“Top black lawmakers are paying a visit to Airbnb, Apple, Twitter and other tech giants this week, as they continue their crusade to improve Silicon Valley’s hiring practices and train a new generation of diverse engineers and entrepreneurs,” Tony Romm reports for The Washington Post. “For members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who arrived in the Bay Area on Monday, the tech sector has been too slow to diversify its executive ranks, invest in minority-owned start-ups and assist workers who can’t find jobs in tech hubs, like San Francisco, or afford those cities’ sky-high costs of living.”
“‘We’re letting companies know they must provide greater opportunity to African Americans,’ said Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) in an interview, adding they would ‘expose any company that provides lip service,'” Romm reports. “At Apple, which the CBC visited Monday, about 9 percent of its U.S. workforce is black while 54 percent of it is white, according to its most recent employment report. Still, the iPhone maker has said roughly half of its new hires between July 2016 and July 2017 came from ‘historically underrepresented groups in tech,’ including women and people of color.”
“‘The pace of change is much too slow,’ said Rep. Barbara Lee, a Democratic congresswoman who represents a district not far from Silicon Valley, during an interview,” Romm reports. “Among her constituents, she said she knows ‘many, many cases of African Americans who wanted to break into the workforce here … and never were able to do that.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Note: In a tweet late yesterday, Apple CEO Tim Cook acknowledged the meeting:
It was an honor to host the #CBCTech2020 task force at Apple Park today for a conversation about diversity in tech. Thank you @RepBarbaraLee, @GKButterfield and @RepGregoryMeeks for your leadership. — Apple CEO Tim Cook
It was an honor to host the #CBCTech2020 task force at Apple Park today for a conversation about diversity in tech. Thank you @RepBarbaraLee, @GKButterfield and @RepGregoryMeeks for your leadership. pic.twitter.com/VKBVTq4wrH
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) May 1, 2018
SEE ALSO:
Black lawmakers will visit Silicon Valley next week to talk to Apple about diversity – April 26, 2018
Apple’s VP of Inclusion and Diversity leaving at year’s end – November 16, 2017
Apple diversity chief Denise Young Smith apologizes to staff for statements made at summit – October 14, 2017
Apple’s first ever VP of diversity and inclusion says she focuses on everyone, not just minorities – October 11, 2017
Apple’s new Vice President of Inclusion and Diversity will report directly to CEO Tim Cook – May 24, 2017
Apple’s board has urged shareholders to reject proposal to tie executive compensation to racial diversity quotas – February 27, 2017
Apple Inc. fights shareholders group demand for more diversity – February 15, 2017
Apple touts diversity of recent hires – August 3, 2016
Apple inches toward workforce diversity – January 20, 2016
Diversity report shows Apple’s U.S. workforce still mainly white and male – January 19, 2016
Apple’s Board of Directors says a call for diversity is ‘unduly burdensome and not necessary’ – January 15, 2016
Apple leads Facebook, Intel, Cisco, Google on gender diversity among Bay Area companies – November 17, 2015
Apple’s latest diversity report shows progress – August 13, 2015
Tim Cook is ‘personally involved’ in improving diversity at Apple Inc. – July 14, 2015
Apple donates over $50 million to diversity efforts – March 10, 2015
Apple CEO Tim Cook met privately with Jesse Jackson regarding diversity – December 9, 2014
Apple adds Vice Presidents, more diversity to Executive Leadership Team – August 15, 2014
A message from Apple CEO Tim Cook on diversity – August 12, 2014
Jesse Jackson calls on Obama to scrutinize tech industry’s ‘lack of diversity’ – July 28, 2014
Tim Cook: Apple will release diversity data ‘at some point’ – July 9, 2014
Jesse Jackson targets tech’s lack of diversity; sends letter to Apple, Google, HP, others – March 19, 2014
Apple changes bylaws after facing criticism about lack of diversity on board – January 9, 2014
When is the black caucus going to meet with the NBA and NFL about diversity in those sports, or is it only “diversity” when it comes to blacks?
Right on “Jazz”! Time to go one on one with Joel Embiid! Because coding/engineering/marketing/ aapl products are talents that have direct parallels to dropping 3’s at at 40%+ clip in the NBA.
Diversity is racist
How many whites are in Congressional black Caucus?? Where’s the white caucus? Can’t have that because it would be racist!
The only racists are the ones calling others racists
When Cook hires some Conservative Republican Christians in the C-Suite (could use some new blood that Thinks Different there), then we’ll bother to listen to him when he pontificates about diversity.
Be careful who you are denigrating.
