TIME: The Real Problem When It Comes to Diversity and Asian Americans

The lack of Asian leadership in tech sheds light on a larger issue: Asians are excluded from the idea of diversity

Magazine cover, August 31, 1987

THIS WEEK'S Time Magazine (Oct. 14) has an article by Jack Linshi about the lack of Asians in the leadership ranks of Silicon Valley tech firms. Let me pique your interest with the opening paragraphs:

"Years ago ... they used to think you were Fu Manchu or Charlie Chan. Then they thought you must own a laundry or restaurant. Now they think all we know how to do is sit in front of a computer."

It was 1987 when Virginia Kee, then a 55-year-old high school teacher in New York's Chinatown, said the above words. She was one of several Asian-Americans who discussed the perception of their race for TIME's cover story, "Those Asian-American Whiz Kids." The cover story would elicit small-scale Asian boycotts of the magazine from those who found offensive the portrait of textbook-clutching, big-glasses braniacs. To them, the images codified  hurtful beliefs that Asians and Asian-Americans were one-dimensional: that they were robots of success, worshippers of the alphabet's first letter, study mules branded with their signature eyes. 

Today, Kee is 82 ... And yet Kee, who still recalls the words she told TIME nearly 30 years ago, maintains that not much has changed.  ... Read more, my friends.

And check out TIME's fun graphic that clearly shows the disparity between workforce and leadership: (If you cannot see it, click here.)

This topic generated a lot of conversation in the San Francisco Bay Area, the home of Silicon Valley and is the center of the world for techies and the venture capitalists who turn dreams into multi-billion dollar companies. Unfortunately, whenever you talk about inequalities or anything resembling affirmative action, it brings out the racists hiding underneath their hoodies.

Several news outlets have written about this topic, also known in the Asian community as the Bamboo Ceiling. For more articles, read Read Bloomberg's "The color of money in Silicon Valley" and a great piece by Mother Jones: Silicon Valley firms are even whiter and more male than you think. 

Whenever Americans talk about race, the vast majority often think only in terms of black and white. This myopic view is evidently not limited to the less educated. Through sheer numbers and the media focus on the border issue, Latinos have nudged their way into the conversation. The TIME article asserts that Asians are overlooked.

Why? I think Asians are saddled with the "model minority" stereotype. Asians are already successful. 

Asian men, who make up a larger portion of the workforce, also must also overcome the non-leadership qualities often associated with Asian males: being unassertive, too meek  and not being self-promoting. 

Asian women have one other hurdle to overcome  -- no matter how talented and intelligent they are -- their gender. Despite the rise of Carly Fiorina, Marissa Meyer and Sheryl Sandberg, technology is still a male-dominated field.

One other gargantuan barrier stands in the way for both Asian men and women: not being "one of the guys." You know, the back-slapping, drink-after-work, golf-buddy, trash-talking, take-home-for-dinner, be-my-wingman, share-an-off-color-joke, type of guys.  

The over-riding lesson here: When you are always looking for the next Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs, you keep coming up with people who look like Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs.

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