VC Joe Lonsdale’s tweets about ‘woke’ tech diversity spark investor pushback

(Techcrunch) Last week, in response to a Black entrepreneur who said VCs are racist, venture capitalist and entrepreneur Joe Lonsdale attributed disparities in venture capital investing to “average black culture.”

“A real view: average black culture needs to step it up and stop having as many kids born out of wedlock (statistical indicator of underperformance) / who don’t value education or spend as much time on homework,” wrote Lonsdale in the now-deleted series of tweets.

The opining of Lonsdale, who co-founded Palantir and runs the early-stage venture firm 8VC, prompted swift criticism from a number of tech investors, many of whom called on Lonsdale’s advisors and limited partners — which include the likes of Yahoo founder Jerry Yang, Box CEO Aaron Levie and actor Leonardo DiCaprio — to speak out against the entrepreneur’s actions.

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