ENG 1020 Employment Discrimination Towards People of Color Essay

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Zhai 1

Jiacheng Zhai

Professor Ellis

English 1021

10 October 2018

Employment Discrimination Towards People of Color

Barack Obama, the first African American president in United States’ history; Oprah

Winfery, the popular talk show host and richest African American in the 20th century; and

Lebron James, the worldwide popular basketball player may give one the impression that

there are no barriers for African Americans in politics, business and entertainment. In fact,

racism has never disappeared in this country, although Congress passed the thirteenth and

fourteenth amendments in 1865 to prohibit slavery by law. The existing systemic racism

includes the wealth gap, employment, housing discrimination and government surveillance.

Employment discrimination shows up when a black and a white graduate student with

completely same ability apply for the same job, the white person is more likely to get the job

due to his race. This social phenomenon leads to unemployment rates of African Americans

that are twice the rate of Caucasians. Employment discrimination towards ethnic minorities

causes a morbid social phenomenon which affects their mental health, social criminality and

their families.

Frequent changing of jobs, unfair wages and the ongoing stress from continually

needing to pay for monthly rent, dietary and commuting expenses causes mental health

disorders and suicide among people of color. Any one of these outside factors could be the

straw that breaks the camel’s back. Vancea, a faculty member of the Department of Political

and Social Science, hypothesizes that a stable working environment and a higher socio-

economic status are favorable to young adults’ health. Based on a study of 1,770 individuals

Zhai 2

and after duplicates are removed, the remaining 1,220 records support her hypothesis. Vancea

states that “the health of young people is vulnerable to high rates of unemployment and

precarious working conditions”. The result illustrates that young people having precarious

employment are more likely to be diagnosed with mental health disorders, unhealthy risk

behaviors and low-quality life. In conclusion, employment discrimination will not only affect

one’s living quality, but also their mental health. (Vancea)

Additionally, unstable employment and the large number of unemployed are one of

the major causes for increasing social crime. In order to control the criminality rate, the

United States’ government has been committed to reducing the unemployment rate. When

discriminated African Americans cannot find a permanent job to satisfy their daily needs,

what can they do? They might steal items from grocery stores, rob people’s belongings in

unlit areas and even kidnap or murder for money. Therefore, the relationship between crime

rates and unemployment rates are obvious. Professor Seziale of Salerno University studied

the correlation between crime rates and unemployment rates in 103 Italian provinces between

2000 and 2005, and utilizing the special mathematic equation called “Crime

”. He concludes

that “past experience in criminal activity has positively affected the decision to commit a

crime with a persistence over time, and unemployment contributes to increased crime”.

According to his studies, the best way to decrease the crime rate is to increase the

employment rate. Consequently, companies should make efforts to eliminate discrimination

in hiring. Maintaining reasonable and fair competition for interviewees when hiring is

essential. (Seziale 3)

Furthermore, compared to other ethnic groups, Caucasians have greater possibility to

be hired in the process of personal interview. Even though Caucasian and African American

interviewee are hired at the same time, it does not indicate that they will be treated equally.

For instance, in the same company, a white and non-white employee will be paid different

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Zhai 1 Jiacheng Zhai Professor Ellis English 1021 10 October 2018 Employment Discrimination Towards People of Color Barack Obama, the first African American president in United States’ history; Oprah Winfery, the popular talk show host and richest African American in the 20th century; and Lebron James, the worldwide popular basketball player may give one the impression that there are no barriers for African Americans in politics, business and entertainment. In fact, racism has never disappeared in this country, although Congress passed the thirteenth and fourteenth amendments in 1865 to prohibit slavery by law. The existing systemic racism includes the wealth gap, employment, housing discrimination and government surveillance. Employment discrimination shows up when a black and a white graduate student with completely same ability apply for the same job, the white person is more likely to get the job due to his race. This social phenomenon leads to unemployment rates of African Americans that are twice the rate of Caucasians. Employment discrimination towards ethnic minorities causes a morbid social phenomenon which affects their mental health, social criminality and their families. Frequent changing of jobs, unfair wages and the ongoing stress from continually needing to pay for monthly rent, dietary and commuting expenses causes mental health disorders and suicide among people of color. Any one of these outside factors could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. V ...
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Tags: people of color barack obama Oprah Winfery lebron james richest African American