Posted on 03/27/2014 10:01:29 AM PDT by null and void
Edited on 03/27/2014 12:25:29 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
Civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson led a delegation to the Hewlett-Packard annual shareholders meeting on March 19, 2014, to bring attention to Silicon Valley's poor record of including blacks and Latinos in hiring, board appointments and startup funding. Jackson's strategy borrows from the traditional civil rights era playbook of shaming companies to prod them into transformation. Now, he is bringing it to the age of social media and a booming tech industry known for its disruptive innovation.
"We're talking about a sector that responds to future trends," says Ronald C. Parker, president and CEO of the Executive Leadership Council, a group of current and former African-American Fortune 500 executives who work to increase diversity at the top levels of American business. "He's speaking at one organization. I'm sure the people at Hewlett-Packard have and will continue to put some focus on it. Whether it will accelerate is to be seen. But it's a start."
Earl "Butch" Graves Jr., president and CEO of Black Enterprise magazine, says Jackson is shining a light on the fact that technology companies don't come close to hiring or spending what is commensurate with the demographics of their customers.
"Hopefully, what Rev. Jackson is doing will bring attention to the 800-pound gorilla in the room that nobody wants to talk about. It's high time that gets addressed," Graves says.
It's widely recognized that the tech industry lacks diversity: About one in 14 tech workers is black or Latino both in Silicon Valley and nationally. Blacks and Hispanics make up 13.1 and 16.9 percent of the U.S. population, respectively, according to the most recent census data.
"Technology is supposed to be about inclusion, but sadly, patterns of exclusion remains the order of the day," Jackson wrote in a letter released March 17 to Apple, Twitter, Facebook, Hewlett-Packard, Google and others.
Jackson said March 18 that he isn't singling HP out, he's just using the company's annual meeting to highlight the broader issue.
"This is not exclusive to Hewlett-Packard," he said.
As recently as 2011, Allstate, in alliance with Jackson's RainbowPUSH organization, recognized HP for its commitment to diversity.
"While we certainly agree that diversity is an important issue in corporate America, we're puzzled by Rev. Jackson's sudden interest in HP," said HP executive vice president Henry Gomez in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press. "Today, HP is the largest company in the world with both a female CEO and CFO and nearly half of our leadership team and Board of Directors are women and minorities. Additionally, nearly 50 years ago, HP established the first Minority Business Program in the United States."
Gomez also points out that in 2013, HP spent nearly $1 billion with almost 500 minority business enterprises in the U.S. and an additional $500 million with businesses owned by women.
"We look forward to seeing Rev. Jackson at our shareholder meeting," Gomez says.
Apple and Google declined to comment on Jackson's grievances. Facebook and Twitter didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
Of course, the technology industry isn't without a handful of high-profile black executives. Microsoft named John Thompson, an African-American, as chairman of its board last month after he led a search that culminated in the appointment of Satya Nadella as the software maker's new CEO. Thompson, the former CEO of security software maker Symantec, joined Microsoft's board in 2012.
Excerpt, read more at scientificcomputing.com
Exactly. the sick part is they do go after the NBA and NFL, for not enough coaches and executives all while ignoring the blatant way-over-representation on the playing field.
Next Up:
Jesse protests snow being 100% white. Insists it should be dyed to match the racial makeup of individual Congressional Districts.
-PJ
“That’s why so many people from India excel in IT”
Eh, not so fast. Most are very adapt at theory but when challenged to produce real-world solutions the projects usually are over designed and overly complicated trying to implement “book smarts” and need to be re-designed or scrapped altogether after months/years of work. Only after a good exposure to proper US techniques does their stuff work.
Yep. That's why "they" tried to get "black math" and "feminist math" accepted as recognized practices and disciplines to be able to recruit more members of those demos in to the technical disciplines.
Spent 30 years in IT. I managed 30 people in my section. Not one of them was black. Not one. Does that make me a racist? Nope.
In those 30 years I never once had a black applicant for any position - never. Contrary to Affirmative Action, it’s a field in which you have to produce. You don’t just hire someone in order to meet racial quotas, they have to have game.
So, Jesse, my man, how could I have hired a diversity-person when no such person presented as a potential candidate? I’m at a loss as to how I do that. Were I to go out and forcibly herd in diversity candidates Jesse would have showed up to protest my trampling of their minority rights.
Logic escapes these people.
We always joked about how it was because it took brains to do IT work. Just sayin'...
I’ve got my tin foil hat on. Weren’t there stories this past week on “internet access as a right” and “ObamaCare numbers aren’t good because people are too stupid to use the BHO care website”?
I hope T.J. Rogers jumps in this little fray. Jackson tried this with Cypress Semiconductor 10 or 15 years ago and Rogers slapped Jesse down, in the press and on TV, and called him out for what he is, a shakedown artist.
Jesse, Jesse, Jesse,
Neither you, nor any of your sub-IQ minions, could qualify to clean the toilets at Apple.
However, Google may have room for you ...to help design one of their politically correct laughable daily logos.
Oh, I have the pleasure of knowing a number of African-American STEM workers...all of whom have the very well deserved term “Dr” preceeding their names.
How about the discrimination at some firms against workers older than 35?
Good idea. Here's more. The CEO could show Jesse Jackoff ALL the misspelled applications and resumes received from "his people". Show him the pre-hire drug test results. Show him the absentee and efficiency reports. Etc. Etc.
I know.. I know... that'd be racist.
Alternate headline...
“Jessie Jackass runs headlong into the Bell-curve”
Are you suggesting that Democrats are hypocrits because from one side of their mouth they say that people are too stupid to use the computer and internet, and from the other side of their mouth they say that not enough minorities are hired into IT?
-PJ
That statistic doesn't equate to 13.1 & 16.9 percent that are qualified for tech positions.
I'll bet these tech companies already hire every qualified minority that can along with the required diversity training for their White employees.
I wish I had seen that. TJ does not suffer fools lightly, and his neurons fire off at an amazing speed.
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