Technology companies have a "legal and moral obligation" to be transparent about the racial makeup of their workforces, the Rev. Jesse Jackson told 四虎影院 Thursday afternoon.
The longtime civil rights leader spoke with 四虎影院 'Think' host Krys Boyd about his efforts to diversify Silicon Valley companies. He also reflected on his lifetime devotion to the civil rights movement. Jackson worked with Dr. Martin Luther King to organize marches in the 1960s and ran for president in the 1980s.
Google is just one of many high-tech companies that are pledging to diversify their workforces this spring under pressure from the Rev. Jesse Jackson.聽 ... Google's efforts come amid a renewed bout of advocacy from Jackson and the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, which have been leading delegations to shareholder meetings this spring at such companies as Google, Facebook, eBay and Hewlett-Packard, decrying "old patterns that exclude people of color and women from opportunity and advancement." Jackson said that he hopes others will follow Google's lead, and that this time he is redoubling his efforts here.
As 四虎影院 marks the, an effort to get blacks registered to vote in Mississippi, Boyd talked with Jackson. The interview reairs on 四虎影院 90.1 FM at 10 p.m. Thursday. Or listen to it now:
四虎影院 Interview Highlights: Rev. Jesse Jackson on ...
... Diversity in the tech industry
鈥淚f you have these political rights 鈥� and you don鈥檛 have economic participation, then something is grossly missing.鈥�
鈥淲e evolved to focus on Silicon Valley 鈥� it鈥檚 the No. 1 growth industry and by and large we鈥檙e vast consumers of that industry yet we are not allowed to participate.鈥�
To those who say there aren鈥檛 enough minorities interested in tech work, 鈥�60 percent of those who work in Silicon Valley are not tech. They do IPOs; those are not engineer jobs, they use lawyers and advertising and marketing.鈥�
鈥淲e decided to take on this industry and say 鈥楲et us in.' We have something to offer. We have money, market, talent, location. If the South is a better South because we opened up the doors, high-tech industry will open up if we open up the doors.鈥�
"There鈥檚 no shortage of people who can serve on those boards and in those C-suites."
Re: diversity in the tech industry: 鈥淭he numbers are so bad. They are embarrassed about making them public.鈥�
Tech firms 鈥渄on鈥檛 want to make hiring transparent. They have a legal and a moral obligation to make the records public in the shareholders鈥� meetings.鈥�
... Education
鈥淚f we don鈥檛 have enough high-tech workers, then train them.鈥�
鈥淵ou plant apple seeds, you grow apple trees. You grow what you want. If you want more blacks and Latinos and women who can become high-tech, then train them. We鈥檙e educable. We鈥檙e able to fight war. There鈥檚 nothing we can鈥檛 do given training, given opportunity.鈥�
鈥淲hen the walls came down, we all began to grow. 鈥� Dr. King and those who marched pulled down those doors and when the doors replaced bridges, we all became stronger.鈥�
... Requiring voter IDs
鈥淚n Texas you can use a gun registration to vote, yet you can鈥檛 use a student ID, that鈥檚 unkind. That鈥檚 not good for democracy. When you shorten the number of days [to vote], that鈥檚 not good for democracy.鈥�
"These schemes make voting more difficult. There鈥檚 no evidence of fraud. 鈥� This is just bully suppression tactics."
... Civil rights
On his role in the civil rights movement: 鈥淚n a long battle, I鈥檝e been blessed. 鈥� You strike out some times, you get homeruns sometimes. 鈥� I鈥檝e been blessed to watch America grow. And all of our warps and sometimes false starts, when Dr. King gave his speech on Washington in 1963, Texas, across to Florida to Maryland, we couldn鈥檛 use a public toilet. The day he gave that speech 鈥� we were in the throes of rigid racial apartheid. 鈥hen the walls come down 鈥� there鈥檚 more abundance.鈥�
On his early experiences with race: "You learn the dos and don鈥檛s early on. You learn the racial etiquette. You learn to go to the back of the bus. You learn not to use that public toilet or not use that public park. 鈥� why you can鈥檛 swim."
On seeing minorities play professional sports: 鈥淚 know that that鈥檚 because of the civil rights movement.鈥�
"Segregation doesn鈥檛 hurt so much as it limits. If you live within your capsule, you can go to church, you can get a job, you can have a house, you can have a family. You can do a lot of stuff that takes away the sting. What segregation does is it limits your view of the other side of town."
Young Americans and their understanding of the country鈥檚 battle with race in the 20th century: "They don鈥檛 understand, but neither do adults."
.: "You would think marching feet would be enough to get these tech companies to be transparent"
— Krystina Martinez (@ThisIsKrystina)
. says tech companies spend more time on h1 visas for international hires rather than hiring locally.
— Krystina Martinez (@ThisIsKrystina)
.: "We should train youth for tech. For the tech challenges, more tech is important."
— Krystina Martinez (@ThisIsKrystina)
