The current unemployment rate across the country is at 6.1%, down from 6.4% in June, the highest since 1993 when the unemployment rate was at a whopping 6.9%. During the last two years, the rate has increased slightly, only dropping for brief periods, but overall the rate has risen and remains high compared to recent trends.

In analyzing the data as it pertains to race and ethnicity, the rates also remain quite steady. At any point in time, Blacks have the highest unemployment rate than any other comparable race in the country. If at any of those times you have asked yourself why, or have heard any reasons given by economic experts as to why this is so, what answers do you or did you come away with?

Most of the time, analyst suggests that Blacks are at a disadvantage when it comes to skills and education. And this may be true when compared to whites. Other times the reason is that Blacks are not given a fair chance because of the biased hiring practices by many businesses, and this also may be true when compared to white workers. However, how does the Black unemployment rate remain so high as compared to races that have not even been in America as long as Blacks have?

Asian and Hispanic unemployment rates are better than Blacks, and Blacks, it seems, are always double that of white unemployment. Whether the reason is because of lack of skills or prejudice hiring practices, it seems that the Black unemployment rate will always remain stagnant as compared to other races. This can safely be assumed when looking at the chart below.

Unemployment Rates by Race

		White	Black	  Asian	   Hispanic

2003:	Jan.   5.1     10.3     5.6      7.8        
      	Feb.   5.0     10.5     6.0      7.7             
      	Mar.   5.8     10.2     6.5      7.5        
      	Apr.   5.2     10.9     5.8      7.5        
      	May.   5.4     10.8     5.1      8.2              
      	June.  5.5     11.8     7.8      8.4        
      	July.  5.5     11.1     6.2      8.2       
      	Aug.   5.4     10.9     5.9      7.8        
	Sept.  5.3     11.2     6.2      7.5
	
	
2000:		White	Black	  Asian	   Hispanic

		3.5      7.6     3.6      5.7
		
		
1993:		White	Black	  Asian	   Hispanic

		6.1      13.0  ......     10.8		

In 1993, the Hispanic rate was as high as the Black rate but at present the Black rate is almost twice as high as the Hispanic rate. Could this be because Blacks continue to not get the skills they need? Very doubtful. Many Hispanic workers have no skills at all but their unemployment rate is much lower. This could be partly due to the fact that Blacks will not accept some of the lower-paying jobs that Hispanics take.

Another reason is that more Blacks have better education and are pushing for higher positions in fortune companies. Also, many Blacks want better opportunities than just the low-wage jobs. This is understandable. Blacks have worked at low-end jobs all of their existence here in this country; serving, waiting, shining, and other service jobs and are tired of being maids and servants to the white man's fantasies.

But because Blacks are seeking better opportunities this puts them in direct competition with Asians and other white workers, and this is where prejudice comes into play. Because of stereotypes in connection with the white man's theory of Intelligence, Blacks have to suffer at yet another form of racism.

The point is that looking at the data above, it seems that no matter how the economic wheel turns, Blacks will have higher rates of unemployment than any other race, and the answer to yours and anyone else's question as to why can be summed up this way:

"The success of Blacks in America is merely a game engineered by the wiles of the white man. Regardless of their achievements, intelligence, or abilities, the Black population is and always has been the target of white oppression in all points of society, and only when the white man discovers that he is the problem and not Blacks, will anything ever change, which will probably be the day the white man becomes extinct."

© 2003 by AfroStaff