White Unemployment 5.3% -- Black Unemployment 11.4%

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

It's not debunked, it's merely discarded as inconvenient and thus necessarily not true. Those that are driven by hate and/or fear, won't be swayed by facts. Ever.

And when I post it, I'm blaming my failures on others, rather than pointing out the blatant bias in the system.

There is no evidence, other than the one fabricated by the poster. Welcome to the Twilight Zone...

Nah, that's the place where LIB posts something that ISN'T racist.

[JohnR! 5,495]

:rofl: True...

As I said before, it is the pot/kettle syndrome. There should be a requirement everyone seeking an immigrant visa should learn about American history - past and contemporary - as part of the visa process.

Nah, that's the place where LIB posts something that ISN'T racist.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

:rofl: True...

As I said before, it is the pot/kettle syndrome. There should be a requirement everyone seeking an immigrant visa should learn about American history - past and contemporary - as part of the visa process.

Nah, this is LIB we're talking about. I'd wager his wife and stepchild speak perfect English and are more informed on American history than most folks born here.

[aaydrian 479]

<p>

You need to get past the job interview to get the job... Ebonics may be PC today but it will not work at the interview. ... I know it may be hard for you to understand.... but in management positions often you are interviewed by up to a half dozen folks at once. Some are looking for a reason to hire you ...Some are looking for a reason why you would not be a good fit .. Basic grammar structure This Embarrasses You and I* Grammar Gaffes Invade the Office in an Age of Informal Email, Texting and Twitter

By

Sue Shellenbarger

Updated June 20, 2012 12:01 a.m. ET

When Caren Berg told colleagues at a recent staff meeting, "There's new people you should meet," her boss Don Silver broke in, says Ms. Berg, a senior vice president at a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., marketing and crisis-communications company.

"I cringe every time I hear" people misuse "is" for "are," Mr. Silver says. The company's chief operations officer, Mr. Silver also hammers interns to stop peppering sentences with "like." For years, he imposed a 25-cent fine on new hires for each offense. "I am losing the battle," he says.

Employers say the grammar skills of people they hire are getting worse, a recent survey shows. But language is evolving so fast that old rules of usage are eroding. Sue Shellenbarger has details on Lunch Break. Illustration: John S. Dykes.

Managers are fighting an epidemic of grammar gaffes in the workplace. Many of them attribute slipping skills to the informality of email, texting and Twitter where slang and shortcuts are common. Such looseness with language can create bad impressions with clients, ruin marketing materials and cause communications errors, many managers say.

There's no easy fix. Some bosses and co-workers step in to correct mistakes, while others consult business-grammar guides for help. In a survey conducted earlier this year, about 45% of 430 employers said they were increasing employee-training programs to improve employees' grammar and other skills, according to the Society for Human Resource Management and AARP.

How's Your Grammar?

Take a quiz to test your skills.

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• More photos and interactive graphics

"I'm shocked at the rampant illiteracy" on Twitter, says Bryan A. Garner, author of "Garner's Modern American Usage" and president of LawProse, a Dallas training and consulting firm. He has compiled a list of 30 examples of "uneducated English," such as saying "I could care less," instead of "I couldn't care less," or, "He expected Helen and I to help him," instead of "Helen and me."

Leslie Ferrier says she was aghast at letters employees were sending to customers at a Jersey City, N.J., hair- and skin-product marketer when she joined the firm in 2009. The letters included grammar and style mistakes and were written "as if they were speaking to a friend," says Ms. Ferrier, a human-resources executive. She had employees use templates to eliminate mistakes and started training programs in business writing.

At Work

Readers weigh in on the grammar gaffes and malapropisms that make them fume. Share yours.

Most participants in the Society for Human Resource Management-AARP survey blame younger workers for the skills gap. Tamara Erickson, an author and consultant on generational issues, says the problem isn't a lack of skill among 20- and 30-somethings. Accustomed to texting and social networking, "they've developed a new norm," Ms. Erickson says.

