re: Question Regarding Black Unemployment

Same thing at MIT.

Sowell is exactly where I learned about the problem of mismatching from.

He actually testified before Congress on the matter in the Robert Bork confirmation process.

LINK

He was owning everyone's arse on that fine day...especially Biden.

quote:

---

I really do believe that affirmative action is not the problem you all think it is. It was never about putting people into positions they did not earn.

---

************WALL OF TEXT WARNING************
******************NO TL;DR******************

Ideally it was not put into place to do that, but you have to remove the intent and look at the outcome. I almost lost my first job in radio because we had no blacks employed at the station (it didn't matter that none had ever applied). The FCC had strongly hinted to the owners that if they wanted their application for a new CP (construction permit, for another station) to be approved it would better their chances if this were to be fixed.

To resolve this our program director had to go out and actively recruit from Southern for a position we did not have. I was doing evenings (early 90's, lite rock station) and thankfully the management liked me enough to only cut my shift from six hours to four. The new person (she was a gem of a person but had one of the worst radio voices I've ever heard) worked two hours a night Monday-Friday.

I worked for CenturyTel (now CenturyLink) for a few years. One small department had the task of updating phone records (names/addresses) for 911 dispatch. One employee was a gay. black male who spent ~75% of his time on the phone, the other employee was an older white woman (early 60's) who did the lion's share of the work. Although the manager noted everything and tried to counsel the black male, HR kept him on a short leash because corporate was worried about the possible fallout that might come from his firing (regardless of how justified, no business wants to see Jesse or Al show up on their doorstep with a choice of "pay us or we protest that you are racist").

This sort of result is what happens when you try to implement a quota system. If a business cannot quickly find a qualified black candidate, they'll take someone that will just make do to avoid the appearance of impropriety. While it may satisfy some outside viewer, inside it creates dissatisfaction and resentment among workers that actually work (regardless of race - I've watched a hard-working black woman at my job ream the screaming shite out of a black man who was absolutely worthless and hired because a quota needed to be filled).

Intent vs. Reality.

This is also the problem we see with the setup of the welfare system in general. The result of the system rewards poor life choices; the more babies you have on your own, the more money you get. This has been absolutely devastating to the black family.

Where the black community is at now is that roughly 75-80% of black children are born into single-parent homes with many of those being on some sort of government subsidy and many of those are doing so in a generational manner. What it boils down to is that due to this cyclical nature poor, black communities are more apt to teach this as an accepted way of life than poor white communities.

This, I believe, is why black immigrants tend to do better than native-born blacks ( LINK). Without a system in place to allow them to survive in poverty they realized they had to work to achieve. By coming here and working they improve their lot in life, this opens them up to the realization that where they came from doesn't have to be their permanent reality. They work harder, get educated and are often more successful.

By contrast, little D'andre growing up on Plank Road sees his only path as (to put it simply) "thuggin' it and luvin' it". Not only because it's the only thing he knows, it's the only thing everyone he knows knows. This is his reality and it's fed by the allowance of cyclical dependence on government subsidies.

(and now for my rant I've posted here many times over the years)

You can put the best teachers in the world in a school in such a community, give them the best equipment and great funding and the effect will be negligible. Why? Because the moment those kids leave that environment they are once again inundated with the philosophy of making the poor life choices that permeates their neighborhood.

My idea on a solution is to end the war on drugs and use that money to fund a series of professionally run boarding schools that are states away that take the place of these failing schools in these failing communities (voluntary enrollment, no one would be forced into it). You simply aren't going to "fix" these failing family units so the best option is to start re-training the young to teach them there is a better way (a way they might otherwise never get exposed to).

quote:

---

or are you just assuming that most white people have motivation where blacks don't?

---

As a per capita, apparently so.

