Newspaper Page Text
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February 1981
Page 4 - NEWS
Analysis
Why Black Women are “Marketable”
By Emmett Carson
Contributing Writer
There has been a great deal of
speculation as to why black employment
rates have been decreasing relative to
whites, while simultaneously black
unemployment rates have been increasing
relative to whites. This is an interesting
situation because in this period of
declining affirmative action many
collegiate blacks have been duped into
believing that labor market
discrimination is an illusion of the past
and not the reality of the present. It is also
interesting because black women must
realize the precarious state of black
economic progress and that their actions
will have a very profound effect on it.
Many black women truly believe that
the remarkable employment
opportunities now before them are a
result of their own merits. While that
might be the exception in some isolated
cases, the truth of the matter is that they
are classified as a double minority — i.e.,
black and female. Employers, who must
meet federal hiring regulations, gain
government service contracts by hiring
black women over black men. White
women who are also classified as
minorities are also hired over black men
because they are more readily
incorporated into the corporate world.
Finally, white men are also hired over
black men because labor market
discrimination still exists to the detriment
of all minorities. As one can easily discern
from this analysis, black men are the least
employable of all mentioned above.
advantage of every opportunity to move
ahead, but to realize the circumstances of
their advancement. If black women view
their progress as being separate from the
progress of blacks as a whole they will be
creating an unbreechable gap. A gap not
only between the socio-economic status
of blacks relative to whites, but also
TABLE ONE
1960 1977
Employment Black White Black White
Employment Population Ratio 55.2 54.0 51.1 57.9
Unemployment Rate 10.2 4.9 13.1 6.2
TABLE TWO
The job opportunities available to
black and white males and females is
Labor Force Participation Rates
borne out by their respective “labor force
participation” rates. Labor force
Black Males
1960
1970
1977
participation refers to the number of
18 yrs. — 19 yrs.
71.2
61.8
57.8
persons in a particular group who are in
the labor Force divided by the total
25 yrs. — 34 yrs.
Black Females
96.2
93.7
90.4
number of persons in that category. As
18 yrs. — 19 yrs.
44.3
44.7
44.8
one can note from table two, black male
labor Force participation rates have
25 yrs. — 34 yrs.
White Males
49.7
57.6
66.5
undergone a sharp decline, while black
18 yrs. — 19 yrs.
69.0
67.4
74.9
female labor Force participation rates are
increasing tremendously.
25 yrs. — 34 yrs.
White Females
97.7
96.7
96.0
This article does not advocate that
18 yrs. — 19 yrs.
51.9
55.0
63.8
black women reject the opportunities
now before them. To the contrary, this
25 yrs. — 34 yrs.
34.1
43.2
58.3
article encourages black women to take
*These statistics were obtained from Julianne Malveaux’s article,
“Shifts in
the Employment and Occupational Status of Black Americans in a Period
of Affirmative Action.” It can be found in the Rockefeller Foundation
Working Papers Bakke, Weber and Affirmative Action, December 1979.
between black male and female Morehouse College, is now pursuing a
relationships. doctoral degree in economics at
Emmet Carson, a former student of Princeton University.
The Phil Donohue Show was
recently taped in Atlanta to inform
America about the tragedy of the
missing and murdered children.
Police Commissioner Lee Brown;
Mrs. Camille Bell, mother of the
late Usef Bell; Ms. Jean Blake,
WAGA reporter, and a mother of
one of the missing children were
guests on the show.
Photo by Phyllis Jones
Fourteen Professional Black Women Honored By
The Collections Of Life And Heritage
ATLANTA, Ga. — Fourteen black
women of Atlanta, Georgia who are
regarded as “tops” in their respective
professional fields were honored by the
Collections of Life and Heritage, Inc. last
December in “A Tribute to Black
Women.”
The tribute was the corporation’s first.
Although only Atlanta women were
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honored, all black women were honored
symbolically, “Collections” Vice
President Isabel Gates Webster
explained, because it is through the
contributions of all that the foundation is
laid for greater achievement, stability and
survival among all black people.
The non-profit corporation preserves
“in a permanent multimedia display of
sights and sounds the historical and
cultural heritage of black Americans,”
and serves as an educational /
informational center and teaching
museum of the African-American
experience.
The awards program was hosted by
state Sen. Julian Bond and television
anchorwoman Roz Abrams. Mrs. Jean
Young served as honorary chairperson
and Mrs. Juliet Blackburn-Beamon as
chairperson. Dr. Anna Harvin Grant,
professor of sociology and department
head at Morehouse College, delivered the
keynote address.
Among those honored was Mrs.
Evelyn G. Lowery, national convener of
the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference’s SLC/ WOMEN. She was
cited for her committed work in civil
rights. Although the organization is only
approaching its second birthday, Mrs.
Lowery is no neophyte in civil rights
work. She grew up in an environment of
civil rights leadership because of her
father’s involvement in the NAACP,and
she is married to a veteran of the civil
rights movement, SCLC President Dr.
Joseph E. Lowery.
Dr. Lowery had the honor of
presenting Mrs. Lowery with the award.
He is an honorary board member of the
Collections of Life and Heritage.
Additionally, honored in community
service was Ms. Margaret “Ma” Green,
president of the Southern Hearts and
Hands Foundation for the Handicapped;
in business, Ms. Rosita Holsey, president
of Atlanta Management Analysts
Systems; in education, Mrs. Verna
Henderson; in fine arts, Ms. Kathleen
Peters, assistant professor of art at
Atlanta Junior College; in government,
Ms. Geraldine Thompson, a government
administrator; in law, Atty. Savannah
Potter, an assistant district attorney; in
literature, Ms. Alice Lovelace, a writer,
poet and actress;in media, Mrs. Hattie K.
Jackson, a local television community
Continued on page 8
