The
Black Wall Street Times reported on a new Labor
Day study from Pew
Research Center that shows Blacks still
face greater obstacles in the US labor force than other racial and ethnic
groups—and absolutely waaaaay more obstacles vs Whites.
Pew Research Center
noted key issues—which directly and indirectly mirror Adland—in the following
areas:
• Blacks make up large
shares of laborers in certain transit, health, and security jobs—which bears similarities
to Adland, where Blacks have historically been designated
to roles such as mailroom
attendant, receptionist, security, janitorial maintenance, and Chief
Diversity Officer.
• Blacks generally earn
less than US workers overall—and given that Adland still struggles with gender
pay gaps, woefully
underrepresented Black women probably
receive less than White women.
• The unemployment rate
for Blacks is the highest of any racial or ethnic segment and about twice the
rate for the US overall—in contrast to Adland, where Black underrepresentation
is second only to Indigenous Peoples.
• Blacks are most likely
to say they’ve experienced discrimination at work—although in Adland, White
women are more likely to officially report offenses.
• 25% of US laborers say
that being Black makes it harder to succeed at work—a percentage that is undoubtedly
much higher in Adland.
• Majorities of Blacks
see racial and ethnic bias as a major problem in hiring and performance reviews—in
comparison to Adland, where even Whites
admit that Blacks face increased bias in hiring and
retention.
• Blacks especially
value diversity in their workplace—which is a major reason why Blacks are less
attracted to the exclusively
White Adland.
• While the vast
majority of Blacks support DE&I at work, many give employers low marks in
the area—for Adland, this is underscored by the not-so-quiet quitting of Chief
Diversity Officers in recent years.
Happy Labor Day!
Black workers
unequal on Labor Day 60 years after I Have a Dream
The new study from Pew Research
Center, just in time for Labor Day, shows a rising tide does not equitably lift
all boats.
By
Deon Osborne
The
1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was supposed to end employee
discrimination in the economy, but a new Labor Day study from Pew Research
Center shows the issues that burdened Black workers in 1963 continue to hinder
their economic mobility today.
Over
260 years after the end of slavery, the new poll from Pew Research Center shows
a majority of the 21 million Black American workers still feel the chains of
Jim Crow throughout the entire economy system.
Black
Americans remain more likely to work in lower-paying jobs that require more
physical labor, earn less than their white coworkers, face an unemployment rate
that is double the national average, and experience discrimination in hiring,
retention and promotion.
Notably,
no other group holds more support for diversity, equity and inclusion programs
in the workplace than Black Americans.
Yet
“when it comes to their own employer’s DEI efforts, 28% of Black workers say
their company or organization pays too little attention to increasing DEI – the
largest share of any racial or ethnic group,” the study found.
President
Biden has celebrated the lowest Black unemployment rate in modern history as
the economy recovers from record-high inflation. Yet the new Pew Research
study, just in time for Labor Day, shows a rising tide does not equitably lift
all boats.
A
relic of Jim Crow: Black workers in a segregated economy
For
instance, Black Americans are more likely to work in certain industries and
specific roles. Despite making up roughly 13% of the workforce, Black employees
are heavily concentrated in physically demanding or in-person jobs as opposed
to an office or remote position, the study found.
They
make up larger shares of postal service clerks (40.4%), transit and intercity
bus drivers (36.6%), nursing assistants (36%), security guards and gambling
surveillance officers (34.5%) and home health aides (32.5%).
Meanwhile,
Black workers are underrepresented in higher paying industries such as
engineering and some science occupations.
“One
hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst
of a vast ocean of material prosperity,” Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr. said
on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in front of a crowd over 250,000 people
during the 1963 March on Washington.
A
systemic gap in the economy
A
century after Americans fought to end slavery, including 179,000 Black soldiers,
Jim Crow laws and customs kept Black Americans in a second-class status. On
this Labor Day, the study from Pew Research Center reminds us of the barriers
that remain.
Even
though U.S. Supreme Court cases had begun to strike down racist segregation
laws around the nation, the rulings hardly changed hearts and minds. From
employers to even unions, Black workers faced rampant discrimination in both
the South and the North.
Black
migrants who traveled North to find better opportunities were placed in the
least favorable conditions. Some were even attacked by Northern whites who were
against competing with Blacks for jobs or being drafted in the Civil War.
“…because
blacks were subject to discriminatory practices. Blacks often occupied the most
unskilled and menial jobs in the shipbuilding industry. Many blacks performed
the most arduous tasks, such as cleaning the yards and other outdoor work,
which required hard physical labor,” Cuahutémoc Arroyo wrote for the Jim Crow
Museum.
Like
in the 1960s, Black employees see racial discrimination and a lack of
educational training resources as the primary barriers preventing transitions
to more lucrative work, according to the Pew Research study.
Black
workers face barriers on Labor Day
In
addition, Black workers continue to earn less. Specifically, they earn $878
compared with $1,059 for all U.S. workers in the same age group, Pew Research
found. In total, the U.S. unemployment rate for August 2023 stood at 3.8%, a
measurement that only counts those actively looking for work.
Meanwhile,
the Black unemployment rate for the same month was nearly twice as high at
5.8%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In
fact, U.S. leaders would claim the economy is in a recession if the national
unemployment rate was as high as the Black unemployment rate.
The
Economic Policy Institute took an average of unemployment rates between 1963
and 2012. It found that on average, the white unemployment rate was 5.1%
compared to 11.6% for Black workers.
“Thus,
over the last 50 years, the black unemployment rate has been at a level typical
for a recession or higher,” EPI stated in the 2013 study.
Cashing
the check of justice on Labor Day
As
Americans celebrate Labor Day a decade later, Black workers say racial
discrimination presents a high barrier to cross. About four in 10 (41%) Black
employees say they’ve experienced discrimination in hiring, pay or promotions
because of their race or ethnicity.
It’s
a higher share than any other ethnic group. Only 25% of Asian American workers,
20% of Hispanic American workers and eight percent of white American workers
say the same, Pew Research found.
Only
one percent of Black employees say increasing DEI in the workplace is a bad
thing. Nearly 80 percent say it’s a good thing. Yet for most of them, they say
their own employers don’t share the same enthusiasm.
As
far-right state and national figures build up fear and hate against racial
justice, time will tell if the nation’s bank of justice is bankrupt. In
response to racial uprisings in the 60s, the drafters of the 1968 Kerner
Commission Report sought to find systemic solutions.
Its
three recommendations included: creating programs on the scale of the problem,
aiming the programs for high impact in the immediate future to close racial
gaps, and undertaking new experiments to change the system.
It
remains to be seen whether the nation’s leaders will take action on the
decades-old report. Yet some still have hope.
“We
refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of
opportunity of this nation,” Dr. King said over 60 years ago. “And so we’ve
come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of
freedom and the security of justice.”
