The Disproportionate Overrepresentation of Minority Youth in ...

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Q: Do you feel that a black person who has the same education and
qualifications can get as good a job as a white person
A: Probably not.
In another interview, a white youth believes that job opportunities for blacks are equal
but when probed further responds, “No, cause they don’t think that they could do that.
They’re black. They’re different.” When asked what this statement meant, the white
youth goes on to say, “Black people think they can. I think it’s the employers that think
black people should or could not do that because they don’t want a black person working
for them.”
A black youth responds to the question, “Is the system equal If you have the
same qualifications, education, can you get the job” by saying, “I think so, but lots of
black and white people say ‘you’re nothing but a nigger, you’re not going to make it’.”
There was one white youth who felt job opportunities were “better” for blacks
than for whites.
Some black people have a better chance than white people just because,
say a big corporation doesn’t have that many black people working for
them, it’s smarter for them to hire a black person than a white person.
The Native American youth have different perceptions of the availability of job
opportunities. The Native American youth, for the most part, believe that job
opportunities for them is poor. The blame for the lack of opportunities, however, does not
lie on racial discrimination. The youth overall have mixed emotions for the source of the
problem. Several feel that many Native Americans have serious problems with alcohol
and drugs. Another problem area is education. One Native American youth felt that
whites had better opportunities because they (whites) like school. The implication here is