Tech Field

 

The inroads and upward mobility for Blacks in the tech industry remain a challenge, and in some cases, doors are being shut completely. Recently, Google agreed to pay $50 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging racial discrimination by Black workers. But the big tech company admits to no wrongdoing.

After over three years of contested litigation, lead plaintiff April Curley and fellow plaintiffs filed for preliminary approval of the settlement agreement, seeking non-monetary relief in addition to the $50 million for approximately 4,000 current and former Black employees in California and New York, according to court documents.

The settlement establishes a fund of $50 million to compensate members of the class-action lawsuit, and provide for any court-approved attorneys’ fees, costs, and service awards and all costs of administering the settlement, pending a federal judge’s approval of the motion for preliminary approval of the settlement filed by the plaintiffs.

Ms. Curley and other Black workers filed suit alleging that: “Plaintiffs have been harmed by Google’s racially hostile work environment and company-wide discriminatory practices.

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Due to its abysmal representation of Black professionals since its founding and growing public awareness of its lack of commitment to genuine diversity and inclusion,

Google hired Plaintiff Curley in 2014 to expand its outreach to Black college students,” alleges the initial complaint filed on March 18, 2022. It was amended on September 15, 2022, and again on July 26, 2024, according to court records.

The barriers Black professionals face in the industry while trying to gain experience and success in the majority-White tech industry are further proof that unifying, pooling resources and doing for self as taught and exemplified by the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the Eternal Leader of the Nation of Islam and taught by His National Representative the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan is necessary.

“We must remember that we just cannot depend on the White race ever to do that which we can and should do for self,” the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad wrote in “Message to the Blackman in America,” in the chapter, “A Program For Self-Development.”

The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad used the biblical story of Lazarus and the rich man to explain that Black people cannot be charmed by the wealth and luxury of White people and continue to beg them for jobs, particularly as we are continually mistreated.

The allegations in the Google lawsuit point to this mistreatment.

According to plaintiffs in the Google lawsuit, civil rights and personal injury attorneys, along with Stowell & Friedman, Ltd. lawyers, in a press release, alleged that Google’s pattern of discriminatory practices included:

• In 2014, Google only had one Black top-level executive out of 25. Over the next two years, Google added five White top-level executives but zero Black executives.

• In 2014, when Plaintiff April Curley was hired, Google employed over 32,000 employees, of whom only 628, or 1.9%, were Black.

• By 2021, after public scrutiny for its lack of diversity, Google’s workforce inched up to 4.4% Black, compared to an average of 9.1% within Google’s industry classification, according to 2021 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

• In 2021, Google’s leadership ranks were only 3% Black and its prestigious tech workforce was only 2.9% Black.

• Google assigns Black employees to lower levels than their experience and responsibilities warrant and pays Black employees less for performing the same level of work as non-Black employees.

• Google segregates its workforce and workplaces, which are permeated by a racially hostile work environment. Black professionals and visitors at Google’s main California campus headquarters and other locations are routinely harassed and targeted based on their race, often being questioned by security or asked to show identification.

Some Black tech professionals acknowledge that Black people should pool their resources, as taught by the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, and create their own self-employable tech corporations.

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, like his Teacher, has called Black people to unify and has challenged Black America to harness their purchasing power and support Black businesses.

“So, I want you all to think about what must be done,” stated Minister Farrakhan, during Part 7 of his 2013, 58-week lecture series “The Time and What Must Be Done.”

“To Black people: We must pool our resources. On February 24, 2013, at our annual Saviours’ Day Convention, the subject was ‘The Economic Blueprint of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad to Fight Against Poverty and Want.’ You need to know what we must do to prepare a ‘future’ for ourselves.

Whether it’s here or elsewhere, we have to ‘get busy’ and get up from a ‘begging’ position. And if you doubt and fear this, thinking, ‘We can’t leave White America! I mean, that’s not intelligent,” Minister Farrakhan continued.

Timothy Muhammad, CEO of a Chicago-based technology company, highlighted the challenges faced by Blacks in tech and emphasized the importance of self-reliance. His staff manages clients’ networks, systems, provides phone systems, carrier systems and offers cybersecurity services.

