zlacker

[return to "Navigating the Venture World as a Black VC"]
1. thanat+s5[view] [source] 2020-06-18 16:02:15
>>ericza+(OP)
Americans have some weird identity hangups.

I have what is now called "invisible disability". I wonder how I'd feel if my kind had some visible mark in their face. Would I feel awkward being the only QWERTY in the room? Would I feel especially succesful?

As it stands now I kind of feel the latter. It's a little secret, I have this disadvantage at the starting point of the race where the referee shoots his little gun at the sky, and yet here I am in the peloton with all the non-disadvantaged guys.

Of course, maybe if everyone knew I'd be hyper-aware of the stereotypes that will inevitably play a part in the mental models of people with the best intentions. But are wealthy Americans really going for stereotypes when they see a fellow wealthy black person?

I know that the world of "invisible disability" activism is a self-defeating whirlpool of victimization.

◧◩
2. dang+qq[view] [source] 2020-06-18 17:54:51
>>thanat+s5
I appreciate that you're sharing your own experience, but you can do that without nationalistic and racial flamebait, which your comments in this subthread unfortunately contain. I'm sure that was unintentional, but those are the things that people are going to react to, and when that happens, we won't end up anywhere interesting or good.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

◧◩◪
3. thanat+Qt[view] [source] 2020-06-18 18:14:45
>>dang+qq
Hi.

I'm willing to edit my comment (or outright delete it on my own initiative). I can remove the "Americans...", but much of the rest of it is a comment on the posted link, which is very much about race.

I like the way this place is run, which is to say, I trust the guidance of the moderator team. I'm just not sure how to proceed right now. Also because there's a downthread discussion that could be left without a referent.

Please advise.

◧◩◪◨
4. dang+mv[view] [source] 2020-06-18 18:22:33
>>thanat+Qt
I think it's ok to leave it. The primary thing is to be more careful in the future. When a topic is divisive, it's important to edit out provocations, including unintentional ones, because otherwise people will react to the provocation rather than to the substantive part of the comment, and that's how we end up with flamewars instead of curious conversations. But I'm repeating myself now.
◧◩◪◨⬒
5. thanat+7x[view] [source] 2020-06-18 18:31:03
>>dang+mv
You're probably busy taking care of this thread elsewhere, but I'd appreciate if you gave me a couple of minutes later and pointed out provocative content.

This is a pseudonymous account, but not in a tight way; it's not hard to suss me out either from the content of my comments (how many people have worked on symplectic geometry and in business consulting in the city that I've already mentioned I live in) or following a pattern of usernames. So... I need to be wary that something that gets perceived as off flavor might follow me to real life.

[go to top]