Racism in the IT Industry

ComputerWorld's Don Tennant continues to discuss the issue of racism in the IT industry on his blog. I encourage BDPA members to read his latest blog entry. He shares two e-mails that he received in response to his editorial about the race issue in IT, titled "Destructive Labels." These two e-mails highlight the disconnect that exists between people who have dramatically different outlooks with respect to racism.

The first e-mail came from a reader who holds the view that Tennant's columns on the subject, which have advocated a healthy discussion of the race issue in light of the experiences of many African Americans in IT, "play into the hands of those too lazy to work for what they want."

The second one came from Dr. Victor Onafuye, president of Pixel Information Technology Corp. in Homewood, Ill.

Please take a moment to read both emails.

I am interested in your thoughts on racism in the IT industry? Does racism still exist in your view? Will racism impact on the ability of African Americans to advance their careers in the IT industry from the classroom to the boardroom? What, if anything, should BDPA do about it?

Does Racism Still Exist in IT Industry?

Don Tennant is editor for Computerworld who shared disturbing news from the results in Computerworld's 2008 IT Salary Survey. Mr. Tennant wrote about the survey last year. He noted that African Americans were underrepresented in the IT profession, with only a 3% showing, and that their compensation was significantly lower than that of their white counterparts.

Unfortunately, Mr. Tennant points out in his editorial entitled, 'Hoping for equality in the IT profession' that the 3% figure is unchanged, and if anything, the compensation gap is even wider. Last year, African-American IT workers made just 86.4 cents for every dollar white IT workers made (average total compensation of $78,582, compared with $90,901). This year, it was 85.9 cents ($80,733 vs. $93,977).

Maybe the issue is deeper still. There are so many in our industry who feel that racism no longer exists ... after all, didn't we just elect a Black man to be our president?

What is your take on the standing of African Americans in the IT industry as we move into the new year?