Why is the Black unemployment rate double that for whites?

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Air date: 
Wed, 07/06/2011 - 12:00am
Why is the Black unemployment rate double that for whites?

 Hosted by Lisa Loving

Why has the Black unemployment rate stayed double that for whites since the 1940s? Lisa Loving's guest today is investigative reporter Andy Kroll of Mother Jones and TomDispatch.com. His recent article is,"What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Jobs: How Racism, Global Economics, and the New Jim Crow Fuel Black America's Crippling Jobs Crisis." He writes, "Nationwide, the unemployment rate for black workers at 16.2 percent is almost double the 9.1 percent rate for the rest of the population. And it's twice the 8 percent white jobless rate. ... Since the 1940s, the jobless rate for blacks in America has held remarkably, if grimly, steady at twice the rate for whites. The question of why has vexed and divided economists, historians, and sociologists for nearly as long." Read it here  Call in 503-231-8187

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