I think we are in need of an open discussion on redefining "diversity".
Race is not a good metric for diversity. Nationality completely trumps it.
People of the same nationality with the same primary language have much more in common with each other. You can actually see this dynamic play out at work where people hang out with others from the same nationality. Americans hang out with Americans, Mandarin Chinese hang out with Mandarin Chinese, Indians with other Indians (don't know enough about Indian culture to split this group up further), Germans with Germans, etc.
With this metric, tech is one of the most diverse fields in the world.
Seen through this new point of view, the racial categories are very shortsighted. The difference between Indian and Chinese (or even Chinese and Korean) cultures is immense, yet they are assigned as part of the same category. African Americans have their own category, yet they are culturally and linguistically(same native language) very similar to white Americans.
Now let's move onto the controversial "disadvantages" discussion.
African Americans generally have family whose native language is English and who understand American culture and can impart these skills and knowledge to their children. They have the language and cultural knowledge to fight for their interests and a powerful organization (NCAAP) to back them up. With these advantages, African Americans are basically seen as honorary Americans similar to white Americans. These advantages even put them in a better position than white immigrants (and sometimes their American born children who have a harder time assimilating).
With these advantages and affirmative action based advantages(educational programs, scholarships, diversity internships and hiring, easy access to colleges/universities from affirmative action[works out to something like +150/2400 SAT and +0.2 GPA which is huge when competing in top percentiles]) middle class and upper middle class African Americans are very privileged.
Edit:
And on disadvantages in the workplace.
Americans are the largest group and the language spoken is English, so Americans (of any race) and native English speakers are privileged.
It's kind of wild you think the NAACP is this huge factor tipping the scales. I'd guess that's a product of consuming alt-right news, which tends to massively amplify organizations and figures within the black community that can be smeared as corrupt, but who knows.
Every study I've read relating to economic mobility points to having economic leverage in the first place as the greatest factor. Blacks have a disproportionately low share of wealth ownership in America (can't cite this atm), which combined with systematic biases puts them at a pretty significant disadvantage. Speaking English isn't enough to counteract that.
You make some interesting points re: how to categorize diversity, but it sounds like you're just moving the goalposts.
> African Americans generally have family whose native language is English and who understand American culture and can impart these skills and knowledge to their children. They have the language and cultural knowledge to fight for their interests and a powerful organization (NCAAP) to back them up. With these advantages, African Americans are basically seen as honorary Americans similar to white Americans.
This is laughably inaccurate. Try again after you've met and spoken with at least _several_ African American families from each class stratification, education level, and region of the country.
This doesn't make any sense. It ignores so much, including obvious things like gender (white women from the US are still disadvantaged in our field, despite having the same language, ethnicity, and nationality of the most privileged class).
It seems like you wrote a reactionary comment, rather than a well thought through one.
African Americans are very culturally different than white Americans. The fact that people just assume that they are the same is one of the reasons that African Americans are in the situations that they are in and get the wrap that they do. Also, the assertion that the NAACP is powerful enough to put African Americans on equal footing with white Americans is just wrong.
Race is not a good metric for diversity. Nationality completely trumps it.
People of the same nationality with the same primary language have much more in common with each other. You can actually see this dynamic play out at work where people hang out with others from the same nationality. Americans hang out with Americans, Mandarin Chinese hang out with Mandarin Chinese, Indians with other Indians (don't know enough about Indian culture to split this group up further), Germans with Germans, etc.
Cultural_Difference(random_nationality1, random_nationality2) > Cultural_Difference(same_nationality_different_race1, same_nationality_different_race2)
With this metric, tech is one of the most diverse fields in the world.
Seen through this new point of view, the racial categories are very shortsighted. The difference between Indian and Chinese (or even Chinese and Korean) cultures is immense, yet they are assigned as part of the same category. African Americans have their own category, yet they are culturally and linguistically(same native language) very similar to white Americans.
Now let's move onto the controversial "disadvantages" discussion.
African Americans generally have family whose native language is English and who understand American culture and can impart these skills and knowledge to their children. They have the language and cultural knowledge to fight for their interests and a powerful organization (NCAAP) to back them up. With these advantages, African Americans are basically seen as honorary Americans similar to white Americans. These advantages even put them in a better position than white immigrants (and sometimes their American born children who have a harder time assimilating).
With these advantages and affirmative action based advantages(educational programs, scholarships, diversity internships and hiring, easy access to colleges/universities from affirmative action[works out to something like +150/2400 SAT and +0.2 GPA which is huge when competing in top percentiles]) middle class and upper middle class African Americans are very privileged.
Edit:
And on disadvantages in the workplace.
Americans are the largest group and the language spoken is English, so Americans (of any race) and native English speakers are privileged.