A Black and White Job Issue

As someone who knows firsthand the difficulty that many are presented with today, there are different statistics that come out showing who is struggling the most. I am a recent college graduate with a wealth of education, but not a wealth of experience. There are many out there who have that experience, yet they have been or still are in a state of flux and uncertainty. I am lucky that I did find something, but the same can't be said for everyone. And those who do has something, they fear that they too could join the millions without work, benefits, and money.

There are men who for example have an advanced degree from a highly caliber school like Stanford and have a company like JP Morgan Chase on their resume. That same man should feel secure in terms of a job and landing a job. But not all is perfect. This man happens to be African-American. He is proud of his skin color and race and the groups that he has been involved with, but that doesn't mean that those hiring will have the same opinion. Another man is proud of his name, but only uses his middle initial instead of his full middle name to avoid any discrimination. Despite the progress that has been made through civil rights and the election of the first African-American U.S. President, there is still a race curve in American society.

There is plenty of evidence that there are still racial inequalities when it comes to employment. The black jobless rate has long outpaced the white jobless rate. And during this recession, those with college degrees as opposed to those without aren't much better off. Strangely, instead of leveling the playing field, education has only made things more uneven. The unemployment rate for black males who are 25 and older with a college degree is 8.4%. That is nearly twice as high as white males who are 25 and older with a college degree. Take for example, a study that analyzed names. One name might be Jeff and another might be Jamal. The difference? Black sounding names received 50% fewer callbacks than the ones with white sounding names. In addition, white managers as well as Asian and Hispanic managers tended to hire more whites and fewer blacks than black managers.

And the worst part is many times, these qualified black job seekers aren't even given a chance to prove themselves in an interview. They are dismissed early and not taken serious or misjudged. There is not enough evidence to support that these interviews going downhill is solely because the color of one's skin. This fear is something that many black job seeker wonder when applying to jobs, while in an interview, or waiting for a call to interview. Interviewers are more comfortable with those who they feel they can relate to and skin color is a big way to create a similarity or view a difference.

Moreover, a lot of trouble with landing a job is knowing about it. White job seekers are exposed to a higher amount of jobs especially higher end opportunities than blacks. Many black job seekers might want to pull the so-called "race card", but often don't because of accomplished backgrounds, a good upbringing, and President Obama's major achievement. Despite all the setbacks and struggles, there are plenty of companies that do have diversity programs and encourage different races, genders, and minorities to apply. However, even with that bright spot, the recession and successes of prominent African-Americans have lowered the chances of companies using diversity practices.

Many have embraced the successes of men like Barack Obama, but some view those successes as icing on the cake for their struggles landing a job and one that they are qualified for. So, when applying for jobs; many blacks are wondering if they should check the "African-American" box and open the possibility of being put at a disadvantage. Despite the progress that has been made, many are still judged too much by the color of their skin instead of the content of their character. Let's tear down the walls of prejudice and hire the best candidate. If happens to be black, then so be it. That is as clear as black and white.