Nathan Newman notes a new study of race and hiring practices. The study he cites is here in PDF. Nathan also quotes the BNA Labor Report about the study:
The study that sent specially trained pairs of black and white job applicants to temporary employment agencies in Los Angeles and San Francisco found a "significant preference" for white applicants over slightly higher qualified African Americans...The agencies favored white applicants by a ratio of 4-to-1 in Los Angeles and more than 2-to-1 in San Francisco.
As examples, it said a white applicant was granted an interview, while the black counterpart was not; a white applicant was offered a job with a higher salary or for a higher duration; and a white applicant was the only one to be offered coaching or suggestions for resume improvement.
This is why I have such a hard time taking opponents of affirmative action seriously: they never seem to deal with the reality that racism is very much a problem in this country. If you are opposed to affirmative action, you must first tell me what you are going to replace it with. Because today, right now, if you are not white, you are going to have a harder time getting a job, a raise, or an interview because and only because you are not white. Tell me how you are going to deal with that, and only then will I pay attention to what you have to say about affirmative action.Because affirmative action is the only program that has any concrete effect on overcoming that prevalent racism. If you are going to remove it without putting something in its place, then all you are doing is acquiescing to that racism. I do not consider that a valid option.