
Hackernews And The ‘dirty’ Black Founder Question - OoTheNigerian
http://oonwoye.com/2011/03/21/hackernews-and-the-dirty-black-founder-question/
======
petercooper
Some people like to base their identity on the intrinsic elements of their
genetics or demographics. Other people prefer to base their identities on
their actions, interests and achievements.

It's merely my hunch that most HN users are in the latter group and are
perhaps turned off by the idea of identifying people primarily by demographic
or genetic factors. This does not invalidate the discussion but is my hunch as
to why many people may have flagged it nonetheless.

Someone in that thread argued that it's naïve _"if you don't believe that
people naturally discriminate for people who look like them."_ _People_ might,
but I'd hope that the smart, usually rational and mostly intellectual crowd
that HN attracts isn't the average joe on the street. Female, male, fat, thin,
black, white, gay, straight and in-between.. I want to work and socialize with
the best people and while I am not blind to the genetic hand you were dealt,
it doesn't figure into my heuristics.

~~~
chittis
Sorry, but if this were true, then wouldn't the post about the lack of female
founders also be similarly flagged?

~~~
bballant
It makes sense that the post on women founders wouldn't be similarly flagged
if the difference is related to comfort level.

Comfort comes from trust and exposure, among other things, and I'd say that
most white men have more relationships with women than with people of color.

The legacy and history of the feminist struggle and the civil rights struggle,
although related, are vastly different. I would be careful equating the two
under any circumstances.

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RiderOfGiraffes
The author writes:

    
    
      From my understanding of how HN operates, there are
      two possibilities to explain this anomaly
    
      * It was moderated by the admins
        (Which I do not believe was the case)
      * It was flagged seriously
        (which I believe was the case)
    

There is another force at play. Items which are text, and not links to
external sites, are penalised. I don't know how severely, or whether this is
enough to explain all of the ranking differential you perceive, but it is very
definite.

Just saying there may be things that were missed.

~~~
noodle
its also my understanding that submissions that are controversial (a lower
upvote to comment ratio) weighted lower.

~~~
duck
See: <http://amix.dk/blog/post/19574>

------
thehodge
"The mutual suspicion has to stop. People like PG Fred Wilson, Scobelizer,
Mike Arrington and other powerhouses in the startup world should feel as
comfortable talking about it as they do, talking about the absence of women in
technology."

\----

I think they avoid that topic as much as they can as well, everyone has a side
to blame and it just gets nasty (I've been on the end / in the middle of this
a few times)

I don't quite get your point here,

"Something happened on Hackernews that made me conclude on what the real issue
is as regards to the absence of black founders."

Okay.. but your point is I'm not sure

Black people don't get covered enough on techcrunch / HN enough?

I don't know about you but I just a startup on its merits not on if the
founder is male/female black/white british/american, You seem to be actively
looking for this information with each post on TC (looking at your
<http://oonwoye.com/2010/04/05/black-founders/>) post

"High profile and connected black founders should endeavour to speak about
this issue. My post last year only got traction after a Retweet from Tristan
Walker."

This could / is also be said about women and any minority, I run a conference
in the UK and the percentage of women that actually apply is minimal let alone
women that fit our speaking criteria.

"The truth is that a vast majority of my tech friends in Europe are white
(obviously) and they are some of the nicest people I have met (The co founder
of my last startup Joel is actually British). They are extremely helpful and I
have NEVER noticed any form of discrimination. i assume it is the case in the
US too. Which is the reason I am a bit confused as to why discussing this
issue is a problem."

I'll admit I have a problem discussing this because its very easy to say the
wrong thing and things get taken the wrong say, I've had the same discussion
with women in technology and things were twisted and any points I came up with
were rebutted with "your an average white male so you don't know" and that
argument gets old pretty quickly when your trying to have a discussion..

------
adlep
Trying to start a controversy where there isn't one. Money $$$$ talks and it
sees no color. The IT people tend to be rational. They are swayed by a good,
well explained idea that has potential - rather than anything else like a race
or gender. So do not expect to be discriminated in the IT world, but at the
same time do not expect that the color of your skin, or gender, or anything
else gets you an advantage. Please, stop blowing smoke. I personally do not
care how many founders are black, white, green, German, Polish, Russian, or
Jewish. This does not concern me. I judge your idea and it's usefulness to my
situation and not anything else.

------
alexsb92
Well I don't know of how many previous black founders were in YC, however, I
know for sure there is at least 1 in the current batch.

I've attended one of the YC dinners only last week, and I saw him there,
though i did not have the opportunity to talk to him.

~~~
btilly
If you read to the bottom of the article you'll find a link to
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2349723> which tells you who that founder
is.

