[toddmo]

In nine years I've worked with about 100 computer programmers, 120 technical support staff and 50 system administrator-type positions. Only one support engineer was African American. This lack of diversity bothers me, because I know that computer programming is so fun and cool. I'm tired of the lack of diversity in my field. I want to help this part of the economy be diverse as well, just like in the Microsoft commercial. But first I need to know why this is. What is keeping any person who is smart and drawn to computers from entering the market?

User Detail :  

Name : toddmo, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 36, City : Dallas, State : TX Country : United States, Occupation : Computer Programmer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Antoine]

(A SIDE STORY) At 7 or 8 year old I was banded from some of my white friends houses because I would steal things and bring them home to my family... like a cordless phone once, and a digital alarm clock or what ever. It was really an innocent attempt to even things out. I stopped once my one friend's parent took the time to tell me that she really liked me, but was having trouble trusting me. I could feel her sincerity. She wanted to find a way to have me continue to spend time at her house without tempting me to steal from the change dish in the living room. She asked me if it would be better if she'd put the dish somewhere else. I told her not to and that I wouldn't do it anymore and I didn't. I felt really valued by her and so stopped taking things. But I never, I guess, resolved why the economic/affluent disparity existed. This woman saved me from believing that I was a thief, because I was beginning to believe this. Other parents told their children that I could not come into their houses anymore because I was a thief. I certainly didn't feel like a thief, or rather, someone who shouldn't be trusted. She helped me to see that I was trust worthy, despite what others parents said. This family moved away when I was eleven and I didn't spend any more time with them. When I was 16, her son, my friend, died from complications with cancer. I never knew. By the time I was 18, only one or two white families lived in the neighborhood where I grew up. The others moved away. And with them went good law enforcement, public park restoration, community programs and exposure to computers. In came, crack cocaine and some other things which a difficult to talk about. I didn't mean for this to be so long.

User Detail :  

Name : Antoine, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Race : Black/African American, Religion : New Age/Metaphysical, Age : 30, City : Seattle, State : WA Country : United States, Occupation : Data Entry Clerk, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower class, 

[Antoine]

When I was growing up in Baltimore, no black family in my neighborhood owned a computer. However, most of my white friends' families had computers. (It seemed I was the only kid among my black peers willing to withstand the ostracism that came from spending time with white kids ... even in their homes.)

I don't think I let a Christmas or birthday go by where I did not ask for a computer, but I eventually learned that we simply could not afford one. Any time I spent using a computer was when I was at my friends' homes. At some point, a white colleague of my grandmother's gave her a used Texas Instruments computer to give to me. I spent hours writing code for simple graphic patterns and stuff. Eventually I wanted a better one... an IBM, like my white friends had. I also remember wanting books, disks and cartridges for the Texas Instruments computer, but, of course, no one could afford them for me.

I love computers. As an adult, I've had some low-end database management jobs, but I like computer graphics and design more. Many of the friends I grew up with have really nice jobs in the programming industry now. One guy is making more than $100,000 working for the State Department. They are all self-taught. Right now I'm making about $25,000 basically pushing paper and entering data into databases. Sometimes I think, 'Man if I just had my own (real) computer when I was a kid..." Who knows? When I was a kid I thought, 'Man, if only I could be adopted by a white family.' That's actually what I thought.

I think I will have to take classes to catch up with my white peers who I grew up with. I just don't have the time I'd like to devote to teaching myself. And I can't really afford the classes. I have to note that I still feel hurt, anger and resentment from when I was a kid. Once I realized the economic disparity between my family and other black families and the families of the white kids I knew. It's just something I feel, but I don't know that anyone in particular deserves it.

User Detail :  

Name : Antoine, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Race : Black/African American, Religion : New Age/Metaphysical, Age : 30, City : Seattle, State : WA Country : United States, Occupation : Data Entry Clerk, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower class, 

[Jan C.]

Where I'm from there are a lot of black people in that field. Perhaps it's because statistically the number of blacks in computer technology in Texas dwindles to nothing by the time you get past getting into a good school and then discrimination when getting a job. If you can get me and a few friends of mine cushy jobs somewhere, we won't turn them down! Also, a lot of companies recruit from Historically Black College and Universities Check them out.

User Detail :  

Name : Jan C., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Religion : Christian Scientist, Age : 21, City : Kingston, State : NA Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[ED25451]

There are a thousand reasons why there aren't many black programmers, but you sound like someone who'd like to see that change. Why not get with a high school or college in your area and see if you can come up with some ideas to remedy the lack that you've observed?

User Detail :  

Name : ED25451, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 46, City : Kansas City, State : MO Country : United States, 

[Serene28044]

One reason for the lack of diversity is perhaps the lack of access to computers in the homes and schools, as well as a lack of a serious connection being made between computers and Nintendo/Game Boy, etc. Funny, these homes will lack computer equipment, but almost everyone has a gaming system. Making the connection with designing the games to production gets left out in the advertisment.

