Two middle-aged black men are sitting near the front, discussing job prospects. Somewhere near Harborview, one mentions a position he is particularly interested in, which offers, among other perks, union wages and benefits. The other scoffs.
“Let me tell you something: Seattle has black jobs and white jobs. If President Obama went down there and applied, he couldn’t get one of those jobs.”
I know that de facto segregation and employment prejudice still is/are around, but I’ve hoped that it will die soon. I’m old enough to remember reading the want-ads headed by categories Men, Women, Colored, etc. One of my first job interviews was with a restaurant manager who was distressed because she was no longer allowed to hire “Filipino boys” to bus tables, and “Colored girls” to serve on the buffet line… Times are still changing, and I hope they continue to change for the color-blind better!
“I’m old enough to remember reading the want-ads headed by categories Men, Women, Colored, etc.”
The sex-segregation of job ads only ended in 1972. You don’t have to be that old to remember it…. it can be easy to forget how recently that actually happened.
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