Fair Hiring Resources, Facts, & Figures
Unemployment
The Twin Cities metro area has the largest racial disparity in unemployment in the country, with African-Americans three times more likely to be unemployed than whites (20% vs. 7%). For more information, head to MPR and The Star Tribune’s websites.
Jobs
There is also a serious gap in the quality of jobs that people of different races hold in Minnesota (info from Prof. Virginia Parks at the University of Chicago). While 9.6% of whites who are working still live in poverty, 36% of African-Americans and 44% of Latinos who are working still live in poverty.
So Why Fair Hiring
Disparities exist at all points in the criminal justice system, stemming mostly from the initial point of contact with law enforcement. People of color are systematically pulled over, searched, and arrested at rates that far exceed any difference in criminal behavior, and these disparities then carry through the entire system.
A recent study showed African-American males had a rate of drug use 51% higher than white males (almost completely accounted for by higher marijuana use), but were arrested at a rate 1000% higher in Minnesota.
Minnesota’s criminal justice system has grown nearly 300% since 1980, despite crime rates that have remained steady. This growth can be almost wholly attributed to the War on Drugs, which has disproportionately targeted low-level offenders. (Bureau of Justice Statistics). Between 20% and 25% of all Americans now have some kind of criminal record.
A 2010 survey from the Society of Human Resources Management showed that 92% of their member companies, which were mostly large employers, perform criminal background checks on some or all job candidates. (National Employment Law Project report, March 2011).