Black in America: the image that is portrayed
Virginia Davis
Issue date: 10/8/08 Section: Campus Life
On Tuesday, September 23 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. the Fraternity brothers of Omega Psi Phi hosted the forum, "Black in America" in the University Student Center. On July 24, 2008 the controversial review entitled "Black in America" premiered on CNN, stirring lots of commotion in the African-American community. The stereotypical review addressed racial issues, such as why black men cannot get jobs as fast as white men and how black people are negatively portrayed by mainstream America. Fraternity brother, Garrett Mitchell states that the purpose of the forum was "to get a variety of responses from young African-Americans about the issues that are addressed in these clips."
In one segment, entitled "Black Men and Jobs," the audience is introduced to a 32-year-old African-American man named Corey who has been jobless for months. Even after several interviews with employers, he still did not seem to have any luck. Corey applied online for a merchant stocker position and was told to go to the store and meet with the store manager. The store manager gave him a paper application and told him that he will be contacted. However, Corey never received the phone call that he awaited. A few months later, Corey went on another interview seeking the position of an overnight stocker. He received the job, but was only allotted a part-time position that made a little over minimum wage. Corey is a high school graduate, who has college credits, computer skills, and no criminal background. So why does Corey have such difficulty getting a good job? Statistics show that an African-American man with a criminal background has almost no chance of getting a job; however, even Corey, with no criminal background, still has extreme difficulty finding employment.
The CNN review stated that black men are more likely to have difficulty becoming employed because the common thought for employers is that they are lazy, do not dress appropriately, and often seem intimidating. Mitchell continued by mentioning that black people being lazy and lacking proper attire are excuses, "the problem has nothing to do with laziness, the problem is that [businesses] are intimidated by black people and racism is the problem."
In one segment, entitled "Black Men and Jobs," the audience is introduced to a 32-year-old African-American man named Corey who has been jobless for months. Even after several interviews with employers, he still did not seem to have any luck. Corey applied online for a merchant stocker position and was told to go to the store and meet with the store manager. The store manager gave him a paper application and told him that he will be contacted. However, Corey never received the phone call that he awaited. A few months later, Corey went on another interview seeking the position of an overnight stocker. He received the job, but was only allotted a part-time position that made a little over minimum wage. Corey is a high school graduate, who has college credits, computer skills, and no criminal background. So why does Corey have such difficulty getting a good job? Statistics show that an African-American man with a criminal background has almost no chance of getting a job; however, even Corey, with no criminal background, still has extreme difficulty finding employment.
The CNN review stated that black men are more likely to have difficulty becoming employed because the common thought for employers is that they are lazy, do not dress appropriately, and often seem intimidating. Mitchell continued by mentioning that black people being lazy and lacking proper attire are excuses, "the problem has nothing to do with laziness, the problem is that [businesses] are intimidated by black people and racism is the problem."
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