> on a societal level white people don't suffer from prejudice so there can be no comparison to the racism people of color face
You can only argue that this is true in "white" countries (I'm not even sure if I would agree that it's a country-wide thing either). In Asia, this statement is _far_ from true -- white people are very much stigmatised (especially in Japan). The world is much bigger than California.
> because societal influence is a strictly zero sum game.
Employment, especially in the tech industry, is far from a zero-sum game. There are more job openings than university graduates. "Societal influence" is such a hazy term that I'm not sure I can make any meaningful comment on it.
White skin is still looked at favorably in Japan. Japan isn't very open to any kind of outsiders, but white people still get treated much better than black people or darker skinned Asians. Western/European beauty standards also dominate Japanese culture.
That said, the subject was Github's diversity program, and Github is in California. So Japan really doesn't have anything to do with it.
Instead of worrying about immaterial discrimination against white men, perhaps worry instead about people who actually suffer from discriminatory practices. Just google "diversity in silicon valley" and you'll find plenty of articles (with charts) showing you exactly how widespread real discrimination still is.
You can only argue that this is true in "white" countries (I'm not even sure if I would agree that it's a country-wide thing either). In Asia, this statement is _far_ from true -- white people are very much stigmatised (especially in Japan). The world is much bigger than California.
> because societal influence is a strictly zero sum game.
Employment, especially in the tech industry, is far from a zero-sum game. There are more job openings than university graduates. "Societal influence" is such a hazy term that I'm not sure I can make any meaningful comment on it.