Whitewalls 6 | A lingering thought...
Using a project I've been working on to express something that's bothered me for years. Whenever I join the team of a tech company or work with a client in the tech space I'm the only black person, and often, person of color on the team.
It's strange because I often have to cater to a majority white, male audience while designing products that affect the lives of millions of people who don't fall into that category. It's an incredibly uncomfortable situation to feel like you have to make the people you work with comfortable with your presence and your ideas, which often don't mirror theirs.
Black people make up 12.7% of the population. That's over 37 million Americans who only represent 2% of the working tech crowd. Likely less now considering recent/current events. Hispanic and Latino Americans make up 17.8% of the population. That's nearly 60 million Americans. Tech can and needs to do better with representation. We overwhelmingly use your products and should have more say in how they're made. I often feel like I'm designing the same things for the same people over and over and over again.
Here are some things you can do:
- Bring on more black co-founders and executives. We have great ideas and are often culturally diverse enough to speak to a wide audience.
- Hire more black developers and designers. We often seek to do things a little differently which is something the industry needs right now.
- Find ways to search for talent outside of your usual circles. Most of my white colleagues and friends don't know any black people except for me and they tend to hire through connections.
- Invest in black ideas. Give us the opportunity to fail upwards as well. Black men and women are usually closer to the problems that affect everyday people but are under-resourced and underfunded when it comes to making those ideas a reality.
- Make an effort. Don't just donate to charities and organizations. Actively try to make your life a more diverse experience. We can only eliminate racism and prejudice through exposure to one another.
**FYI, the numbers I used up top might be a little old. Regardless, I doubt they're any more favorable today. I'm always happy to talk more about this if anyone's interested.**
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