This column,
in USA Today, is unfortunately indicative of our inability to talk or debate
any subject without bringing the matter of race immediately to the
forefront. With it comes the question of
expectations and legitimacy. Dr. Julianne Malveaux,
as president of “a
small, private, historically Black liberal arts college for women” clearly has
a social and political agenda to push. She
makes the statement that Black citizens will bear the brunt of layoffs when federal
and state governments when they begin the inevitable process of downsizing. To me that means these layoffs will push more
Blacks out of work than non-Blacks. Yet
her numbers do not support her supposition.
Perhaps as an economist she
is trained to ignore the obvious and see deeper meaning in the math, or perhaps
there are facts not in evidence in the article that she attempts to
convey. For example, she talks of the
financial difficulties of the Post Office and its need to close offices and
terminate 100,000 employees. She then
says 21% of the workforce is Black.
Taken at face value those two statements suggest that 21,000 (more or
less) Black employees should be laid off, if the layoffs are non-discriminatory.
That would leave 79,000 (more or less) non-Black workers laid off. I don’t see the brunt of layoffs being
carried by the Blacks here, unless there is some other determinant, for example
the layoffs and closing will come in areas that are predominately minority
areas where a larger percentage of the workforce is Black. That qualifier is never discussed.
When talking of the public
sector workforce she outlines how a greater percentage of Blacks then
non-Blacks have entered that force because earnings and advancement
opportunities are greater than in the private sector for them. Why is that?
Is it because there is little competition for advancement in the public
sector, and once you have your job historically you are not likely to loose it,
or since the organization is not profit driven it will maintain all workers,
not just those who strive to excel?
At what point do we focus on
building a strong economy and not using the government to further experiments
in social engineering? At what point do
we hold all citizens equal with the same rights and entitlements? When does race become not the focus of our social
arguments but a reason to celebrate our individual heritage and diversity?
2 comments:
It reminds of little kids. They will use whatever is at their disposal to get their way. They will scream bloody murder if you don't give in. That is, if experience has led them to believe that this is an effective strategy. And it has been.
What is unfortunate, I think, is that the Civil Rights movement achieved splendid successes without this kind of racist thinking. It was only late in the game that these petty grievance mongers got involved and somehow gained influence. I probably shouldn't say "somehow." They gained influence because politicians saw an opportunity to pander and get votes.
So how does it end? I'm thinking that it will end if there is no electoral advantage for politicians pandering to this type of behavior.
blacks are only 15% of the population, yet hold 21% of the govt jobs???
this just reinforces what we already know when i was growing up: the discrimination in govt work force. it was no secret that getting a govt job was more difficult if you were white.
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