Economics

Jesse Jackson keeps pressure on Silicon Valley to diversify

Published

9 years ago

May 26, 2015

By Michael Liedtke, AP Technology Writer

Jesse Jackson renewed his call earlier this month for the technology industry to make workforce diversity as high a priority as product innovation.

The civil rights leader spoke at a gathering of corporate executives and activists called to address Silicon Valley’s shortage of women, blacks and Hispanics in high-paying jobs.

The San Francisco event underscored Jackson’s intention to use his historic ties to Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement of the 1960s to prod major technology companies change the face of their payrolls.

Harking back to the famous Alabama march led by King in 1965, Jackson told an audience of about 400 people that his crusade for a more inclusive society follows “an unbroken line from Selma to Silicon Valley.”

Jackson also cited recent protests over the deaths and abuses of black men arrested by police officers as a sign of the “despair and disenfranchisement” in communities being torn apart by a widening chasm between affluent and financially strapped households.

It’s a problem that Jackson believes Silicon Valley can help solve by summoning its brainpower and financial muscle to put more minorities and women to work in the technology industry, one of the fastest growing and best-paying parts of the economy. He describes his mission in Silicon Valley as another stage in a “civil rights symphony.”

Jackson’s plea has stuck a chord with Intel Corp., which is spending $300 million to diversify its workforce during the next five years. Intel CEO Brian Krzanich appeared at Wednesday’s summit to announce that $5 million of that money will finance computer science programs in an Oakland, California, school district where roughly two-thirds of the students are black or Hispanic.

A campaign launched last year by Jackson and his Rainbow Push coalition pressured Google, Facebook, Apple and other major Silicon Valley employers into releasing data that showed an abnormally high percentage of white and Asian men in engineering and executive jobs. The disclosures mortified an industry that thinks of itself as a meritocracy, prompting Intel and several companies to pledge to do more to diversify.

Intel already is doing better in the first four months since setting its goal to have a workforce that mirrors the racial and sexual makeup of the overall population by 2020. Krzanich said 41 percent of the employees that Intel has hired so far this year fell into diversity categories that Intel is trying to increase, up from 30 percent last year.

The Santa Clara, California, company also is studying changes in its workforce each week in an effort to get a better grasp on its diversity problem.

“I am not going to fool you. This is hard work,” Krzanich said. “This isn’t rocket science. It’s harder.”

Apple sent one of its African-American executives, Lisa Jackson, to re-iterate its intention to hire more women and minorities because the iPhone maker believes greater diversity will hatch better ideas and products.

“This is about something that is good for business,” she said. “This isn’t work we do for any other reason.”

Jesse Jackson left little doubt that he intends to hold Silicon Valley to its diversity promise.

“Recycled white supremacy is not meritocracy,” he said.

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Oakland Post: Week of October 30 – November 5, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of October 30 – November 5, 2024

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1 day ago

November 1, 2024

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Special Interview: Rep. Barbara Lee Discusses Kamala Harris’ Plan for Black Men

On Oct. 16, California Black Media (CBM) spoke with Harris-Walz campaign surrogate, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA-12), who shared more insights on Harris’ agenda and the importance of securing the Black Male vote. “She has said very clearly that she wants to earn the vote of everyone. And that means earning the vote of Black men,” said Lee of Harris. “She understands the systemic and historic challenges that Black men have. You haven’ t heard of a presidential candidate coming up with a concrete actual plan and policy agenda.” The agenda includes five focus areas based on insights she gleaned from hosting discussions with Black men during her Economic Opportunity Tour.

Published

5 days ago

October 28, 2024

Oakland Post

(File Photo) U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-13-Oakland) chides Justices on the Supreme Court of the United States for voting to strike down Affirmative Action. She is shown here speaking in front of the California Reparations Task Force in Oakland on May 6, 2023. CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey. By Edward Henderson, California Black Media

By Edward Henderson, California Black Media

Last week, the Kamala Harris campaign released its Opportunity Agenda for Black Men.

“She has said very clearly that she wants to earn the vote of everyone. And that means earning the vote of Black men,” said Lee of Harris. “She understands the systemic and historic challenges that Black men have. You haven’ t heard of a presidential candidate coming up with a concrete actual plan and policy agenda.”

The agenda includes five focus areas based on insights she gleaned from hosting discussions with Black men during her Economic Opportunity Tour:

Provide 1 million loans that are fully forgivable to Black entrepreneurs and others disadvantaged groups to start businesses.
Champion education, training, and mentorship programs that help Black men get good-paying jobs in high-demand industries It will also develop more accessible pathways for Black men to become teachers.
Support a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency and other digital assets so Black men who invest in and own these assets are protected.
Launch a National Health Equity Initiative focused on Black men that addresses sickle cell disease, diabetes, mental health, prostate cancer, and other health challenges that disproportionately impact them.
Legalize recreational marijuana and creating opportunities for Black Americans to succeed in this new industry.

“[Vice President Harris] knows that Black men have long felt that too often their voice in our political process has gone unheard and that there is so much untapped ambition and leadership within the Black male community,” the language in the agenda states. “Black men and boys deserve a president who will provide the opportunity to unleash this talent and potential by removing historic barriers to wealth creation, education, employment, earnings, health, and improving the criminal justice system.”

Diving into Harris’ agenda, Lee says, reminded her of her own record of supporting Black men over the years as an elected official. In the 90’s, she established the first California Commission on African American Males through which she pressured the state to address urgent economic, health and social challenges specific to Black men.

“No group of people are a monolithic group of people,” said Lee She’ s not taking any vote for granted. I’ve known her over three decades and I believe she is being herself. She’ s authentic,” Lee added.

Each of the 5 key points addressed in the Harris Campaign’s agenda, Lee says, has additional clauses that can potentially help Black men and their families thrive. This includes lowering rent; up to $25,000 in downpayment help for first time homebuyers; and cutting taxes for Black men in lower-wage jobs by increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit maximum to $1,500.

“I think the messages is one of empowerment for Black men — regardless of whether they’ re a blue-collar worker, if they’ re not working, if they’ re in business, if they’ re an entrepreneur, whatever background or whatever they’re doing or experiencing life. I think the authenticity of their experience can only be articulated through them,” said Lee.