Is There Still Racism in IT Hiring Practices?

noahz asks: "Today [now three days ago] in the United States marks Martin Luther King Day, remembering the birthday - and legacy - of the great civil rights leader. It's been over 40 years since his march on Washington, back when IT was still in its infancy and was exclusively a white, male field. But, how much progress has been made in the IT world? I recently had a recruiter tell me that I would have no problem finding a job in the current economy - not because I am enthusastic, well-educated and have good experience - but because I am caucasian - 'white'. This particular recruiter insisted that his years experience has led him to this conclusion - but I wonder: what the collective experience of the Slashdot readership has found?"

I've found...

[po8]

...that holding an MLK Day story for 3 days before posting it is just weird.

The editors should have saved it until April 1, so that the sense of cognitive dissonance I got from viewing it was well-deserved.

So that's it! (age bias)

[Anonymous Coward]

Perhaps I should stop mentioning I was at Woodstock I during my job interviews.

I'm racist and I'm not ashamed.

[NoMoreNicksLeft]

You NASCAR people make me sick, and I'll use every trick in the book to make sure you don't get promoted or even hired.

Re:This is idiotic

[Sarisar]

Christ! My department is like the freakin UN.

So you spend all your time bitching about agriculture and don't actual do anything worthwhile? ;)

Re:I've found...

[brilinux]

Do you mean like them [washingtonpost.com]?

Re:Accent is a bigger issue

[Simon Garlick]

american (midwest, southern, whatever), Brittish, Irish, Kiwi or Aussie

All big beer drinkers.

Coincidence? I THINK NOT!

Re:This is idiotic

[pipingguy]

I'm an old-timer that is possibly out-of-date with current lingo.

Can you define "chops" for me as it relates to IT? Is it related to "skillz"?

http://makeashorterlink.com/?A63416F7C [makeashorterlink.com]

Re:This is idiotic

[ellem]

yes and I park illegally all the time

Re:A unique Black sysadmin's opinion

[Synth3t1c]

My IQ was rated at about 190 when I was 12

I've compiled a list of websites that you may want to spend more time on than slashdot:
http://www.mensa.org/ [mensa.org]
http://www.cerebrals.com/ [cerebrals.com]
http://www.smartgroups.com/ [smartgroups.com]
http://www.iqsociety.org/ [iqsociety.org]

You may feel more at home there ^_^

*dons flaimsuit*

Re:Get a last name and we'll talk

[dptalia]

No such luck for me! I was the only woman in our tech support department. We had three guys named Mike, but all the customer had to say was "I was talking to this girl..." I was completely screwed.

Re:Back in 1990

[Lehk228]

I worked with a sysadmin who happened to be African American (well, back then he was "black")

He isn't black anymore!? i didn't know Jacko worked as a sysadmin.

Racism in IT? I'm the only white guy in my office

[patio11]

... of course, I work in Japan.

Re:A unique Black sysadmin's opinion

[Schraegstrichpunkt]

Yeah well, IQ is overrated,

Nonsense! It's a great measure of how good a person is at doing IQ tests...

Re:Back Of The Bus With You

[FidelCatsro]

We're not Kosher

Re:Advantage

[Anonymous Coward]

A Scottish kike?! Wow, you're a walking joke! Better turn off your computer now, laddie, electricity costs money!

Re:if you were that smart you wouldn't be in IT!

[ObsessiveMathsFreak]

I put your current IQ at about 110 - a typical pissed-off BOFH.

110 eh? About the size of your disk apace allotment in kilo-, no, just regular bytes.

>clickity clickity<

Re:Advantage

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't have to worry about that , my bosses at ZOG pay for all this , whilst we run the media and wear kilts with no underware on .. But I do feel guilty about it .. god I hate myself ..
Is that enough stereotype for you.

Re:Back Of The Bus With You

[Cruciform]

I can't help it if society tells black kids they have to be basketball players ...

Does that mean that society tells all white kids to be golf and hockey players?

There's a lot of Canadian and Russian players in the National Hockey League. The reason might just be that half the year, Canadian's and Russians have the weather to play hockey.

Golf tends to have equipment costs and green fees, which more white people can afford.

If you're a black urban youth with a low family income, the basketball court down the street is an inexpensive way to take part in a team sport.

Society doesn't tell black kids they have to be basketball players. But like any white kid who dreams of being a star center on a hockey team, a back kid who plays basketball/hockey/football/golf/tennis is going to dream about being a star in his/her sport too.