On a Run in California’s Silicon Valley, While Pondering Black History Month and Opportunities
I was in the Bay Area of California, in particular Silicon Valley, for an extended time in February. Thanks to my uniformly delightful hosts — friends and relatives, young and old, retired and working — I enjoyed all that was on offer: Friendship, fun and food, breathtaking hikes and runs where I got lost, games and sports, beaches and sunsets, and thoughtful conversations.
Many who I met are deeply embedded in the technological ecosystem of Silicon Valley. I was surprised to see for myself how thoroughly the pandemic has changed the working conditions for many, for the better. As a faculty member, I am used to the benefits of hybrid work arrangements — a combination of remote and in-person work, and flexible working hours — putting off grading to an evening so I can fit in a run during the day. I was surprised to see those are also the working conditions for most, though a few work entirely remotely and one (in the financial industry) has a classical in-person arrangement. Globalization, and hence a need to collaborate with peers in distant foreign countries, affects the working hours of some. Remote work on multiple days and adjustable working hours are the norm.
On one of my runs, as I went around the San Francisco 49ers football stadium, my thoughts circled football, quarterbacks, and this Black History Month. This February in the 2024 Super Bowl, which is the championship game for the NFL (National Football League), San Francisco, the local Bay Area team had lost to Kansas City Chiefs in one of the closest contests ever in overtime. The playoffs and the Super Bowl attracted attention for many reasons but not this one: Six of the starting quarterbacks of the fourteen teams that made it to the NFL playoffs this year were of color, including Patrick Mahomes, 3-time Super Bowl winning quarterback. Why is this significant? It is significant precisely because none of this has made it to popular news!
In American football, there are numerous positions on offense and defense with the quarterback position in offense often considered the most “cerebral”. The better quarterbacks are known to innovate and create plays under pressure. For a long time, even as many Black players took to football, they were not considered fit to be quarterbacks at any level — high school, college, or professional level, and denied opportunities. In 1988, when Doug Williams was handed a rare opportunity and became the first Black man to win a Super Bowl, it was headline news. Many probably dismissed it as an anomaly. It wasn’t that Black men were less cerebral to be quarterbacks before 1988 any more than Black women were less qualified to be Supreme Court justices before 2022. They lacked the opportunities.
The development pipeline to reach the highest levels is long and it takes decades to bear fruition. Prejudices need to be overcome at every level to create opportunities for all. That formula is the same, be it achieving excellence in football, justice, or technology in Silicon Valley.
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