed over.


40 posted on 07/31/2013 12:10:52 PM PDT by Cowboy Bob (Democrats: Robbing Peter to buy Paul's vote.)
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