In Devah Pager’s 2003 dissertation, “The Mark of a Criminal Record,” the American Sociologist, best known for her work with racial discrimination, detailed the results of an experiment she hosted where she enlisted young men with similar characteristics to pose as job applicants. She found that a black applicant received a call back or job offer half as often as a similarly qualified white applicant. Even further, she found that a black applicant with a clean criminal record received a call back or job offer as often as a white applicant with a felony conviction. I think this research definitely points to the unfair disadvantage being white has in American society. Nobody chooses what race they are born, and with such distinct statistics detailing the importance of race, it is obviously an unfair disadvantage to be born black in America.
I think your argument on how being born black in America is an unfair disadvantage makes sense. However, when dealing with race, what about the scholarships and opportunities that are open to minorities that are not open to the majority groups, like whites in America? Although there are some disadvantages of being a minority group, I think there are also more and unique opportunities that are presented to them if they seek them.
I definitely think this is a problem too, but not just with black people. I think many Spanish people are discriminated in the work field as well. Once a person hears that the person’s last name is Hispanic, the person is automatically not on par with a person with a “white-sounding” last name. Personally, I am not Hispanic, but I have a Hispanic last name and many people ask me if I’m Hispanic when applying for a job or for scholarships and I feel as though race shouldn’t matter and being asked that is unnecessary.
I agree with the post and both the comments. I think that it is obvious that there is an unfair advantage for anyone that is a minority–black, hispanic, asian, arabian, etc–there are discriminatory things that occur even though the USA is thought of as an anti-discrimination country. Yet, I do also think that being a minority has some advantages only if someone seeks it in the correct way.