Facebook has a problem with black people, former employee charges

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That's the assessment of Mark Luckie, a former employee who says racial discrimination is real, both on the company's Silicon Valley campus and on the social media giant's platform.

A Facebook post he shared withmanagement andemployees earlier this month and released publicly on Tuesday exposes racial fault lines that Luckie says should be a matter of grave public alarm, with the lack of representation and agency of black people inside Facebook directly affectinghow black people on Facebook are treated.

Blacksand Latinoshave long been excluded from major tech companiesin Silicon Valley, even as recognition grows that thelack of diversity undercutsthe ability of companies to build technology that appeals to a broad cross-section ofconsumers. Tech workers, who have historically been reluctant to publicly criticize their employers, have begun speaking out morethis year, hoping to rattle the status quo.

In an emailed statement, Facebook spokesman Anthony Harrison said the company is working to increase the range of perspectives of those who build its products.

Facebook's highest-ranking black executive, Ime Archibong, responded to Luckie on Twitter after Luckie posteda privatemessage exchange between them in which Archibong took him to task for sharing his Facebook post with the entire company.