*By Alex Heath*
Facebook has failed to properly address its “black people problem,” a former employee told Cheddar Wednesday.
Earlier this month, former partnerships manager Mark Luckie sent a searing memo criticizing the company’s lack of racial diversity to Facebook employees shortly before he left his post.
He recently published the memo, which quickly went viral.
While most Silicon Valley tech companies don't feature a diverse workforce, Luckie said Facebook, given its scale and massive user base, has a greater responsibility.
“You’re talking about a company that affects 2.5 billion people directly who engage with its products,” he said. “And Facebook touts itself as a place that is engaged with diversity and really thinking about these issues.”
Facebook’s workforce is only 4 percent black, despite the company’s commissioned research showing that African Americans are more likely to use its platform to communicate with people in the U.S.
Just one day after Luckie published his memo, Facebook announced that it was donating $1 million to CodePath.org, an organization that offers computer classes to minorities. In response to Luckie’s memo, a Facebook spokesperson told Cheddar that, “We are going to keep doing all we can to be a truly inclusive company.”
Employee morale is at an all-time low at Facebook, according to The Wall Street Journal. And externally, CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg are under intense public scrutiny over the company’s many privacy and misinformation scandals.
“I think it’s important going forward that the company think of the worst possible uses of its platform and not just the best case scenarios, because when you do that you’re able to avoid some of the issues that Facebook has gone through up to this point,” Luckie said.
Ahead of National Dog Day on Saturday, Alina Hauptman from Best Friends Animal Society joined Cheddar News to discuss adopting a dog from a shelter and what the organization is doing to help pets that have survived the Maui fires.
Jack Dunn, bartender at Great Jones Distilling Co. in Manhattan, spoke with Cheddar News about the history of the whiskey sour and the process involved in making it.
Today is National Whiskey Sour Day and Cheddar News is celebrating! Michelle Castillo spoke with Celina Perez, head distiller at Great Jones Distilling Co. in Manhattan, to discuss how the business got started with a state-of-the-art operation and the process involved in making their fine whiskey drinks.
After decades in the ring, a Connecticut man is celebrating after obtaining his first boxing title, thanks to his wife who had a personal battle of her own and guided him.
A Jersey Shore man has painted sea shells -- nearly 500 of them -- to raise awareness around epilepsy that have traveled as far as Asia and Australia.
Joe Biden and Donald Trump are the most likely nominees for the 2024 presidential election, but you won't see many new books about either this fall. A Barnes & Noble official says there's “an exhaustion of interest" in political titles right now, even in books about Trump, Biden's immediate predecessor in the White House.
Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte goes on sale Thursday in the U.S. and Canada, as it does each year when the nights start getting longer and the fall winds gather.
Wondering what to watch this weekend? This week we have a wacky combo of a bat mitzvah battle, Jake Paul, and a weird medieval podcast.
A man in Georgia set a Guinness World Record for having the most Batman memorabilia.
Cheddar News explores how you can enjoy a more affordable getaway while staying local. The TWA Hotel at JFK Airport in New York City offers a day getaway with convenience and nostalgia as added ingredients.
