Suicide of a Black Uber engineer: Widow blames job stress and racism

[ViShawn]

Black people need to decide how bad they want to be "successful"

Every nikka basically gotta be Jackie Robinson on a corporate level...

Is making 6 figures really worth that...

And if you decide it's worth that...well...this Uber engineer's end is a reality...

He could've stayed in Atlanta with other Black people, live a comfortable life...but no...he wanted to go to Uber...and look at what he got...

For my type of job in the tech field I had to leave Atlanta. I wasn't eating.

I had go to Texas. First San Antonio now Austin.

Gotta make a living somehow with your skillset. If I worked remotely again then I could move back, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Working for any top tech company in the Bay Area pretty much allows you to write your own paycheck anywhere else. He tried to do right by his family and secure a future so I can't hate.

I wouldn't go to the Bay area. I have a few colleagues that ask me. I get LinkedIn and Facebook contacting me twice a year. Too aggressive, too (fake) liberal there, too far from home.

There's a lot of tech start ups where I live now and I have a decent network of folks, cost of living is good for me here and no state income tax, but yeah I wish there was more blacks in my field and I try to encourage my black friends about it.

 

[CodeBlaMeVi]

I just had an epiphany. Think dude was gay?

 

[mamba]

I just had an epiphany. Think dude was gay?

 

[TRUEST]

i think its more so, dude told a lot of people that he got a job at uber making 170K. his family were very proud of him. and he was proud that they were proud.

but when he got to uber and realized he made a big mistake, it was next to impossibl for him to just up and leave. the embarrassment, the let downs, the "what happened?" questions. and then, any real man will understand the dread of having to tell wifey (who probably looks up to you), that u might get fired or that ur boss thinks ur performing below expectations.

a lot of yall should watch the movie called "Company Men". its got ben affleck, tommy lee jones and kevin costner in it. it will put things in perspective for you. matter of fact, every single person in this thread must watch this movie. if u watch this movie and u still come out talking tough, ur an idiot.

its not so easy to get a job paying as much as dude was making. if he left uber, chances are pretty good he woulda had to take a paycut at the next company he works for

 

[ViShawn]

BTW I'm sure having worked at LinkedIn he could have gotten another job.

Sure being fired can be bad, but being fired means you may have not been the right cultural fit for a company or organisation.

I think there's less stigma from getting fired nowadays.

Also anyone with DevOps skillset can find something that pays well. He probably legitimately lost the will to try and his confidence broke.

 

[CodeBlaMeVi]

San Fran brought it out him?

 

[Field Marshall Bradley]

I cringe every time I hear black guy say I just do my job and go home.

You really shouldn't. A lot of talented brothers are fine with that "glass ceiling" so to speak as long as their skillset is tight. Once you reach a certain level, the politics/culture become unbearable for most brothers

 

[NegaDuck]

True...a saying that's very popular....the grass isn't always greener on the other side

Dude probably bought the house too soon and he didn't get acclimated to the Uber job and culture of his dept enough before getting settled in SF. He should've rented for a while and made sure it was a job he enjoyed or at least could tolerate. When u interview for a job, u not gonna know what the job entails or how its gonna be and affect u UNTIL u get in and work there for at least half a year to learn everything. If I leave my area for a higher paying job, I am not going to buy a home because the job may be soul-crushing and the environment may be hostile if not toxic. I dislike a lot of the responses on here saying dude is mentally ill because I worked with whites especially older whites before and it is tough and u have to know how to navigate and deal with them.

I just think by dude having a wife let alone 2 sons he helped to create and bring to this cruel world...he was selfish and didn't think about how those boys needed him throughout their development and even when they get to adulthood. Hell even if he had 2 girls...they would need their daddy as well. His family should've motivated him enough to have the energy to look for another job. Im sure he was very smart and experienced in his field...but that isn't always enough to succeed...u still have to be able to deal with racist old cacs and different people in general who have their preconceived notions and hidden agendas.

The bolded is super on point.

I just relocated to hut that 6fig (work in tech as well), and KNEW not to buy a crib for that exact reason.

Everyday im glad I didn't because if I ever get sick of it here I can just work remote on a contract gig...(I do a lot of the time already).

Also....as someone else said...if you don't have shut...it doesn't make since to kill ur self cause the only way is up...

But once you hit "up", that fall down is soul crushing.

