Social Stratification: a Dominating Factor over Unemployment

Social Stratification: A Dominating Factor Over Unemployment
“It’s a tough time,” is just one of the responses I have heard from my parents regarding our economic position for the past few years. Along with myself, a large amount of the American population has been drastically impacted by the struggling economy. During the past decade, Americas has faced periods of inflation, unemployment, and overall stagflation. In Timothy Williams’ article “As Public Sector Sheds Jobs, Blacks Hit the Hardest” in the New York Times he writes about the dramatic inequality blacks in America are facing in regards to being laid off in the work force. In comparison to the unemployment rate of whites at 8 percent, blacks are fighting against double the jobless percentage rate at 15.1 percent (Williams 2011). When companies are faced to layoff a specific quota of employees, those of African American decent are first targets due to their generally lower education levels; as well African Americans are still victims of discrimination and usually live in communities that slowly recover economically. Specifically those affected most by the unemployment tragedy are blacks holding public-sector jobs. Approximately one in five black laborers work in a public-sector position and are one-third more likely to work in a public-sector job as apposed to whites. The government plays a significant role in the employment of blacks; those working in public-sector jobs usually earn 25 percent more than blacks in other sectors (Williams 2011). This financial difference promotes a stable income creating the opportunity for home owning and sending children to college. Despite the end of the recession in 2009, the American economy is still disastrous two and a half years later. The struggle between African Americans and unemployment mirror the sociological themes of social stratification and inequalities of class as well as the topic of race.
Pamela Sparks, a 25-year veteran to the Postal Service, is...