Why black workers who do everything right still get left behind

[Dusty Bake Activate]

Why black workers who do everything right still get left behind

We’ve known for a while that black Americans aren’t making economic progress. A recent report from the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, shows that the black-white wage gap is now the widest it has been since 1979. What's more interesting, though, is how inequality has been increasing, and for whom.

It used to be that low-skilled black workers suffered the greatest disadvantage relative to their white counterparts. But there has been a strange reversal in the past 40 years. EPI finds that the black-white wage gap has become wider — and is widening faster — among those with more education.

This chart illustrates the history of the wage gap among men with less than 10 years of job experience. The early years are the most crucial in a person’s career, and also the most sensitive to fluctuations in the job market.

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“We have minimum wages, but there isn’t a wage ceiling,” Wilson said. “There’s much more room for discrimination and inequality at the top. What’s happened is that the top one percent have really pulled away.”

Income growth in recent decades has been limited, more or less, to the highest echelon of earners, a group that is overwhelmingly white. Out of every 1,000 households in the top 1 percent, only two are black, while about 910 are white. And so, as economic forces lifted the incomes of the 1 percent, the blacks on lower rungs of the economic ladder have been largely left behind.

Much of those income gains were concentrated among financial-sector workers and corporate executives — occupations where blacks remain highly underrepresented. In part, African Americans are not given the same opportunities to rise; lawsuits have accused Merrill Lynch, for instance, of systematically discriminating against its black brokers. And in part, black workers simply don’t have the right connections to get ahead.

“Finance and management still remain very white-dominated, and those are the occupations that are seeing the highest rates of return,” Harvard sociologist Devah Pager, who was not involved in the study, said in an interview. “And to an extent, those kind of jobs are filled through elite networks that African Americans have been historically excluded from.”

These facts help explain why a recent Pew Research Center survey shows that African Americans with more education perceive more economic inequality. Among blacks with four-year college degrees, 81 percent say that blacks today are financially worse off than whites. But among blacks with no college experience, only 46 percent agree with that statement.

Pew also finds that college-educated blacks are more likely to report personal experiences with discrimination, and more likely to say that being black makes it harder to get ahead in life.

The data suggest an irony: By climbing the economic ladder, African Americans get perspective on the full system of inequality in America.

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No matter your race, the world can appear fairly egalitarian if you and all your neighbors are working for minimum wage at Walmart. But graduating college introduces people to new dimensions of disadvantage. If you’re a minority on Wall Street or at a corporate law firm, where the rewards are larger but also much more unevenly distributed, you may become more attuned to how discrimination leads to denied promotions and missed opportunities to impress the bosses.

The widening black-white wage gap isn't just occurring at the top, Wilson and Rodgers say.

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In 1979, the median wage for white workers was $16.89 an hour, while the median wage for black workers was $13.89 — a gap of about 18 percent. By 2015, that gap had increased to 26.2 percent. This means that even among middle-class workers, whites have been outpacing blacks.

The researchers blame this largely on rising discrimination, which they say may have resulted in part from the increasingly lax enforcement of anti-discrimination laws. That is one of the few explanations left after they controlled for a slew of other factors, including differences in education levels, local labor market conditions, industry structure, unionization rates and years of experience.

The EPI report adds to a sense that the economy is biased against black progress. We know that the Great Recession was especially damaging to African American wealth. We know that black people are more sensitive to downturns in the job market; they have a harder time finding a job, and are among the first to be fired when the economy seizes up. We know that for the past 50 years, the black unemployment rate has always been double that of the white unemployment rate.

Now, it is undeniably clear that rising income inequality — one of the major economic problems of our time — disproportionately impedes black workers. Perhaps this should have been obvious. But the people who steer the economy, who are trained to think in terms of faceless consumers and anonymous firms, don't always recognize the racial consequences of their decisions. That might change soon. Many politicians have been urging the Fed recently to recognize how its actions would specifically affect African Americans. Because when the economy's rewards are unevenly distributed by race, economic policy implicitly becomes racial policy.

 

[Jimi Swagger]

Of course Whites have more generational wealth and we know why it is what is is, but moving forward... The government is not going to look out for the disenfranchised. Value education, family planning and delay instant gratification and employ their own.
Just follow the steps of Asian Pacific people. They are the most educated and the highest income per capita.Also learn how to negotiate your salary instead of taking whats offered. Another thing Asians are good at is negotiating.

The wage gap is only 5% with a bachelors degree, and partially that is because most do not negotiate and take "base" salary. Get bachelor's or experience in viable fields and stop pushing people to be truck drivers and wonder why in a generation we are still in the same situation.

 

[ⒶⓁⒾⒶⓈ]

I disagree with this part

The researchers blame this largely on rising discrimination, which they say may have resulted in part from the increasingly lax enforcement of anti-discrimination laws. That is one of the few explanations left after they controlled for a slew of other factors, including differences in education levels, local labor market conditions, industry structure, unionization rates and years of experience.

