Note: The Skinny blog is written by Rick Smith, editor and co-founder of WRAL Tech Wire and business editor of WRAL.com.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – Whether blacks face racism or receive favoritism among tech entrepreneurs and startups in Silicon Valley has erupted into a web war of words.

Right in the middle of it is Triangle tech entrepreneur Vivek Wadhwa, who is now an academic and researcher with a focus on engineers and immigration issues at Duke University, Georgia Tech and elsewhere. (Read recent posts from Wadhwa here on diversity, and his call for a “black Zuckerberg” plus the high-tech visa, immigration debate here.

Setting off the flame wars filled with vitriol on all sides is a forthcoming CNN documentary from Soledad O’Brien as part of her Black in America series.

Titled “Black in America: The New Promised Land: Silicon Valley,” which airs Nov. 13, O’Brien focuses on the lack of black entrepreneurs in the Valley. What ignited the debate was a screening of it last week in the Valley and comments made by Michael Arrington, the founder of the popular website TechCrunch who now is a venture capitalist.

He is shown saying: “I don’t know any black entrepreneurs.” Other comments follow that indicate favoritism for black entrepreneurs, and those remarks triggered even more fireworks. 

Arrington responded with a blog at Uncrunched in which he criticizes O’Brien and CNN for ambushing him.

O’Brien responded with a blog of her own on Monday in which she denied that charge and insisted that Arrington knew ahead of time the focus of the questions he would face.

Also in the video, Wadhwa is cited for his role in mentoring minorities through a new startup accelerator “NewMe.”

“The NewMe accelerator is partially sponsored by Mitch Kapor, a white entrepreneur who created Lotus 1-2-3. He believes that Silicon Valley is not a meritocracy,” O’Brien wrote in her blog.

“His views are included in our documentary, as are the views of Duke professor Vivek Wadhwa, a mentor to the black tech entrepreneurs in the NewMe accelerator, who encourages them to find a white man to front their companies.”

Are we living in a post-racial world?

Do I really have to ask that question?

Read here for more about the documentary.

Read Arrington’s blog here.

Read O’Brien’s response here.

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