“As a people, we need to take some time and really study the Teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, as it pertains to doing for self. When you do for self, the key word is ‘self.’ You look to see what the self needs, and then you go about providing a service to fulfill the needs of the self, your own people,” he stated.

“Far too often, we’re not looking at the needs of our people. We’re going to school to be educated, and then once we get educated, we’re running around, yet again, begging for a job from other people.

Who then racially discriminate against us, and then 15-20 years later, … they settle for a measly $50 million spread among 4,000 people. We have to begin to do something for ourselves,” Timothy Muhammad told The Final Call.

According to The Black Tech Effect report, which measured the social impact of high-growth, Black-led tech companies worldwide, traditional analysis platforms have overlooked Black tech founders for decades, resulting in a false narrative about the progression of Black-led tech companies due to flawed analysis.

The report, authored by The Plug (which covers Black start-ups) and Omidyar Network (a philanthropic investment firm founded by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife, Pam), features a hundred high-growth companies and founders from various industries, including fintech, healthcare, HR, and others. 

It revealed that companies prioritizing social impact were excelling faster than those traditionally seen as market leaders. Nearly one-third of the companies featured in the report were founded or led by Black women.

Further, the report found that Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are responsible for more than 20% of Black American graduates. “Despite making up just three percent of America’s colleges and universities, HBCUs are accountable for nearly 18% of Black STEM bachelor’s degrees,” the report found.

Black people need to understand technology, and at the ground level is where it must be figured out, according to Timothy Muhammad. Business to business, person to person, who is the customer, what are they looking for, then focus on that, he stated.

“There’s so much room in our community to be able to serve us, but you have to focus on us. You can’t focus on the tech companies. They’re national, international. They’re not just serving Black people, and Black people are benign and neglected in that process,” he argued.

“They don’t make phones for you. They make phones for themselves and other respected nations and nationalities, and then you jump on the bandwagon and you’re a part of the afterthought. You just come along for the ride. So, there is no tech specific for you, except exploitation,” he stated.

The Los Angeles chapter of Blacks in Technology (BiT) believes it is critical to elevate the voices of Black professionals in tech and to hold major companies accountable when systemic inequities persist. Though Google denies any wrongdoing, the settlement underscores the deep-rooted and ongoing pattern of bias that Black employees have long experienced in the technology sector.

“We recognize the settlement as a hard-fought acknowledgment of harm, but not yet justice. The lawsuit, led by April Curley, reflects what many Black professionals have endured across the industry: being funneled into lower-tier roles, denied advancement, underpaid, labeled unfairly, and dismissed when they speak out.

Curley’s experience and those of the more than 4,000 Black employees covered in the settlement are not isolated incidents; they represent a pattern of exclusion that has persisted in Silicon Valley and beyond,” stated Omari Bakari, president, BiT Los Angeles chapter.

Despite the financial settlement, Google’s denial of wrongdoing is deeply concerning, he continued, citing data about Black representation, as illustrated in the complaint. It is a stark reminder of the systemic barriers that have limited Black advancement in the tech industry, he said.

“This is not about one company—it’s about a culture,” he said. “The Google settlement follows a pattern of racial bias settlements in the tech industry, including the $28 million settlement earlier this year where Google allegedly favored White and Asian employees in pay and promotions. These outcomes demonstrate a systemic failure to support, value, and retain Black talent,” Mr. Bakari added.

It is the responsibility of Black people to overcome any disagreements and distrust we may have with one another and to work together for our collective progress.

“It is we, the Black man and woman, who are disunified and distrustful of self; with discord and conflict rampant within all our Black organizations.  We allow envy and jealousy to dominate our relationships with one another.  

We criticize and condemn everything ‘Black-owned’ and ‘Black-operated.’ It is we who refuse to patronize our own.  We refuse to pool our resources to address our own needs. 

And, it is we who have failed to truly analyze and follow the successful models and strategic examples that other ethnic and religious groups have followed to benefit their own people,” Minister Farrakhan explained in “The Time and What Must Be Done,” part 31.

“We are the only members of the human race that deliberately walk past the place of business of one of our own kind, and spend our dollars with our enemies!  So, before we can achieve ‘success,’ we must confront and overcome these self-destructive behaviors—these are the things that we are going to have to do!” Minister Farrakhan said.