The far bigger factor in my opinion is networking and cronyism...having the right people to put your name on the shortlist for advancement goes a longer way than working your ass off to get the right amount of attention.
Who you know is a far bigger factor than how brilliant you are or how hard you work,These old boy networks from schools,fraternities,family,social clubs like the Shriner,Freemasons,Rotary and so on.There is lack of a significant black presence in these networks so when a vacancy opens up the names on the shortlist are not likely to be black.

 

[Serious]

I disagree with this part



The far bigger factor in my opinion is networking and cronyism...having the right people to put your name on the shortlist for advancement goes a longer way than working your ass off to get the right amount of attention.
Who you know is a far bigger factor than how brilliant you are or how hard you work,These old boy networks from schools,fraternities,family,social clubs like the Shriner,Freemasons,Rotary and so on.There is lack of a significant black presence in these networks so when a vacancy opens up the names on the shortlist are not likely to be black.

In short nepotism.

 

[Dusty Bake Activate]

Of course Whites have more generational wealth and we know why it is what is is, but moving forward... The government is not going to look out for the disenfranchised. Value education, family planning and delay instant gratification and employ their own.
Just follow the steps of Asian Pacific people. They are the most educated and the highest income per capita.Also learn how to negotiate your salary instead of taking whats offered. Another thing Asians are good at is negotiating.

The wage gap is only 5% with a bachelors degree, and partially that is because most do not negotiate and take "base" salary. Get bachelor's or experience in viable fields and stop pushing people to be truck drivers and wonder why in a generation we are still in the same situation.

Sounds like this guy didn't even read the article. And of course he throws in some tired shyt about being like Asians.

 

[Serious]

Sounds like this guy didn't even read the article. And of course he throws in some tired shyt about being like Asians.

Could it be an alternate gundumb account

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Get bachelor's or experience in viable fields and stop pushing people to be truck drivers and wonder why in a generation we are still in the same situation.

@ @BrothaZay getting strays

 

[Street Knowledge]

Because you have to go to people who hate you for a job.

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

same reason illegal immigrants get better job opportunities than many black citizens.











Decoding discrimination in America’s temp industry

Decoding discrimination in America’s temp industry
Jan 9, 2016
UPDATE, April 16, 2016: Reporter Will Evans followed up on what’s happened since we first told you about the discrimination many temp workers face. An updated version of the original episode can be heard below.





Business is booming for staffing agencies across the country – the temporary jobs sector is one of our fastest-growing industries in terms of employment. But there’s another side to the temp world: a blatant system of racial discrimination that evokes practices of America’s pre-civil rights era.

This hour of Reveal will explore this type of discrimination and look at how it’s affecting people around the country. We begin in Tennessee with two sisters, born in Russia, who ended up recruiting workers for a temp agency. And they claim some people were hired not based on their résumé, but on the color of their skin.

DIG DEEPER

• Read: Alabama temp agency to keep discrimination probe results secret

SEGMENT 1

Julia B. Chan and Will Evans

Oksana and Anastasya Istomin worked together at a Tennessee branch of Automation Personnel Services, a staffing company where they say they were asked to hire people based on their race.
Credit: Kevin D. Liles for Reveal
When temp agencies fill orders for a worker of a certain race or gender, that’s illegal. So some use code words like “vanilla cupcake,” “country boys” or “blue eyes” to hide the discrimination. (Hint: Those are all codes for white workers.)

This segment digs into one staffing agency with branches across the South, where former employees said some clients demanded white workers. Others wanted Latinos.

Reveal’s Will Evans talked to dozens of former employees of Automation Personnel Services, who told him that this type of discrimination was common. Recruiters, office managers and sales reps from six states said Automation often would send out temp workers based not on their experience or skills – but because of their race, age or gender.

DIG DEEPER

• Read: When companies hire temp workers by race, black applicants lose out
• Interactive: Can you guess how certain code words were used?

SEGMENT 2

WBEZ
Temp-worker organizer in Chicago confronts racial divide
By Julia B. Chan

Job seekers fill the waiting area of one of Chicago’s many staffing companies, hoping to be selected for temp work in a factory, warehouse or food-processing plant.
Credit: Chip Mitchell/WBEZ
The first modern industrial staffing company was founded 70 years ago in Chicago. Today, the city and its suburbs are ground zero for blue-collar temp work, with about 900 registered temp offices.

But many black workers are convinced they’re not getting their share of the work.

From WBEZ, reporter Chip Mitchell tells the story of a labor organizer who’s pushing what would be the nation’s first law addressing temp-work discrimination. To get the bill passed, he says he needs some temp workers to make a big sacrifice.




SEGMENT 3

Julia B. Chan and Al Letson

Signed July 2, 1964, by President Lyndon B. Johnson, the historic Civil Rights Act outlawed job discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. It also created an agency to enforce that ban: the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Credit: AP file photo
We’ve come a long way since the 1963 March on Washington. Or have we? The civil rights movement and an epic fight in Congress led to a slew of reforms and efforts to eliminate discrimination.

Host Al Letson delves into the turbulent history and interviews Clifford Alexander, the first African American to serve as chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, who believes we’re still battling some of the same problems the federal agency was established to eradicate.




