If business fails us, there is no place to go. —Richard Clarke Black Management Recruiter TO be a black seeking a job today is in many ways like being an
immigrant in one's own country. Like immigrant groups of the past,
blacks are victims of mass suspicion and slander—that they are too
lazy, or too pushy, or not bright enough, or have aptitudes unsuited
for the world of work, or do not fit in. Immigrants —Poles,
Scandinavians, Italians, Irish—have overcome similar slanders and made
their way ahead. But blacks are indelibly different. Because of their
color, they cannot blend into the national melting scene as others did.
In today's technological economy, they generally lack the education and
training to move up. Yet that is the vicious circle: they cannot escape
the ghetto and the inferior ghetto schools until they get at least an
equal chance for jobs and promotions. Many unions and corporations remain closed to all but a token number of
“showcase” blacks. That is one reason why unemployment is usually twice
as high among blacks as among whites and climbs alarmingly to 25% for
Negro teenagers. The nationwide jobless rate is 4,2%, but it is 7% for
blacks. The anti-discrimination laws have certainly been circumvented
in the job area. As long ago as 1941, President Roosevelt signed an
executive order forbidding discrimination by defense contractors; the
1964 Civil Rights Act forbade discrimination in most jobs. Yet, despite
frequent violations, no supplier has ever lost a Government contract as
a result of barring blacks. Help-wanted ads usually carry the legend AN
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER, but company personnel managers
often do as they see fit, and many blacks call the classified section “the
funny pages.” While discrimination exists on all levels of the economy, the focus of
attention lately has been on the blue-collar trades. In the unionized
trades there is an unwritten rule: the higher the pay, the harder for
blacks to get in and get ahead. At latest count, in the high-paying
trades—plumbers, sheet-metal workers, electrical workers, elevator
constructors—less than 1% of the workers are black. Philadelphia
counted proportionately more blacks in skilled trades 70 years ago than
it does today, although its black population has increased by 1,000%. Elite and Excluded. Even A.F.L.-C.I.O. President George Meany admits that
the elite unions used to “discriminate against everybody.” The unions
have loosened up lately, but still work with special dedication at the
job of excluding blacks, who might offer direct competition for jobs
and housing. In order to create an artificial shortage of skills and
keep wages up, unions tightly limit their membership lists. Existing
jobs are often parceled out to friends, relatives and neighbors, or at
least to persons of the same ethnic group. Blacks are concentrated in
the low-paying “trowel trades” and building services, mostly as common
laborers.
