The Atlantic, October 25, 2018: The black struggle for technology jobsÂ
After Atlanta made the shortlist of cities vying for Amazon’s second global headquarters, HQ2, it submitted a multibillion-dollar investment to try to seal the deal. At stake is nothing less than the city’s economic future: HQ2 promises more than 50,000 high-tech jobs with an average salary of more than $100,000. With the tech industry looking like the future of all industry, Atlanta landing Amazon’s HQ2 would be a dream come true.
But a dream for whom? Highly educated people, particularly those with technical skills, are the ones who are really eligible for these prized jobs. People without that kind of education risk becoming even more marginalized in an increasingly tech-driven economy.
In 2016, there was only one census tract in Atlanta where the population was more than 65 percent black, and where more than half the population age 25 or older had a bachelor’s degree or higher. In 2000, there were 10. Here, many black and brown students, and poor students of all backgrounds, receive a substandard education that does not prepare them for entry to the select colleges and universities tech companies draw their workforces from. Consequently, with or without Amazon’s investment, the city’s black population likely won’t land stem jobs unless they can gain access to the rigorous educational paths required to compete for them.
Parents with high-school-age children on the path to stem careers might already know how to set their kids up for the kinds of jobs Amazon might offer. Algebra in the eighth grade. AP calculus and computer-science courses (the latter of which only two of Atlanta’s public high schools offered when Chiles and Guzdial were students). Teachers and counselors committed to making sure they get a 3 or better on those exams. High performance on the math section of the SAT or ACT, regardless of their intended major. They know what rigorous education translates to for their children.
With Amazon’s decision still lurking on the horizon, the high-paying tech jobs it would bring seem like an opportunity for whatever region wins the new headquarters. Amazon officials said that the company asked the finalist cities to account for underrepresented minorities in its technology workforce and to detail its future plans for them. How that information will factor into the company’s decision about HQ2 is unclear. But for the large black population in Atlanta—and in other cities contending for Amazon’s nod—success might reduce rather than increase opportunity. People with high-level technical skills are valuable in a city transformed by technology. In Atlanta, the majority of students are black, and most are not getting the kind of rigorous education they need to participate in a stem-based local economy. They will not be able to earn the salaries necessary to live in the city. They will be priced out—shown the door by educational neglect.
No matter how much money a city like Atlanta or a company like Amazon might invest, the results count as opportunities only for the people who can attain them.
