Racism without racists?
According to NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, “scholars” believe this is the phenomenon that Barack Obama faces with respect to votes he could lose because he is an African American. He contends that there is a faction of the population that aren’t racist, but would just naturally gravitate toward one type of candidate versus another. He cites statistics showing white job interviewer, when faced with borderline candidates, will recommend the white candidate 76% of the time, and the African American candidate only 45% of the time.
Isn’t this the very definition of racist behavior? I guess in Kristof’s opinion, 76-45 isn’t a large enough disparity to call the interviewers racist. I’m not sure which is more appalling, knowing that African Americans already start with almost a 2 to 1 disadvantage at job interviews, or that some people are willing to write this disparity off as within the margin for error without the need for accountability, either by the interviewers, hiring managers, or the companies.
Racism without racists?