Those identifying themselves as “Christian”:
Are evenly split between Republicans and Democrats
More than 100 million households watch “Christian” TV at
least once a month
Blacks identify themselves as “Christian” at twice the rate
than do whites
By a large majority Black “Christians” identify themselves as
Conservatives
I watch Fundie TV for the giggles; I love to watch rich preachers ask their flock “to give more than you have.” Don’t you? That’s a direct quote from CBN. And I actually saw Benny Hin flub one of his magic tricks: He got his victim to fall prematurely when laying his hand on her forehead. She got up, apologized, and he smiled.
Love to know where your stats come from. Your white liberal butt i am guessing
“they must provide greater opportunity to African Americans.”
Read that; “must provide!”
Later it’s stated those (companies) that don’t (heed to the racist threat) would be exposed. Business leaders will act accordingly, in fear, w/o vocalizing their MO, even thought it will likely have nothing to do with race.
A reminder…some of the Congressional Black Caucus have affinity with Louis Farrakhan, who himself treats all races with fairness, except those called Jews. White people are a little “iffy” too.
This “crusade” is just hypocritical thuggery in nice clothes.
Thomas Sowell:
You’d think the Congressional Black Caucus would be too busy to conduct the usual corporate shakedown business when they’ve got to quickly figure out how to kill Kayne and make it look like an accident before more than three black people start thinking for themselves.
Gee you would think that a discussion of diversity might include black, white, yellow, red, polka dot people for a start then move to non-humanoids where diversity gets really interesting.
Diversity, it’s been part of the living planet for a long long time.
Tim Cook is either a hopelessly deluded Virtue Signaler or he’s a bullshit artist par excellence who just says whatever the biggest pains in the ass of the moment standing before him want to hear in order to shut them up and make them go away so he can continue to luxuriate in giant piles of money.
The barriers facing people of color in this country have lasted all too long. It is every American’s solemn patriotic duty to do whatever it takes to remove them. I am hoping Cook, Apple, and all other businesses get that.
The barriers are mostly in their minds and the rap/hip-hop (sub)culture.
Sure.
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/08/property-taxes-and-unequal-schools/497333/
So your point is only Blacks are poor?
That’s called “the soft bigotry of low expectations”.
(Just ask Thomas Sowell, who’s mere mention above puts the downvote bots into a tizzy).
http://federalsafetynet.com/us-poverty-statistics.html
As you can read here (I may be assuming too much…) Blacks have a higher percent of poverty but there are twice as many Whites in poverty, so your implication is that rich white-folk will keep as many Whites poor as it takes so long as they can keep a higher percent of Blacks poor?
You sound like you went to one of those rich schools….
Can’t even accept a reality without punching one star as fast as your browser will reload?
Leftist can’t win anything without rigging the vote.
(for you bystanders, after I posted this I reloaded and immediately had 8 downvotes)
TowerTone sir you are so right! They put feelings over facts. They are real racists thinking minorities are incapable of doing anything on their own and need help every step of the way like special needs children. Always telling minorities they are victims when they aren’t.
The only thing holding back black people are other black people! Period full stop!
There have been successful blacks for ages now. even during segregation and Jim crow. Look up black wall street.
Discuss?
There will be no discussion…
if i prattle on about diversity, if i promise it’s our generation’s defining issue, if i wave your flag, will you love me then. will you. WILL YOU LOVE ME. WILL YOU LOVE ME. LOVE ME. LOVE ME
I hope he tells the congressional black caucus to check on why:
– There is a small amount of black engineers graduating from college.
– Black high school students are not in college prep courses.
– Black high school students don’t complete homework nor study for tests.
– Black high school students doing drugs and skipping school.
– Black high school students are from a broken home.
Fix that and then you fix workplace diversity.
@Think thats easy. Single mothers being supported by the welfare state.
And many corporations would fold without constantly feeding from big gub’mn’t’s hands.
Agreed.
“We’re letting companies know they must provide greater opportunity to African Americans …”
Really, they MUST? I’d have never let those clowns through the door. I guess Cook needs to take that $100 billion for the stock buyback and just give it to them as reparations for the indignity of getting welfare all these years.
WUT? The CBC is going to allow White members?
Lordy Be!
Of course. Who else they going to leech money off of.
Funny watching the libtards 1star the true comments!!!
humanity has a long, long way to go before we become even close to being enlightened and civilized.
If I were a spacefaring alien species, I would seek to confine humanity to the Earth, or at least our solar system, and not let our aggressive, irrational natures infect the rest of the galaxy and beyond.
A lot of uninformed, knee-jerk racist vitriol here.
With the exception of the retail stores, Apple is very white. Some of the arguments above assume that only whites are smart enough to be engineers or tech executives. Therein lies the racism.
I am a person of color who has worked with Apple as a consultant for over 20 years. I love the company and its products. But there is very little diversity. Many jobs are filled through word of mouth and Apple is no exception.
To say only Caucasians are smart enough to work at tech companies such as Apple is a self-justifying racist tautology.
What about some diversity in the Mac Pro lineup?
Lazy Cook…