I live in a tech Mecca. People come from all over the world to live and work for tech companies in my region. However, places like Twitter, Google, Facebook, etc., do not hire Black Americans to cash in and cash out at these smoke-and-mirrors locations. They would rather support nonprofits that “help” you (because, of course, you can’t help yourself) instead of actually employing Black Americans.
I call tech companies smoke-and-mirrors because the idea of a tech company is very, very fickle. Basically, funders decide the type of people they want to invest in and provide start-up capital. Rarely, do these companies turn a profit and they end up coasting off of the public’s lack of understanding of what they actually provide. Uber had yet to turn a profit as of 3/2020, and at that time, they had to reveal their smoke-and-mirrors by laying off lots of people. Munchery never turned a profit, yet the CEO was able to get a million dollar severance package and stiffed (aka did not pay) local businesses when they had to go out of business because their model was simply unsustainable. But who cares about sustainability when you can float capital to your own kind and fool the general public into thinking your company is actually doing something while you play around in the “office”?
In my experience, I keep hearing that hardly no Black people work at these companies. Why? What I have heard is that Black Americans need more training in tech; we have to study hard and network to put themselves into positions where they will be considered for these positions. Wrong!
At last count, Google’s workforce was only about 20% tech-based. Meaning they have other job they could hire these “tech-less” Black people for: Human Resources, finance, marketing, product management, design, UX/UI design, etc. However, the bottom line is they do not want to hire Black Americans for a myriad of reasons: including they do not want to upset their culture, they are innately racists, they just don’t care…
I have interfaced with people that work at tech companies; they are not that smart, even technologocally-speaking. They are simply white and asian (sub-continent Indians included). They want peaceful workplaces and work spaces without your Black face in the mix. It makes them uncomfortable and because they control the hiring, they simply do not hire you, whatever your skill level.
They want to work with, and hire, people they want to hang out with and be around (non-Black American men and women). They want to hire the women they want to marry and date (white and asian women). They want to not have to deal with you and your Black issues. Bottomline is, they don’t want you around, and they attempt to pretend it is because you are not qualified. This is simply not true. It is also a very simple situation. People wish to complexify it; but white supremacy is simple to understand.
Additionally, I think the biggest part of what people miss is that America is a white supremacist playground. White supremacy thrives in spaces where they can officially hide from you (like the “tech” industry) , as a Black-faced person. The tech secret is that they don’t do much behind those closed doors because the people that are giving them money and selling their product to, don’t know shit about technology. So the next time you feel inadequately overlooked for a job in the tech world, or any other field, simply know: your skin color is the only issue, not your skill level.