Asian Americans don't have as much of a history of economic and political oppression (There was some, obviously, especially during WWII.), and the culture strongly encourages working hard to excel at school, helping them then get good educations and break out of the initial poverty cycles that formed when Asians first came over and were exploited by railroad companies and the like.
But if you look at startups for other minorities--Hispanics, African Americans--I think it is pretty true that they are not well-represented.
I think this misses the point. In Silicon Valley, several minority populations are well-represented in the startup community. In particular, many startups are started by Asians and by people born outside the U.S. These groups are much less represented in Atlanta, and it's a catch-22 but this makes it tough for Atlanta to attract those startups.
If you read news about Startup Riot on the front page of HN in the past week, it is run by Sanjay Parekh, another successful Indian American entrepreneur out of Atlanta.
I am Indian American and I cofounded a startup in Atlanta last year. I have yet to experience any bias. I have worked in Silicon Valley at a startup and the startup community in Atlanta is at least as welcoming to minorities as in the valley. The valley attracts more minorities simply because there are more opportunities
Nearly 80% of the engineering team at CipherTrust consisted of Chinese, Indian and African American engineers.
California in general may be much more liberal than Geogia but Atlanta is a very very open minded place not just for ethnic or racial minorities, there is a thriving gay community in Atlanta. If you visit us, take a stroll in midtown some day so that Atlanta may disabuse you of false notions about the South.
"So that's why I've come to the gayest part of America: Alabama!"
I apologize for the previous flippant, un-nuanced comment that I snuck in while coding. It's a bad habit.
I am formally attached to 3 early stage startups outside of my day job. In total these startups are comprised of 50% White and 50% Asian cofounders.
Another that I helping is founded by a young lady out of Ghana.
To say that minority populations are not well represented in the Atlanta startup community is not a statement based on first hand knowledge.
But since someone opened the door and let the big elephant in the room, I am going to go ahead and admit that it's standing there. The sub-culture of technology startups is dominated by white males. Minorities are not represented at the same proportion of their general population percentages anywhere in the country. I am not saying its right and we should all work to correct the issue. But it is. Look at the YC companies. Look at the TechCunch50. Look at Demo. Saying that it's just Atlanta is unfounded stereotyping.
It would be much more beneficial to discuss Atlanta and other cities on the criteria that PG laid out. In my article I pointed out that Atlanta could be more tolerant. The city is not alone.