If you are truly interested in bringing more diversity into your field, it would be great if you and a few of your collegues contacted local schools in areas where computers are not the 'norm' and make presentations for kids, get them interested early. Design a training program and present it. Just showing how fun and cool computer programming is, and showing an interest in kids, is usually a good way to get them involved.

User Detail :  

Name : Serene28044, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 44, City : Chandler, State : AZ Country : United States, Occupation : Self Employed Administrative, Education level : Technical School, Social class : Middle class, 

[JerryS]

I have no answer, but I know this same issue bothered my former employer enormously. They kept trying to find out why the company was viewed as 'unfriendly' to African Americans. We certainly had plenty of Latinos and Indians. Most of us weren't really programmers, but we were in the IT industry as vendors and support staff. I would say that the same applied to our customers.

User Detail :  

Name : JerryS, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 52, City : New Britain, State : CT Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[ED25445]

To Antoine: Brother, MAKE the time to learn! Go to your local library, and check out one (or more) of those 'teach yourself' computer books (they come in every subject). Then, set aside a certain amount of time each day, and instead of watching T.V. or whatever, sit down and learn! Many books include free software, and most computer subjects have user groups where you can get your questions answered (for free). Don't let the fact that some other folks had it easier than you stand in your way. Whatever they know, you can know, too.

User Detail :  

Name : ED25445, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 46, City : Kansas City, State : MO Country : United States, 

[Subhash-Jain]

How can lack of computers explian the large no. of Indians coming from India and filling up the computer software industry. If you are not aware the per capita income in India is far less than that of an African American. Many in India or China or Russia do not afford computers but they do very well in the computer industry. I think the problem is very few black families are meritious oriented in nature unlike us Asians who lend to put a lot of stress on education. I mean there are more Asians in universities inspite of their lower numbers in the population and many quotas for both Blacks and Hispanics. Besides the education provided in the schools in America are of substandard level compared to the European nations or the Asian nations. Even third world nations like India and Sri Lanka have better and more stricter education systems than the U.S.A. I think African American families should start giving a greater stress on education and meritious achievements and also provide more family support to the kids like we Indians and other Asians do.

User Detail :  

Name : Subhash-Jain, Gender : M, Race : South Asian, Religion : Jainism, Age : 26, City : LA, State : CA Country : United States, Education level : Technical School, 

[Eric25203]

seem to pick up enough HTML, and periodically Java one girl asked me if I was proud of her regarding the design of her blackplanet homepage. Any other language and script is pretty much lost.

User Detail :  

Name : Eric25203, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 26, City : Kansas City, State : MO Country : United States, Occupation : Systems Administrator, Education level : 2 Years of College, 

[JR21133]

You've only ran across one black person in the computer field in nine years?? That's interesting. Most of the blacks I know who have carved out the 'American dream' (house in the burbs, two cars, two kids, the yearly vacation, etc.) achieved that in the computer field, including myself. I've been in the field almost nine years myself, at two other companies before coming to my current company. The two previous companies each had several blacks on the technical teams. I must also note that both companies were in cities with prominent historically black colleges. The team I'm on now has four other blacks on it. I haven't been to Dallas, but could it have something to do with the racial make-up of the area? I hear that it's pretty upscale and mostly white. You'd probably have a different perception if you worked in Atlanta or the DC Metro area.

User Detail :  

Name : JR21133, Gender : M, Race : Black/African American, Age : 33, City : Franklin, State : VA Country : United States, Occupation : Systems Analyst, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Cal24906]

Why would you care what color your computer programer is? Wouldn't you be more concerned with how competent they are? Why is it that we expect that every profession should reflect the racial, ethnic, and sexual diversity of the general population? Could it be that some groups just gravitate to certain jobs and avoid others? This is not a politically correct thought because it suggests that there might be differences in attitude, skills, and desires among the various groups. Politically correct thinking tells us that we are all the same and that the only reason there is not diversity is because of illegal discrimination. I beg to differ. Some ethnic,racial, or gender groups just seem to have an affinity for certain jobs. I look around my job and I see that half the mechanical engineers are of Asian decent and nearly all of the microwave engineers are Asian. I don't think that our executives stacked the deck against white engineers (or anyone else). They just hired the best available talent and ended up with a mostly Asian workforce. I imagine the same thing happened in the NBA. The team owners wanted to win and they hired the best players and over the years the league became mostly black. they did not discrimate against white players, they discriminated in favor of skilled players. Maybe the reason that there are not more black programmers is that not very many black people want to be programmers.

User Detail :  

Name : Cal24906, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 45, City : Lakewood, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Jt]

there out there... i am one. We just get hired by lower paying companies or as a last resort...

User Detail :  

Name : Jt, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 33, City : long beach, State : CA Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

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