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I’m known to be outspoken about diversity in tech, but it wasn’t something I planned. The first decade of my career I didn’t talk about race in tech at all. I just dealt with it. 3 things changed: My wife was deployed to Iraq, my dad died, and I paid off my student loans.
My wife volunteering to be deployed gave me the courage to use my voice, my dad passing gave me the resolve to help others, and not having student loans gave me financial freedom to be okay with being fired for doing what I felt was right.
Many Black and brown people in tech are just getting started in their careers, so putting the burden on them to also be vessels for change is unreasonable. This is why it is so important for leadership at companies to hold themselves accountable for bias and racism.
In my experience much of the bias comes from managers ill equipped to lead people of diverse backgrounds. They tend to do best if everyone looks and thinks like them. Those managers need training or to be replaced if companies want world class teams.
I’m hoping that in 2021 the performative lip service ends and accountability starts at tech companies. Less BLM profile pictures on your social media accounts and more hiring and promotion of Black and brown people into leadership roles.
