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FinalCall.com News
National News
Black joblessness much more than a skin-deep issue
By Wendell Simpson
The Philadelphia Tribune
Updated May 11, 2006 - 2:07:00 PM
PHILADELPHIA (NNPA) - Under the draconian provisions of Reagan era trickle-down economics, the Black middle class saw its biggest upward explosion at the same time Black poverty grew by leaps and bounds.
Sadly, in 2006, the paradigm has moved increasingly toward a more desperate poverty level since those halcyon days of upward mobility. While President George Bush consistently asserts that the U.S. economy is on the rebound, economists have noted that 33 percent of the Black community is worse off today than it was 40 years ago. Data corroborate that assessment. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 10 million Blacks, one-third of all Black people in the United States, fit its criteria of “poor.” Numerous experts agree that no factor drives this phenomenon more than the lack of employment opportunities in minority communities.
Segregation, discrimination and a lack of demand for low-skilled labor, coupled with the abandonment of traditional Black urban enclaves by the Black middle class, have exacerbated the deepening crisis.
“Race differences and class differentials have been ground together in this country in a crucible of misery and squalor in such a way that few of us know where one stops and the other begins,” says Henry Louis Gates Jr. in an article from the Black Collegian.
William Julius Wilson, professor of Afro-American Studies at Harvard University and a former adviser to President Bill Clinton, says there are innumerable factors compounding the chronic problem of Black unemployment.
“Some of the problems are racial in nature,” Prof. Wilson said at a recent symposium on Black males held at the University of Pennsylvania. “Others issues demonstrate that the fate of African Americans and other racial groups is inextricably connected with changes across the modern economy.”
He cites globalization, the decimation of the industrial base and a shift toward a service-oriented economy as three of the non-racial factors affecting the jobless. “As Blacks represent a disproportionate percentage of the low-skilled labor force, they are disproportionately affected by the demand for skilled workers,” he says. The movement of employment from the cities to the suburbs is another element affecting Blacks, he said.
“The growing suburbanization of jobs have aggravated the employment woes of inner-city workers,” Prof. Wilson says. “In many cases, this demands that workers have access to a car. But too many poor workers are unable to afford automobiles. Thus, they are unable to reach these jobs.”
He also cites the incarceration rates of Black men as a major impediment to their efforts to secure gainful and meaningful employment and calls the current laws on child support a “labor tax” that undermines the desire of Black men to become a part of the regular job market.
“In many cases, incarcerated African American men have child support obligations,” says Prof. Wilson. “While these men are imprisoned, the support accumulates. Under the current provisions of the court, 36 percent of your income can be garnished for support, and the courts have been granted the authority to take up to 66 percent of your income toward arrears,” he noted. “These excessive amounts force many men to seek employment in the underground or criminal job market, thus setting in motion a vicious cycle of criminality.”
Cornel West, professor at Princeton University and a noted activist, theologian and writer, talked about the paucity of educational opportunities as a pivotal issue in Black poverty.
Speaking at the University of Pennsylvania, he highlighted the dilemma.
“The price of an education disenfranchises people,” says Prof. West. “The average young person graduating from this university is going to be almost a quarter-million dollars in debt. Most Black families cannot afford that kind of money.”
For Black youth, the joblessness issue is even more profound. According to a study commissioned by the National Conference of Mayors in 2003, overall youth unemployment stood at around 19 percent. For Black teens, the rate is an astonishing 45 percent.
In a study on discrimination conducted by Devah Pager, a professor of Sociology at Princeton University, job discrimination is rampant, particularly in the market for low-skilled labor.
According to her random sampling, perceptions on race influence the attitude of most Whites, many of which make hiring decisions.
“Our study showed that one-third of White people believe discrimination explains why Blacks do worse in jobs, income and housing,” she says, “but an overwhelming majority believe that the problem confronting African Americans centers around a lack of motivation.”
Pager says that even though the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission enforces equality in the workplace, discrimination is still difficult to prove.
“However, so pervasive is the negative perceptions of African Americans that, in our study, we found that low-skilled White felons looking for work do better than Blacks with no criminal record by three percent.”
Prof. Pager also cites what she calls “racial channeling” in the job market as a little discussed but pervasive practice by employers.
“Minority applicants are channeled into race code jobs, meaning they’re steered toward the more menial, manual labor-oriented positions,” she explained.
Prof. Wilson says the lack of success in the job market creates a feeling of powerlessness. “One horrific consequence of chronic joblessness among African Americans is that it gives rise to a pathology of inadequacy, particularly among Black males.”
The phenomenon of high-tech job exportation affects those Blacks who have sought higher educational skill sets as a means of staving off unemployment, says A. Bruce Crawley, president of the African American Chamber of Commerce of Philadelphia.
“When people come out of school,” he says, “they can’t find any jobs because the jobs have gone to China or India. And as the public schools have become more and more Black and Hispanic, the training of students in the skilled trades has stopped. The unions have stopped supporting it. If the young people see no connection between education and economic outcome, they are going to stop going to school.”
Mr. Crawley also scoffs at the notion that the American economy is growing. “There is no basis for the claim that the economy is stronger,” he maintains. “General Motors is closing and Ford has laid off 30,000 workers. Where is that strong economy? We can’t keep buying the propagandizing of the current administration. People in the community have to hold the elected officials accountable.”
Prof. Wilson says America has to muster the political will to address the disparities in employment. “The issue isn’t insufficient funds,” he says. “The Pentagon has done a tremendous job of securing finds for the military. Job training is a political issue. Every segment of society has a stake in this issue.”
He continued, “The schools have to begin to include a job placement component, the corporations have to commit to training and investment and the government most begin to fund the efforts that will improve the conditions for the chronically unemployed.
“We need an economic Marshall Plan for the inner city.”
