One 51% of Black males in New York employed. WTF?
 

NBC carrying this sorry report centering around the ancient sad tale of "do you think racism has anything to do with the low number of black males employed?" But they missed the greater point for me:

51.8% Black males (NY) employed
65.7% Hispanic males (NY) employed
75.7% White males (NY) employed

BIG fucking difference between that and the "unemployment" figures the government throws around - which only count those actively looking for work. Those that gave up are no longer counted - big irony. Hard to believe that even with whites, the highest employed segment, have 24.3% without employment. And 48.2% of blacks?

What the hell? Back to the racism issue. It's real damn hard to get a job when a too-sizable percentage of your race have their asses in jail for one crime or another, are casually thought of as potential criminals (sorry, but it's like a lot of black people say...when you see a young black male behind you on a dark street your first thought is to wonder if he's gonna rob your ass), and possibly never finished high school (poor urban blacks have low graduation rates).

Hispanics, otoh, are often thought of as hard workers (mexicans, at least) that will work low end jobs without complaint. They are often bi-lingual, as well, which can be a plus in many areas.

Racism Disclaimer: Said enuf to get my ass roasted with "racist" replies but gfy.

:helpme

Blame Bush

Maybe they've got the edge. just maybe. Don't get offended dudes!

My black friends are more lazy about work than other races . Most them are over 20 and still live at their mama's house

Webmasters?

work fascinates me.
I could watch it all day.
sometimes I have.
don't have any desire to do work myself though.

Very well said.

I didn't want to get flamed for adding "thought of as lazy" to my post. :1orglaugh

...but from what I've seen most young whites look pretty lazy, too.

Friend of mine (who's white btw) was offered a first job. 40+ hours a week "unofficial." Turned it down because it was too much work.

I don't know. I see kids these days come out of college and high school with zip. No education - real education, don't even know what D-Day is, for example. Math scores in this country are for shit (see NYTimes editorial on this one). And no real work ethic. I don't get that. Even if I won Powerball, and was able to move wherever I wanted, I'd have to work (for myself, of course, doing exactly what I wanted to do). I can't just sit around and do nothing all the time.

49% unemployment doesn't surprise me. Well, I wish it did. So much of our "news" is sugarcoated beyond belief that the movie Wag the Dog looks tame. I mean, who came up with the term "jobless recovery"??

It all goes back to education. And one of the biggest arguments people keep making against socialized medicine, etc., is that it teaches people to rely on the government for everything. So, if capitalism is so much better, why is everything shot to shit?

No money for education, since we're told it's best that kids with the financial advantage get the educational advantage as well. Those of us not from rich parents who got scholarships are stuck with the debt for it for years. And kids get out of high school without being able to do simple math and grammar. For America to get its advantages back, decent and equal education - at least to Second World standards if not First World like every other western nation - is only the start.

[begin political rant]
People bitch about jobs going overseas, and true, that's a big problem made worse by a government on the take. A politician I won't dare name but have utmost respect for explained that free trade which serves employees, not just employers, does so much more. It makes labor and employment standards equal everywhere - so jobs stop leaking. It gives workers who would otherwise be slave laborers financial and political clout - and in turn the ability to re-shape other countries into compatible democracies.

Our media goes on and on about the so-called exalted position America has, but I've seen little evidence of that whenever I've gone to other countries. BBC, news in our closest ally, is analyzing the "American Empire." Most of Europe feels the same way. Even Germany's public toilets are more technologically advanced than ours. Time for this country to stop talking a great game and doing something real.

Our gov doesn't see that the greatest, historically speaking, value of America is its innovation. Not the Soviet-style mass production of its workers - its innovation. And the fewer companies that control that pile of innovation, the less innovation there will be. Monopolies kill innovation. We're taxed an extra fifteen percent just for being self-employed (and I realize that's to cover the social security we won't have, but, ok)- why not a fifteen percent tax credit for self-employment? Wouldn't that jump start the engine a lot better than giving Halliburton no-bids in Iraq??

OK, I'll drop the rant. I just get so mad because I see how this country is, so to speak, going down the rabbithole.
[/end rant]

-doug

Maybe because they are hardworking.

I don't believe any of the numbers the govt puts out anymore.