CREDITS

Support for Reveal is provided by The Reva and David Logan Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and Mary and Steven Swig.

Track list:

• Camerado, “True Game (Reveal show theme)” (Cutoff Man Records)
• Aphex Twin, “XMAS_EVET10 (thanaton3 mix)” from “Syro” (Warp)
• Christopher Willits, “WIDE” from “Opening” (Ghostly International)
• Tycho, “From Home” from “Past is Prologue” (Ghostly International)
• Beacon, “It Won't Be Long” from “For Now EP” (Ghostly International)
• The Sight Below, “The Sunset Passage” from “Glider” (Ghostly International)
• Pale Sketcher, “Wash It All Away (Cleansed Dub)” from “Jesu Pale Sketches Remixed” (Ghostly International)
• Ben Benjamin, “Toothlike Tokens” from “The Many Moods Of Ben Benjamin Vol. 1” (Ghostly International)
• Ezekiel Honig + Morgan Packard, “Tropical Ridges” from “Early Morning Migration” (Microcosm)
• Jim Briggs, “This Action” (Cutoff Man Records)
• Jim Briggs, “Stalled Out” (Cutoff Man Records)
• Oval, “hmmm” from “Oh EP” (Thrill Jockey)
• Syntaks, “The Shape of Things to Come” from “Ylajali” (Ghostly International)
• Diana Ross and the Supremes, “Things Are Changing” from “Anthology” (Motown)
• Tycho, “Awake” from “Awake” (Ghostly International)

TRANSCRIPT:
Reveal transcripts are produced by a third-party transcription service and may contain errors. Please be aware that the official record for Reveal's radio stories is the audio.

Section 1 of 3 [00:00:00 - 00:14:04] (NOTE: speaker names may be different in each section)
Al: From The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, this is Reveal. I'm Al Letson. When companies need workers, they often call up temp agencies.
Speaker 2: She called me on the phone and said that she had a order.
Al: An order for workers, and here's what they're looking for.
Anastasia: They wanted, you know, the usual, country boys, and I said, "No, I don't know," so she started saying that they like white guys over there and not to send anybody black.
Al: These requests are coming from companies around the country.
Anastasia: They would use a "W" or a smiley face to signal that they preferred a white worker.
Speaker 3: We probably would have some clients who said they only wanted clean-cut white guys. They basically told you exactly what they were looking for.
Al: A look inside America's temp industry where companies use code words to hide blatant discrimination, coming up on Reveal.
Speaker 4: Reveal is brought to you by Squarespace, the all-in-one website platform. Squarespace sites look professionally designed, regardless of your skill level, with no coding required. They are intuitive, easy-to-use tools. Squarespace is trusted by millions of people and some of the most respected brands in the world. You can get a free domain if you sign up for a year. Start your free trial today, at squarespace.com. When you decide to sign up for squarespace, make sure to use the offer code REVEAL to get 10% off your first purchase. That's

 

[theworldismine13]

black people need to learn spanish, so i was told

 

[rapbeats]

Of course Whites have more generational wealth and we know why it is what is is, but moving forward... The government is not going to look out for the disenfranchised. Value education, family planning and delay instant gratification and employ their own.
Just follow the steps of Asian Pacific people. They are the most educated and the highest income per capita.Also learn how to negotiate your salary instead of taking whats offered. Another thing Asians are good at is negotiating.

The wage gap is only 5% with a bachelors degree, and partially that is because most do not negotiate and take "base" salary. Get bachelor's or experience in viable fields and stop pushing people to be truck drivers and wonder why in a generation we are still in the same situation.

you can't follow the footsteps of asians per se. because a lot of asians that are doing well are doing so due to certain hookups their countrymen get based on treaties and agreements the US has with their mother countries. its much easier for an asian with decent credit to get enough business capital/loans, etc to not just start a business but sustain it until it can sustain itself vs blacks trying to apply for the same doe.

you're pushing people to be truck drives because after you get that degree you dont get the raises that your white counterparts get, due to the fact you dont get the opportunities that they get to basically show off your skills to the boss(es). and thats done by design most times. there are times when they wont allow you to work on certain highly visible projects. and it has little to do with your skill vs their skill. whites FAIL UP. blacks do well and can't move up on average.

and when you call the establishment to the carpet on this stuff as a black person. then you become mr or mrs angry black person who's hard to work with. no one plays that card when a white woman goes into full on whine mode even if she doesnt know what she's talking about. or when a white guy goes into full cry baby mode with little to know knowledge of what he's talking about. no one says those types are not "easy to work with" or "can't work well with others." they put that kind of nonsense in your review in your file with or without your knowledge. let alone they assume this when your black a... walks in the room.

now in the meantime. do what you can to make as much as you can legally and morally. and let that be that.

 

[JoogJoint]

Because you have to go to people who hate you for a job.

THIS.

I'm trying to get in a supervisor and management position and I can't catch a break. Meanwhile these f_cks I graduated with getting into VP roles and sh_t.

White Women managers are THE WORST.