zlacker

I’ve not gone over the background content you have. Why is a simple but sincere apology not enough? Why do I have to make myself feel like a horrible person for this subconscious faux pas?

Yes it’s an embarrassing. But to me, it’s like when meeting someone and you reach to shake their hand using your right hand out of habit but you don’t realize their right hand is full thus creating a awkward handshake interaction (especially if they don’t quickly offer a twisted left and laugh it off).

I’d prefer to focus on the problem (underrepresented black CEOs) instead of a symptom (subconscious “racism”).

>>conduc+(OP)
Nobosy wants to be branded a racist despite how minor the faux pas may be. The correct attitude is to just apologize and move onto networking. Instead, these VCs are assuming that their mistake is going to anger the black man and that they need to get out of there before it turns ugly. A better understanding of how these mistakes are made would allow someone to realize that it's just better to acknowledge the mistake and work towards not doing it again. I think in this case, the problem and symptom are reversed. The subconscious racism of the VCs caused the black CEO to miss out on vital networking opportunities. It seems like that guy turned out ok but what if that was a critical time for him when that meeting could been the last shot at getting some investors before his company went bankrupt? Simply ignoring the issue and trying to get out of it was more harmful than just acknowledging it and moving past it.