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At RescueTime, for example, grammar rules have never come up. At the Seattle-based maker of personal-productivity software, most employees are in their 30s. Sincerity and clarity expressed in "140 characters and sound bytes" are seen as hallmarks of good communicationnot "the king's grammar," says Jason Grimes, 38, vice president of product marketing. "Those who can be sincere, and still text and Twitter and communicate on Facebookthose are the ones who are going to succeed."

Also, some grammar rules aren't clear, leaving plenty of room for disagreement. Tom Kamenick battled fellow attorneys at a Milwaukee, Wis., public-interest law firm over use of "the Oxford comma"an additional comma placed before the "and" or "or" in a series of nouns. Leaving it out can change the meaning of a sentence, Mr. Kamenick says: The sentence, "The greatest influences in my life are my sisters, Oprah Winfrey and Madonna," means something different from the sentence, "The greatest influences in my life are my sisters, Oprah Winfrey, and Madonna," he says. (The first sentence implies the writer has two celebrity sisters; the second says the sisters and the stars are different individuals.) After Mr. Kamenick asserted in digital edits of briefs and papers that "I was willing to go to war on that one," he says, colleagues backed down, either because they were convinced, or "for the sake of their own sanity and workplace decorum."

Patricia T. O'Conner, author of a humorous guidebook for people who struggle with grammar, fields workplace disputes on a blog she cowrites, Grammarphobia. "These disagreements can get pretty contentious," Ms. O'Conner says. One employee complained that his boss ordered him to make a memo read, "for John and I," rather than the correct usage, "for John and me," Ms. O'Conner says.

In workplace-training programs run by Jack Appleman, a Monroe, N.Y., corporate writing instructor, "people are banging the table," yelling or high-fiving each other during grammar contests he stages, he says. "People get passionate about grammar," says Mr. Appleman, author of a book on business writing.

Christopher Telano, chief internal auditor at the New York City Health and Hospitals Corp., has employees circulate their reports to co-workers to review for accuracy and grammar, he says. He coaches auditors to use action verbs such as "verify" and "confirm" and tells them to write below a 12th-grade reading level so it can be easily understood.

Mr. Garner, the usage expert, requires all job applicants at his nine-employee firmincluding people who just want to pack boxesto pass spelling and grammar tests before he will hire them. And he requires employees to have at least two other people copy-edit and make corrections to every important email and letter that goes out.

"Twenty-five years ago it was impossible to put your hands on something that hadn't been professionally copy-edited," Mr. Garner says. "Today, it is actually hard to put your hands on something that has been professionally copy-edited."

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303410404577466662919275448

Mr. Garner, the usage expert, requires all job applicants at his nine-employee firmincluding people who just want to pack boxesto pass spelling and grammar tests before he will hire them. And he requires employees to have at least two other people copy-edit and make corrections to every important email and letter that goes out.

Just blame being black for your problems.

Why post this when so many college graduates, not just Blacks, practice such horrible English? Where does this post address Blacks not being hired as a result of using Ebonics during interviews? If Ebonics or poor overall command of the English language is a problem with new applicants, why are managers/supervisors/anybody in authority mangling the English language yet expecpting perfect English from their subordinates?

[JohnR! 5,495]

That might explain the need to act whiter than white , although I'd bet it is quite the opposite in reality. Overcompensation.

Nah, this is LIB we're talking about. I'd wager his wife and stepchild speak perfect English and are more informed on American history than most folks born here.

[Dan and Judy 614]

And PS. I have seen way worse brutality than you will ever see in 100 black years. ( that's like a light year, but from a black persons perspective)

You know that may be a catchy new term. How long have you been employed here sir, why 10 years, but that's 15 in black years.

I believe a light year is a measure of distance, not time.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

That might explain the need to act whiter than white , although I'd bet it is quite the opposite in reality. Overcompensation.

I had to break the habit of saying that. It's acting intelligently. My parents brought it up this weekend and I had to correct them. I said if acting white means acting intelligently, what does acting black mean? You should have seen the look on their faces.

[JohnR! 5,495]

I meant 'whiter than white' in the context of acting racist and trying harder than a [racist] white person would, as though one is trying hard to fit in.