The problem is that while the Civil Rights Era brought about much needed reform in workplace and education discrimination practices, this was also the time when the War on Poverty began (which created the welfare state). Having had the short end of the stick financially, a much larger per capita of black families than whites were prey for well-meaning subsidy programs. As they glommed onto the programs to better themselves the regulations (both at the time and new ones that came up as the programs went on) ended up creating far more of a dependency class than could have been envisioned. This is why you saw many of youths of the Civil Rights generation of blacks succeed while the following generations lost ground.

Had this War on Poverty started 50-100 years later we may well have seen a completely different racial paradigm (or even none at all).

Upvote for your sincerity, v; though the charts/stats you present are generally disputed...by another *research* entity.

And therein may be part of the problem you see in the Black/White hiring differential. If I were an employer...two things would come to mind in picking who to hire out of two 'certified' employees...one Black...one White.

Right off the bat...the Black one comes with baggage. Try to fire them for underproduction, etc....civil suit potential coming. That is the real world. Not worth the risk, given all other things are equal.

Also, just like I can question the validity of stats per the Source...I can legitimately question the credibility of the Black Applicant's certification/real ability, as we know that common standards of academic have mostly been abandoned in order to 'raise' Black stats. That is a poison; kinda like Meuller hiring Hillary Lawyers to investigate Trump.

Another hard truth. Given that most Blacks now come from Fatherless families (Whites gaining ground fast), it is a real chance that they bring psychoses and negative Cultural beliefs (against Whites) to the table. Witness the support of violent, rebellious Groups like BLM as a prime indicator of inner psychology. Would I want that person on my 'team'...all other things being equal? Nope. Trouble coming.

These are 3 things that come to my mind. Of course, I'll get "push back", and it don't matter over and above the facts IRL. Problems can only be solved if they are correctly diagnosed.

I will admit holding sympathy for the 'underdog'; and Blacks have been traditional 'underdogs' as it's a White Nation. I love to see the good guy win against the odds. Good guy...being critical.

You sound like a good and honest guy. There will always be stuff we do not know. Good luck. God speed.

quote:

---

the culture (not culcha) in America has changed. People are seemingly A-OK with generational poverty, with devaluing education, with devaluing the traditional family unit, with devaluing a "can-do" attitude.

---

Is this an assertion you can back up with facts?

quote:

---

Is this an assertion you can back up with facts?

---

Why should he? You never back any of your drivel with facts, and when people do provide facts, you change the subject.

quote:

---

Why am I the bad guy exactly? (Note: I am white.)

---

I don't buy into the 'White Privilege' Meme, N; and as such don't think you are by default (re your skin color) a "bad guy". I don't think there are any bad people on this Forum; they would be slammed. I employ MLK's "content of their character" criteria in judging good and bad. I do believe that Whites have been/are "privileged"; but I think they know it and HAVE acted accordingly. It was Whites who wrote a Document which ended slavery; even knowing it would be costly and problematic; even Lincoln wanted to ship Blacks back to their Homeland. It has been. Still is. Getting worse before better most likely.

I do believe that different Races have different strengths and weaknesses. Give me all the Black football/basketball players and you take the White ones...I'll bet the farm and beat you 9 out of 10.

I don't think I understand how your statement about affirmative action connects to the discussion of disparate unemployment rates between blacks and whites. Affirmative action arguably helps blacks with opportunities at job advancement and educational opportunities, but I have a hard time seeing how affirmative action has much impact, one way or the other, on a group's unemployment rate in an economy like this one where jobs are relatively plentiful (if not exactly what job seekers hope to find).

A couple of factors I did not see addressed:

geographical distribution - how do blacks compare with whites in similar areas? could some of the disparity be explained by the clustering of blacks into areas with few job opportunities of the type available to large numbers of blacks?

race/racism - Talk about hard to quantify but I have to suspect that some employers (perhaps especially small employers) may favor whites or others over blacks).

"Cash jobs" - I have no data to support this but it would be interesting to see if studies have been done to determine if blacks are more prone than whites (or others) to work "cash jobs" that don't readily appear in employment statistics.

very interesting discussion and you posted good materials to consider. I would like to hear more about why/how you view affirmative action and unemployment to be so connected.