Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

> I have to immediately force myself to be twice as charming, friendly, witty, and intelligent sounding as the equivalent white or Asian person just to be taken seriously.

I'm of North African descent, born and raised in france and this passage really hit home.

> I don't really know that there's any solution to this, it's just something we have to live with.

Unfortunately there isn't. I don't know much about the American social structure and context, but over here, colonialist views are very much embedded into the collective subconscious, leading to sometimes very despicable behaviour (even though it may not be malicious).

The thing I find the most difficult is to suppress the urge of turning this into a "Us vs Them" thing because reality is much more complex than what we perceive but living with an inner "respectability police officer" can become extremely tiring. All of this to say that I choose to ignore the noise and focus on the positive. At the end of the day, we live in an era where this is how the game is played and we've been dealt a bad hand. I accept it and will do everything I can to help create a world where my children don't have to go through the same things as me.

I will end my comment with a piece of actionable advice anybody in a similar position might benefit from: Make yourself visible. I say this because a lot of the younger kids in my racial group (north west/west africa) don't even consider this industry as a viable career option even though they may have an interest or a strong ability. They just dismiss the possibility entirely. This doesn't mean we have to force our kids to become SWDs/POs/PMs/<insert tech job du jour>s but making yourself visible (via youtube videos, conference talks, going to local schools to introduce your job ...) can have a massive impact in having those kids think "Hey he/she looks like me, maybe I can follow a similar path".

EDIT: added last paragraph




"I don't know much about the American social structure and context, but over here, colonialist views are very much embedded into the collective subconscious, leading to sometimes very despicable behaviour (even though it may not be malicious)."

That pretty well describes the majority of American culture on this issue, as I understand it. There are those who are malicious, but I don't think they are much larger a minority than anywhere else.


Even if it's someone in the industry ? In the same workplace ? I really don't feel that "Us vs them"...

I probably share much more with a Moroccan software engineer than I do with a local white blue collar worker.

Although with the engineers that studied in North africa (which we have a lot of in software), I feel closer to the kind that embraced french lifestyle and obviously plan on aging here, than those who seem to regret their homeland and stick to its traditions and look like they're just cashing in.

But I get it. I'd probably look the same if I had to go live in the US.


I think one model, among other efforts, would be thr BET model. Form SW orgs servjng enterprises (much opportunity) and grow organically. As they earn a reputation other SW dev orgs will begin poaching devs to strengthen their orgs and also help to bring more black Americans into tech in general. Of course that’s not the only path to seek, but it’s one that’s worked for other underrepresrnted populations.


Algerian or Moroccan? Typically North Africans are said to be White, but it never really feels like that when your'e surrounded by whites...and are the odd sheep in the group.


[flagged]


I imagine most north africans' interactions with you have been overwhelming negative for them as well. Perhaps you need to prove to them that you're not an ass before the situation can improve.


[flagged]


Ah yes, the old issue of demographics.


Your comment is nothing but racism. The same sort of thing could be said about many minority groups. The point is to treat the individual fairly.


Thanks for illustrating my point.


We banned that account for trolling.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: