As a white person who has experienced imposter syndrome at times in the tech world, I think I would have had a harder time overcoming it if I looked around and never saw another white person. Obviously that is not the case. I suspect giving young black girls someone to look up to is more powerful than people realize. If naming a building helps with that, why not do it?

Also, if we are really going to suddenly be meritocratic above all else, we must immediately remove a lot of names from things. I don't want to get too far removed from engineering, but it's a great argument for getting rid of Confederate names.

Reminds me of what Neil deGrasse Tyson said about being a visible black authority figure of science and knowledge.

> In an undated interview at Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Tyson talked about being black and one of the most visible and well-known scientists in the world. He told a story about being interviewed about a plasma burst from the sun on a local Fox affiliate in 1989. "I'd never before in my life seen an interview with a black person on television for expertise that had nothing to do with being black. And at that point, I realized that one of the last stereotypes that prevailed among people who carry stereotypes is that, sort of, black people are somehow dumb. I wondered, maybe ... that's a way to undermine this sort of, this stereotype that prevailed about who's smart and who's dumb. I said to myself, 'I just have to be visible, or others like me, in that situation.' That would have a greater force on society than anything else I could imagine."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_deGrasse_Tyson#Race_and_s...

Exactly!

It's the same reason we have a black history month in the US but not a white history month, or the same reason we have gay pride month but not straight pride month.

It's because every month is a white history month, and every month is a straight pride month.

A white child in the US is very unlikely to get the impression that their race might make it hard or impossible for them to become an engineer, so there is no need or benefit to specifically pointing out to your child that some great engineer is white.

Not so for a black child. There is a very real possibility that their being black will make it harder for them to become an engineer. Being show other people who faced the same hardships and overcame them can help keep them from getting discouraged.

> Not so for a black child. There is a very real possibility that their being black will make it harder for them to become an engineer.

There's also the very clear benefit of affirmative action that makes it easier to become an engineer, preferential treatment at top schools etc.

While a white child, and even more so an Asian one, might look at laws and statistics and Harvard and realize that, indeed, it is provably harder for them to become an engineer.

Who would say you're racist for showing that white engineer?

Also...I'm not a minority, but I can imagine that if I looked around and there were none of my kind in a position of power, I'd start to think maybe I shouldn't be there.

You can show a white child a picture of a white professional all day long and personally I wouldn't call you a racist.

The issue is that children are much more likely to see a white engineer and a black one, so you’re not really showing your child anything new.