, both Black women and both exceptional contributors at the company. The backlash occurred during a year of widespread protest against the centuries-old violence of racism and racialized capitalism in the United States.This is not the first time that a prominent tech organization has attempted to “train up” Black Americans. From 1968 to 1972, at least 18 programs to provide computing skills training to Black and brown Americans were established in the United States.
; for example, members organized and volunteered in programs, and others reported on these training efforts at ACM conferences. At the national level, the organization launched the Committee on Computing and the Disadvantaged.A unifying theme motivating the programs appeared to be the notion that providing some basic digital skills training for Black and brown Americans, and thereby preparing them for entry-level jobs in the tech industry, would be a way to give them an “advantage.