Black Job Loss Déjà Vu
/Think the typical job-loser in today's
economy is a white computer programmer whose job has been outsourced to
India? Think again.
The "Great Migration," in which millions of black people left the South to take factory jobs in the North and the Midwest, was a pillar of black employment. In the 1970s, these same people were laid off in droves as their jobs were shifted overseas or back to the low-paying, nonunion South. History is now repeating itself, with the 2001 recession hurting black workers more than any previous recession. Moreover, African Americans are feeling the pain of unemployment much more than their white counterparts, with black unemployment rising twice as fast as white unemployment. [more]
The "Great Migration," in which millions of black people left the South to take factory jobs in the North and the Midwest, was a pillar of black employment. In the 1970s, these same people were laid off in droves as their jobs were shifted overseas or back to the low-paying, nonunion South. History is now repeating itself, with the 2001 recession hurting black workers more than any previous recession. Moreover, African Americans are feeling the pain of unemployment much more than their white counterparts, with black unemployment rising twice as fast as white unemployment. [more]
