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Comment by dijit | Hacker News Reader

Thats a somewhat uncharitable interpretation.

As you are almost certainly aware, the majority of racial problems in the US boil down to the very simple fact that black people are on average of low socio-economic standing; and if there is one thing the US system is geared against its any person of low socioeconomic standing.

Put succinctly:

You might consider that its ok to pay differently based on if you’re in Los Angeles or Bryan, Ohio- but would you feel the same if pay was different depending on if you lived in Inglewood vs Santa Monica?

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The racial disparity situation in America (and all over the world) is complex enough a topic that it cannot be boiled down to such a simple explanation. I encourage you to research the various systemic challenges people of color have faced since they were forcibly relocated here such as redlining[0], loan discrimination[1] and examples of literal war crimes committed against black communities that have been swept under the rug for reasons[2].

[0] - https://www.marc.org/news/economy/history-racial-discriminat...

[1] - https://www.investopedia.com/the-history-of-lending-discrimi...

[2] - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/10/move-1985-bo...

Thats a somewhat uncharitable interpretation.

No, it isn't. And you are trying to tie racial issues to pay issues via correlative methods, instead of causative.

Inglewood and Santa Monica are close enough to require the same level of income in order to afford a certain standard of living. Sure the standards of living may not overlap much, but they are on the same scale.

That's not true of California and Ohio in general.

Regardless of Ohio or California: you're saying that companies should pay less based on the income of their neighbourhood and you don't agree that it will disproportionately affect people of colour.

Interesting perspective, I don’t think I agree though.

Not income of their neighbourhood, but the cost of living in their city/state. It needs to be a big enough region that a good job gives social mobility, but introducing California wages into Ohio would cause massive inflation there, driving normal people into poverty. At the same time nobody could live in LA on Ohio wages.

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