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Health & Fitness

Jackson Questions Silicon Valley Diversity

"Silicon Valley and the tech industry must transform itself to mirror the America it depends upon for talent and customers."

Who couldn’t get behind such a sage proclamation? And the fact that it was uttered by the Rev. Jesse Jackson is no less significant. What is noteworthy, however is that he said it in prelude to his call for Silicon Valley to hire more Blacks and Latinos/Hispanics.

Jackson was at HP's annual stockholders meeting when he said he wanted to address "the need to open up a new era of growth and inclusion of African Americans and people of color in Silicon Valley's technology industry." 

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One would expect nothing less from a visit from Jackson… but it’s the latter part of that statement that caught my attention. We’re talking about the ubiquitous ‘Silicon Valley,’ where hiring and promotions are based on brain power and business acumen – doesn’t matter what color you are.

But since Jackson called it out, just who are the 'persons of color' that are so lacking in Silicon Valley? Is it the stereotypically perceived Mexican and Asian (& White) then everyone else? Far from it.

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It’s Mexican, African American, Puerto Rican, Native American, Cuban, Chinese, Vietnamese, Eritrea, Tongan, Indian, Filipino, Saudi Arabian, Korean, Japanese, Algerian, Cambodian, Pakistani, Thai, Laotian, Burmese, Indonesian, Bangladeshi), Samoan, Guamanian,  Native Hawaiian and  87,248 folks from two or more races.

Fact is, on any given day, Santa Clara County will swap places with San Mateo County or San Francisco as the most diverse population in the nation.

My point is I do give Jackson major credit for being upfront about his mission and pressure tactics: Silicon Valley needs to (READ: had better) hire more Blacks and Mexicans… but I downgrade his sincerity as he always tacks on some appropriately amorphous PC phrase (such as “…and people of color…”). If I was a member of any one of the previously noted races of color who work in Silicon Valley, I might want to write Jackson and straighten things out. Just sayin’

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Also have to give State Senator Jerry Hill a nod for expanding an existing bill of his (SB 831) to require that nonprofits disclose the names of their donors to the state Fair Political Practices Commission and the public when those nonprofit groups treat lawmakers to trips.

And while it’s a bold move, sadly because SB 831 changes the CA Political Reform Act and therefore, needs to be OK’d by a 2/3-vote (even despite Jerry’s juice within the party and the Capitol), the Donkeys probably won’t achieve it on this bill.

Most interesting (though hardly surprising) is the ‘non-profits’ the media keeps referring to are, oh, the California Independent Voter Project. It’s a good government group funded by the likes of SoCal Edison, Eli Lilly & Co., PG&E, Chevron, and big labor (CA state prison guards union, for example).

Of course, nowhere in any of the print, broadcast or electronic press are special interests/non-profits like environmental organizations, growth-control groups, or any other entity remotely smacking of liberal causes or the fringe folks they represent mentioned... Alert the media! (Oh wait… they already know.) 

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