The Myths around White “Merit”

[ismnotwasm]

Systemic racism persists and flourishes in this country because of an extensive set of racial myths created long ago and aggressively perpetuated by whites in major institutions of this society, decade after decade.

Given this white myth-making, empirical data on what is actually the case often become “radical.”
Consider this pervasive belief. Whites publicly assert that they get most of their jobs over their lifetimes only or mainly because of their merit and abilities. They pedal this fiction to everyone they can, and indeed get many folks of color also accept it as true.

The problem is that it is mostly a grand fiction.

For example, recently conducting hundreds of white interviews, sociologist and university dean Nancy DiTomaso has demonstrated well the important social networking patterns that reproduce great racial inequalities in U.S. employment patterns. Her many white respondents reported that they have long used acquaintances, friends, and family–their personal networks–to find most of the jobs secured over lifetimes of job hunting. That is, they use exclusionary networks. DiTomaso calls this a societal system of “opportunity hoarding.” It is, more bluntly, institutionalized racial privilege and favoritism.

These empirical findings flatly contradict the colorblind view of our employment world propagated by many Americans, and especially most white Americans– that is, the view that in the U.S. economy jobs are secured mainly or only because of personal “skills, qualifications, and merit.” Yet, wherever they can, most white job seekers admit that they typically avoid real job market competition and secure most of their jobs by using their usually racially segregated social relationships and networks.
And, even more strikingly perhaps, most whites do not even care that they benefit so greatly from such an unjust non-merit system—one that exists because of the 400 years that systemic racism has created a huge array of white material, social, and psychological privileges. In her many white interviews DiTomaso did not one white respondent ever openly expressing concern about their use of this highly unjust non-merit system.

http://www.racismreview.com/blog/2013/11/10/the-myths-around-white-merit/

[Cleita]

1. This has to be our big grass roots movement as of

today. We need to work for a racist free society, not only that but a sexist free one, or actually one free of all bigotry. Bigotry is what is ruining this country and the world. We managed to get people to stop smoking or at least having to suffer being around smokers in almost one generation. We can do this if we really try.

[ismnotwasm]

2. Yes

When you step back from everything and look at root causes, this negative "isms" are the most destructive force in society

[AverageJoe90]

5. With you on that 100%. nt

[Baitball Blogger]

3. Bookmarked for later.

This looks like it's talking about their artificial merit system that rewards the good buddies for all the wrong reasons. If you're willing to break the rules in order to protect their way of life, you're in.

[AverageJoe90]

4. It's a okay article, but I do need to address a few things.

Here's the problematic parts:

Whites publicly assert that they get most of their jobs over their lifetimes only or mainly because of their merit and abilities.

And this is actually *largely* true, believe it or not. Of course, this doesn't discount the prejudice that POC *do* still face from time to time, but it is still the case(the same goes for People of Color as well, of course).

Her many white respondents reported that they have long used acquaintances, friends, and family–their personal networks–to find most of the jobs secured over lifetimes of job hunting. That is, they use exclusionary networks. DiTomaso calls this a societal system of “opportunity hoarding.”

But this is necessarily a racial issue? Granted, this can certainly be true, there are indeed white folks who DO act this way. (Of course, so do a few POC, too.) But in many cases, the racial composition of their friends' network is only coincidental.

It is, more bluntly, institutionalized racial privilege and favoritism.

Certainly favoritism, yes. But not always "privilege", because, as I pointed out earlier, there are POC who use family, friends, etc. to get jobs as well.

In her many white interviews DiTomaso did not one white respondent ever openly expressing concern about their use of this highly unjust non-merit system.

Maybe they didn't know? This is the most logical answer I can think of.

Anyway, Joe did make some decent points, but, sadly, it could have been better done as well.

[Deuce]

7. Emulation by People of Color?

[Fumesucker]

6. I'd be surprised if it was different in any other community of people

That's just the way people operate, who you know (and your willingness to schmooze connections) are more important than actual qualifications at least in getting the job.

The informal job market has always been the major means of gaining employment. Historically in this country that has been an advantage for whites because whites have been more in positions of power than any other "race".

[ismnotwasm]

8. I think this is a 'historical to now' kind of value

At one to time, for instance people of color weren't hired for certain jobs. You just didn't hire them. At the same time racist lending laws prevented blacks moving to cities (there was quite an exodus for a while) from buying and/ or owning their own homes, leaving a dearth of inheritable wealth. (There's other factors of course, but I'm about off to bed ) the lack of inheritable wealth and difficulties getting college educations contributed to generational impoverishment. This reinforced the idea of 'white merit' the article talks about. Hopefully we can bridge past that, but it's why affirmative action was so crucial. It was 'a' solution, not a perfect one, but a good one.

I think the human condition is much the same whoever you are, it's more of a "how did we get here" when thinking about race and race relations. To me, discussing race has very little value without history.

[JDPriestly]

9. In order to use your social connections to get a job, you have to have social connections

that can help you get a job.

That is true of many white people, but also true of some people of other races. But to generalize is very unfair because most of us do not have social connections with people who can get us jobs. That is true of people of all races.

But interviewers do stereotype. I was interviewed by a man who simply said to me, point blank, "You just don't look like the kind of person who could read a balance sheet." Never mind that I had prepared budgets of several millions of dollars for a company I had worked for and that I had taken a course on how to understand statements such as balance sheets and corporate financial reports. It was simply a stereotype. People of a race or gender or certain age or build or appearance or size, regardless of experience or education cannot (take your pick, lift weights, read a balance sheet, sew, drive a truck, teach school, whatever).

The racial stereotyping is a far deeper problem than simply that people of minority races do not know the right people. Also, the general division in our society by race and economic status is now the underlying problem. If you are African-American or Mexican and poor, you are less likely to have the chance that a white person who is middle class might have. But your neighbor who is poor and white may have no better chance than you do.

A certain percentage of people of almost any race will view people of some other race through a lens of generalization and stereotyping. And that again is because of the racial and ethnic and economic divisions in our country that prevent us from knowing each other well enough to appreciate each other.

[Recursion]

11. And we seem to be running into the conceptual blinders of white privilege right here

"Of course white people use social connections to get jobs. Minorities could do that too!"