“Only whites”: Tech company shocks with racist job advertisement – and deletes its own website

Shitstorm
“Only whites”: Tech company shocks with racist job advertisement – and deletes its own website

Even modern societies struggle with discrimination against minorities. However, it is rarely found as openly as in an American job advertisement.

It’s a suspicion that creeps up on many members of minorities: Did I just not get the job because I wasn’t blonde enough? A job advertisement in Texas has now made no secret of the discrimination: only white people should be accepted. Applicants shouldn’t really know that.

At first glance, the advertisement for Arthur Grand Technologies, a company registered in Virginia, published on the job platform Indeed is a completely normal job advertisement. They are looking for a business analyst for sales and insurance claims processing in Dallas, Texas, they say. It is a permanent position, hybrid work is possible, the wage is $75 an hour. But then comes the point that is not only unusual, but also gave the company a proper shitstorm: “Only citizens born in the USA (white)”, says an additional note.

Racist blunder

It was obviously not meant for the public. In addition to the skin color, the ad also specifies that the candidates should only be recruited from a radius of 60 miles (almost 96 kilometers) around Dallas. And then clarified in parentheses. “Do not share this information with the applicants”. So the discrimination seems to have been intended as an internal instruction that accidentally ended up in the tender.

When the ad was discovered, the reaction was corresponding. Screenshots of the ad spread rapidly on social media. “It’s just illegal” a user on Reddit was startled. The wave of outrage finally reached the company. And she reacted in panic.

panic reaction

First, the ad itself disappeared. In a statement on Linked.in, the company said the “offensive” ad was posted by a “former employee” without the company’s knowledge or direction. However, as “Vice” discovered, this is an edited version of the text. In the first version, the company named a newly hired, very low-ranking employee as the person responsible. However, the company did not reveal whether the error was in the information about skin color itself or in its publication.

Overall, Arthur Grand Technologies currently prefers to keep a low profile. The company’s Twitter and Facebook accounts have disappeared. The company has even taken its website offline. The company made it clear that they would no longer respond to press inquiries. You want to “avoid chaos”. It might be too late for that.

Sources:job ad (via Archive.org), Newsweek, Vice, Reddit