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Comment by maxklein | Hacker News Reader

The "clearly" comes out of logic. If you assume that my "result" statement is correct, then the reason would also have to be correct.

Do you think African American students, 15 years ago, were spending time studying how to use computers? I think it's rather likely because:

- I've never heard of this

- Such playing-with-computers is something that was confined to the somewhat richer and educated people in American society, which the african-americans were not, 15 years ago.

I doubt that my audience thinks the exact way I do, and I doubt I have any bias that needs to be confirmed.

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Do you think African American students, 15 years ago, were spending time studying how to use computers? I've never heard of this

I was, as were all of the other black computer science students who graduated with me at MIT. Do we get to question your bias now?

I'm not talking of an individual, I'm speaking of a general trend. And by the way, "graduating from MIT" means nothing to me. I went to a university, you did too, the university you went to does not mean much (to me).

And by the way, "graduating from MIT" means nothing to me. I went to a university, you did too, the university you went to does not mean much (to me).

Good for you.

When you say you've "never heard of" black people learning how to use computers, it behooves me to refute you with the fact that not only are there are plenty of black people who know how to use computers, but there are plenty of black people graduating from the best computer science programs in the world.

Graduating from MIT don't mean you would be beneficial to starting a tech company

Graduating from MIT don't mean you would be beneficial to starting a tech company

OK, now you're grasping at straws.

First it was that there are no black hackers because black people didn't put in the work to learn how to use computers. Now you're claiming that black hackers from good schools may just not be the kind of hackers beneficial to starting a tech company.

When you're reduced to spouting really bad versions of No True Scotsman, you should probably move on. It's just embarrassing now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman

You misunderstand. I am not impressed by your school. I'd be impressed by your achievements

If you think this is about me, you're the one misunderstanding.

So do you disagree that African Americans are underrepresented in tech？

African Americans are underrepresented in tech, but far more underrepresented in accelerators and VC portfolios.

I learned how to code when I was 6. Anomalous, yes, but I'm questioning that one. ;)

>Such playing-with-computers is something that was confined to the somewhat richer and educated people in American society, which the african-americans were not, 15 years ago.

That explains the "many african-americans and many women were not doing the steps needed to be talented enough to be able to make it big now" part of your sentence. It does not explain the "the most likely reason they did not do that, is probably because it just did not occur to them" part of your sentence. Hence the request from raganwald and myself for a source to back this up.

I assume that people are influenced by the media they watch. African American media 15 years ago had no computer scientists featured

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