He prob felt he failed his FAM already and didn't want his wife/kids/friends/fam to view him as a failure if he quit.

They most likely wouldn't have, but he prob felt like "fukk! I made them rearrange their whole life for ME and I wanna quit!?"

Was prob killing him inside

 

[Hard Times Nakamura]

That's real these nerds in tech have a huge chip on their shoulder from being passed up and not getting the girls they wanted so they power trip over everything and try to demean everyone around them whether it be through race, status, or financials to try and patch up their bitterness by being domineering over people who can't really do shyt to them.

They hate cool kids they hate dudes that can get women they hate social competence.

They see black men as having all of these traits so the hate levels they have for brehs are off the chart.

I'd much rather work with good ol boys in finance than tech nerds nerds are insufferable.

This is what they don't get. The good old boys don't have autism and bi-polar OCD shyt and they are typically more predictable.

These 30 year old Brad Frat Jockeys and Jimmy the spectacled nerd is just too much to deal with. I'd rather deal with their Gen X Dad or Boomer Grandfather any day of the week.

 

[Dzali OG]

In nuwaubian class the teacher said, "We're losing our blackness the longer we're living so close with white people."

So that's what we're seeing when we see blacks doing things we aren't accustomed too. We're picking up cac customs.

(Keeps bringing me to that document called the bible which I'm reading with new eyes and the separation gods intended between the gentiles and the jews)

As blacks we must stop piggy backing off cacs and create our own way.

 

[Hard Times Nakamura]

You really shouldn't. A lot of talented brothers are fine with that "glass ceiling" so to speak as long as their skillset is tight. Once you reach a certain level, the politics/culture become unbearable for most brothers

That's right and if you get above a certain level it's just non-stop BS if you don't have the proper links in place (other Black people either directly below you or at your level).

You really see a clear divide here on the Coli who really has experience in the trenches and who is heckling from the sidelines.

 

[perfectblack999]

That's what some of the Coli brehs fail to understand.

In tech, as an African American, you are isolated.

You see all your Indian co-workers huddled up for lunch, Chinese huddled up, cacs huddled up, etc.

Right off the bat, you're up against steep odds in terms of having the same access to written and unwritten information by virtue of a lack of a natural network of peers. Which folks in other groups readily share among their own. Not to mention a lack of mentors who look like you, etc.

Then, the few nikkas actually around get on their shyt in an effort to not appear too Black!

How many of you Coli brehs actually see Black people--African Americans specifically--at your jobs openly having lunch together? 5 to 10 deep?

.

Breh I wish I could dap this 10 times. I'm a computer engineering grad. It starts from college...all the other races and nationalities shuttin black ppl out of study groups. It propagates straight to the workplace.

I'm lucky to be pretty good at what I do, so everyone rocks with me, but I'm working on my own moves to make opportunities for people like us.

 

[Blessings]

I don't think people understand how ego-driven a lot of the Bay Are cac and Asian tech nerds are. Not to mention all the hybrid cac-Asians.

Closest thing to it is probably i-banking. But, most of the i-banking types were usually well-rounded individuals in college and high school. They stunt with their money and prestige once in industry. But, for the most part, they've always been socially active and popular.

A lot of the Bay Area tech types, once they get in superior positions, use it as leverage to shyt on others. Not only do they stunt with their money, they hold their intellectual "superiority" up as a marker. Their newfound ascent up the social ladder puts them on a serious power trip.

Think Elliot Rodger, but working as a hiring manager!

A smart Black man has deal with that shyt.

This post is too real....I'm fortunate right now my boss and upper mangement are not like this

 

[ColdCutKing]

That's right and if you get above a certain level it's just non-stop BS if you don't have the proper links in place (other Black people either directly below you or at your level).

You really see a clear divide here on the Coli who really has experience in the trenches and who is heckling from the sidelines.

A good read on the myth of nerd oppression nerddom as a simulated ethnicity and other shyt that helped me build a psychological profile on these types to get a better understanding of what brehs are dealing with.

Good read for anyone who has the time and not fully understanding the culture and environment in these places.

Postmodern geekdom as simulated ethnicity, text version

 

[mamba]

That's right and if you get above a certain level it's just non-stop BS if you don't have the proper links in place (other Black people either directly below you or at your level).

You really see a clear divide here on the Coli who really has experience in the trenches and who is heckling from the sidelines.

Spot on.