[Peace-discuss] racial discrimiantion alive and well

[Ricky Baldwin]

Thanks, Lisa-

These results are consistent with previous research on
the subject, I believe.  For a riveting read along
these lines, I recommend (for whatever my
recommendation is worth) Black Americans' Views of
Racial Inequality: The Dream Deferred by Lee Sigleman
and Susan Welch, Cambridge University Press, 1991.

It'll keep you up at night.

Ricky
--- Lisa Chason <chason at shout.net> wrote:
> From the Wall Street Journal
> > >
> > >By David Wessel -- Wall Street Journal - Sept 4,
> 2003
> >
>
>http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB106262466678910800,00.html
> > >
> > >Two young high-school graduates with similar job
> histories and
> > >demeanors apply in person for jobs as waiters,
> warehousemen or other
> > >low-skilled positions advertised in a Milwaukee
> newspaper. One man is
> > >white and admits to having served 18 months in
> prison for possession
> > >of cocaine with intent to sell. The other is
> black and hasn't any
> > >criminal record.
> > >Which man is more likely to get called back?
> > >It is surprisingly close. In a carefully crafted
> experiment in which
> > >college students posing as job applicants visited
> 350 employers, the
> > >white ex-con was called back 17% of the time and
> the crime-free black
> > >applicant 14%. The disadvantage carried by a
> young black man applying
> > >for a job as a dishwasher or a driver is
> equivalent to forcing a white
> > >man to carry an 18-month prison record on his
> back.
> > >Many white Americans think racial discrimination
> is no longer much of
> > >a problem. Many blacks think otherwise. In
> offices populated with
> > >college graduates, white men quietly confide to
> other white men that
> > >affirmative action makes it tough for a white guy
> to get ahead these
> > >days. (If that's so, a black colleague once asked
> me, how come there
> > >aren't more blacks in the corporate hierarchy?)
> > >A recent Gallup poll asked: "Do you feel that
> racial minorities in
> > >this country have equal job opportunities as
> whites, or not?" Among
> > >whites, the answer was 55% yes and 43% no; the
> rest were undecided.
> > >Among blacks, the answer was 17% yes and 81% no.
> > >The Milwaukee and other experiments, though
> plagued by the
> > >shortcomings of research that relies on pretense
> to explain how people
> > >behave, offer evidence that discrimination
> remains a potent factor in
> > >the economic lives of black Americans.
> > >"In these low-wage, entry-level markets, race
> remains a huge barrier.
> > >Affirmative-action pressures aren't operating
> here," says Devah Pager,
> > >the sociologist at Northwestern University in
> Evanston, Ill., who
> > >conducted the Milwaukee experiment and recently
> won the American
> > >Sociological Association's prize for the year's
> best doctoral
> > >dissertation. "Employers don't spend a lot of
> time screening
> > >applicants. They want a quick signal whether the
> applicant seems
> > >suitable. Stereotypes among young black men
> remain so prevalent and so
> > >strong that race continues to serve as a major
> signal of
> > >characteristics of which employers are wary."
> > >In a similar experiment that got some attention
> last year, economists
> > >Marianne Bertrand of the University of Chicago
> and Sendhil
> > >Mullainathan of the Massachusetts Institute of
> Technology responded in
> > >writing to help- wanted ads in Chicago and
> Boston, using names likely
> > >to be identified by employers as white or
> African-American. Applicants
> > >named Greg Kelly or Emily Walsh were 50% more
> likely to get called for
> > >interviews than those named Jamal Jackson or
> Lakisha Washington, names
> > >far more common among African-Americans. Putting
> a white-sounding name
> > >on an application, they found, is worth as much
> as an extra eight
> > >years of work experience.
> > >These academic experiments gauge the degree of
> discrimination, not
> > >just its existence. Both suggest that a blemish
> on a black person's
> > >resume does far more harm than it does to a white
> job seeker and that
> > >an embellishment does far less good.
> > >In the Milwaukee experiment, Ms. Pager dispatched
> white and black men
> > >with and without prison records to job
> interviews. Whites without drug
> > >busts on their applications did best; blacks with
> drug busts did
> > >worst. No surprise there. But this was a
> surprise: Acknowledging a
> > >prison record cut a white man's chances of
> getting called back by
> > >half, while cutting a black man's already-slimmer
> chances by a much
> > >larger two- thirds.
> > >"Employers, already reluctant to hire blacks, are
> even more wary of
> > >blacks with proven criminal involvement," Ms.
> Pager says. "These
> > >testers were bright, articulate college students
> with effective styles
> > >of self- presentation. The cursory review of
> entry-level applicants,
> > >however, leaves little room for these qualities
> to be noticed." This
> > >is a big deal given that nearly 17% of all black
> American men have
> > >served some time, and the government's Bureau of
> Justice Statistics
> > >projects that, at current rates, 30% of black
> boys who turn 12 this
> > >year will spend time in jail in their lifetimes.
> > >In the Boston and Chicago experiment, researchers
> tweaked some resumes
> > >to make them more appealing to employers. They
> added a year of work
> > >experience, some military experience, fewer
> periods for which no job
> > >was listed, computer skills and the like. This
> paid off for whites:
> > >Those with better resumes were called back for
> interviews 30% more
> > >than other whites. It didn't pay off for blacks:
> Precisely the same
> > >changes yielded only a 9% increase in callbacks.
> Someday Americans
> > >will be able to speak of racial discrimination in
> hiring in the past
> > >tense. Not yet.
> > >
> > >ONLINE RESOURCES
> > >*For Pager's paper, soon to be published in the
> Journal of Sociology,
> > >see http://www.northwestern.edu
> >
>
>[http://www.northwestern.edu/ipr/publications/papers/2002/WP-02-37.pdf]
> > >*For Bureau of Justice Statistics data, see
> http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov
> >
> >[http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/piusp01.pdf]
> > 
> 
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