SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — In a latest tweet, Shaun Maguire, a accomplice at Sequoia Capital, posted about New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani saying “Mamdani comes from a tradition that lies about all the things. It is actually a advantage to lie if it advances his Islamist agenda.”
“Why is he saying that about any tradition? That’s inherently problematic. That’s making a stereotype. That’s making sweeping generalizations that’s extremely biased. It is racist,” says Nadia Rahman, a political activist based mostly in San Francisco.
Rahman says when somebody like Maguire, a accomplice at one in all Silicon Valley’s strongest enterprise capital corporations, places out a tweet like this which has over 5.5 million views since Tuesday afternoon, it normalizes hate.
“Somebody who’s in his position, and of his stature, sharing anti-Muslim, racist rhetoric, and never dealing with any penalties for his statements, normalizes these problematic concepts. And it offers permission for others to do the identical,” suggests Rahman.
Sequoia Capital has funded tech giants like Apple, YouTube and Nvidia.
In a uncommon rebuke, greater than 900 tech founders despatched an open letter to Sequoia Capital asking it to denounce Maguire’s feedback. The letter claims that Maguire has a documented sample of anti-Muslim rhetoric over the previous two years. The letter additionally states: “We can’t settle for management from a agency whose companions interact in hate speech and unfold bigotry.”
Sequoia Capital didn’t reply to a request for remark.
“I felt the necessity to make a video explaining why I posted this. I imagine that Zohran Mamdani is a wolf in sheep’s clothes. I do not assume he’s who the world thinks he’s. I do not assume he’s solely a socialist. I imagine he’s additionally an Islamist,” Maguire stated in a new put up on X, a 30-minute-long rebuttal to the criticism he confronted about his tweet.
Maguire, who states that he’s Jewish within the video, apologized for offending anybody. He says he was making an attempt to make a distinction between Muslims and Islamists, who he described as followers of Islamism, a “political ideology like Communism.”
However Maguire says he will not again down. He continued to assault Mamdani, elevating issues over Mamdani’s stance on the Israeli-Palestinian battle, and attacked Mamdani’s father’s scholarship, who’s a professor at Columbia College, accusing each males of being Muslim radicals.
Maguire concluded the video by saying, “(He) is utilizing the identical methods because the Ayatollahs in Iran, resulting in the revolution there. And that we’re in for very, very critical chaos in American if we do not take these kinds of threats significantly.”
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Maguire has his supporters, too. In a letter to Sequoia Capital, they praised Maguire, saying that they “commend his brave stance on important points dealing with our trade and society.”
However many are additionally elevating issues concerning the higher affect this could have on Silicon Valley.
Dilawar Syed spent three many years working in Silicon Valley and served as Deputy Administrator of the Small Enterprise Administration within the Biden administration. He’s calling out Maguire. He referred to Maguire’s tweet as “Islamophobic,” including that tech leaders want to talk out as to not normalize bigotry.
“What I’m involved about is, in case you are an entrepreneur at this time, and you’ve got a fantastic concept on beginning a brand new enterprise or breakthrough tech, would you’re feeling comfy, would you wish to interact on this ecosystem, once you see this type of divisive discourse on-line,” says Syed. “You additionally wish to see how the group responds to this when you’ve gotten rhetoric that denigrates a complete tradition, and full individuals. So, I’m involved that we won’t be able to take care of our aggressive edge in the USA.”
“It is a transformational second with what’s happing with AI. And all our focus must be how will we truly domesticate an surroundings the place individuals really feel comfy, they really feel supported, and we will go on to construct massive extra issues and make our nation extra aggressive,” says Syed.
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