Black People : Need Some Input From The Family

Kamau47

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Dec 6, 2005
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First, a little background on my situation.
I have mentioned before that where I live is high unemployment (around 40%), with about an 85% black population.
Now, the company I work for is owned by a group in Spain, and I am the union steward. We have an average of around 70+ employees, but during this time of year, have around 100.
The thing is, there is a high mexican rate at work (around 75%), although they only make up less than 6% of the total population. I constantly see mexicans being hired over blacks. And to be honest with you, I am beginning to be bothered by this more and more, and am considering some sort of action either through the union, or other avenues. But there lies the problem.
If I start making too many waves, I risk upsetting the owners to the point that they could just as well shut the place down. And believe me, I know they would. I don't want to see that happen because around here, jobs are scarce. Also, I spoke with another brother about this today, and he reminded me that a lot of brothers & sisters coming through the door fail the drug test given with 3 days of being hired, or that some have been hired only to not come back on their first break ( the jobs are not hard, but physical & continuous). I told him that though I understood his logic, that you still can't hold every black to that stereotype, that all blacks are not like that. I also reminded him if that was the case then, then blacks are not even being given a chance to prove his/her self, that we are being shut out right from jump.
Family, I want to do something about this, but don't want to make things worse. So my question is simple.............do I or don't I.
 
First, a little background on my situation.
I have mentioned before that where I live is high unemployment (around 40%), with about an 85% black population.
Now, the company I work for is owned by a group in Spain, and I am the union steward. We have an average of around 70+ employees, but during this time of year, have around 100.
The thing is, there is a high mexican rate at work (around 75%), although they only make up less than 6% of the total population. I constantly see mexicans being hired over blacks. And to be honest with you, I am beginning to be bothered by this more and more, and am considering some sort of action either through the union, or other avenues. But there lies the problem.
If I start making too many waves, I risk upsetting the owners to the point that they could just as well shut the place down. And believe me, I know they would. I don't want to see that happen because around here, jobs are scarce. Also, I spoke with another brother about this today, and he reminded me that a lot of brothers & sisters coming through the door fail the drug test given with 3 days of being hired, or that some have been hired only to not come back on their first break ( the jobs are not hard, but physical & continuous). I told him that though I understood his logic, that you still can't hold every black to that stereotype, that all blacks are not like that. I also reminded him if that was the case then, then blacks are not even being given a chance to prove his/her self, that we are being shut out right from jump.
Family, I want to do something about this, but don't want to make things worse. So my question is simple.............do I or don't I.

I understand what you are saying

I worked at a warehouse a while back and they hired nothing but Hispanics....Barely any of them spoke English and I'm almost sure some of them might have been illegal.

Now, my daughter's grandmother (not my mother) has a business and she told me once that they like to hire Mexicans because they are more reliable and that she doesn't like to hire blacks because she felt that they were not as dependable.

Anyways, if you do plan on saying something, what do you plan on saying? Or are you asking what should you say?
 
First, a little background on my situation.
I have mentioned before that where I live is high unemployment (around 40%), with about an 85% black population.
Now, the company I work for is owned by a group in Spain, and I am the union steward...

The thing is, there is a high mexican rate at work (around 75%), although they only make up less than 6% of the total population. I constantly see mexicans being hired over blacks. And to be honest with you, I am beginning to be bothered by this more and more, and am considering some sort of action either through the union, or other avenues. But there lies the problem.
If I start making too many waves, I risk upsetting the owners to the point that they could just as well shut the place down. And believe me, I know they would. I don't want to see that happen because around here, jobs are scarce. Also, I spoke with another brother about this today, and he reminded me that a lot of brothers & sisters coming through the door fail the drug test given with 3 days of being hired, or that some have been hired only to not come back on their first break ( the jobs are not hard, but physical & continuous). I told him that though I understood his logic, that you still can't hold every black to that stereotype, that all blacks are not like that. I also reminded him if that was the case then, then blacks are not even being given a chance to prove his/her self, that we are being shut out right from jump.
Family, I want to do something about this, but don't want to make things worse. So my question is simple.............do I or don't I.

Reminds me of the old thread we had a while back about immigration - common sentiment was that Mexicans were taking the jobs. But how can mexicans take something that the Blacks don't even want? You said yourself they are failing drug tests, and that they aren't coming back after the first week because the job is hard. Apparently the Mexicans are passing the drug test and sticking with the job. Given that - you can't necessarily make a personal case that discrimination when it looks like Blacks are given the chance and then fail.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm sure they are discriminating.... I'm just saying how it looks on the surface. Even I would question a case of discrimination when it seems Blacks are allowed a chance but fail at it at a higher rate than the Mexicans. Numbers would have to be looked at - how many applications of Mexicans versus Blacks are they getting per week/month/year? Compare that to the number of Blacks and Mexicans who actually fail drug test, to the number actually hired, to the rate of retention. This information alone would worth enough to 'make waves' and possibly get more blacks hired.

But you also have yourself to think about. If the company closes, that leaves you unemployed.... but eligible for unemployment. You could submit an anonymous grievance about the possible discrimination. To me - the plant closing because of what you did means little to me. Either they close it or they don't. To those who don't have a job, it won't make much of a difference. To those who do - they can get unemployment and find another. Since most of those are Mexicans and not black..... the loss to blacks won't be that great. So do whatever you feel.
 

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