I had to break the habit of saying that. It's acting intelligently. My parents brought it up this weekend and I had to correct them. I said if acting white means acting intelligently, what does acting black mean? You should have seen the look on their faces.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

I meant 'whiter than white' in the context of acting racist and trying harder than a [racist] white person would, as though one is trying hard to fit in.

Understood. Thanks for the clarification.

[decocker 7,198]

i've never really taken 'whiter than white' to mean intelligent, i just thought it meant turbo dork.

Edited September 9, 2014 by val erie

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

While I don't always agree with Janelle, this chart seems back up part of what she is saying. ( I could be wrong, of course, because I'm just not very smart )

Look at college graduates - there is a higher unemployment rate for the Blacks than all other groups.

Look at the Blacks with an Associates Degree - Every Asian group has a lower unemployment rate. In fact, for every other ethnicity, just having some college is better than being Black with an Associates.

Things do improve for the Blacks with education - but they still seem to be behind all other ethnic groups.

There are a few of reasons I have seen for the disparity..

First the employment prospects are better for STEM degrees which have more men and more asians/whites.. that seems to be changing.

Second college graduates from private universities have almost half the unemployment rate of public universities and largely skew white.

Third is that many jobs are filled by networking - this also includes learning about job openings from friends on the inside and also having friends on the inside recommending you to the boss.

That does not account for all of the disparity but if statistics are going to be used to address problems like these we need to try to fully understand them so we don't create more problems by playing manipulate-the-metrics.

[B_J 2,752]

There are a few of reasons I have seen for the disparity..

First the employment prospects are better for STEM degrees which have more men and more asians/whites.. that seems to be changing.

Second college graduates from private universities have almost half the unemployment rate of public universities and largely skew white.

Third is that many jobs are filled by networking - this also includes learning about job openings from friends on the inside and also having friends on the inside recommending you to the boss.

That does not account for all of the disparity but if statistics are going to be used to address problems like these we need to try to fully understand them so we don't create more problems by playing manipulate-the-metrics.

I agree with what you're saying. From the earlier graph, the one thing that really sticks out for me was Blacks with an Associate's degree. While I understand that is almost worthless degree, it is at least an accomplishment. To see that the unemployment rate was higher for that group than for Asians who didn't finish high school was at least a little surprising. Although the Asian drop out group may just be an extremely small group.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

i've never really taken 'whiter than white' to mean intelligent, i just thought it meant turbo dork.

You said Turbo.

[Dan and Judy 614]

Bill Cosby on Blacks and Education:

http://www.examiner.com/article/bill-cosby-speaks-bluntly-about-black-people-and-education

Blacks with high school and even college degrees. You have to ask how that happens, and I can tell you. I was a teacher at a University that had a Rose Bowl team contender. The center was taking self defense from me, of all things. He was this frightening beast - my God, over 300 lbs of power. When he hit the bag it folded in half and the room shook.

But he stopped attending about half-way through and therefore flunked, right before the Rose Bowl. You would not believe the pressure I got. They had an academic office for sports, and I knew of it personally because I was on the wrestlng team. They could get you books for free and tutors, and... people to run interference for you with profs. But there were administration people who called, one legacy donor. Some profs will do it for free, just out of team spirit. (If you ain't cheatin', then you ain't tryin'!" But I am sure some people took money.

I made it clear. If I remember correctly, he had five days before the plane left. I made him come in every day and do two hours to make up ten classes. He came over in his bicycle, with those little tires squishing flat. I will never forget that sight. Just a massive guy on that skinny little ten-speed.

A strange kind of discrimination though - letting people slip through without educations, making exceptions because... they can play sports.

Tell it like it is, Bill. Anti-education attitude needs to be condemned strongly. Education is wonderful in its own right, not just because it is a big improvement for your chances to succeed in life. To understand how the world works, to elevate your intellect to a higher level - this is what blacks were DEPRIVED of and that they FOUGHT FOR.

So, after they did so - to leave the next generation with an attitude that eduation doesn't matter? It's disgraceful says Bill Cosby - and I certainly agree with him.

I think you are one of Education's Heroes. You made sure the 300.lb "frightening beast" didn't slip through your class without learning how to defend himself.

I am however worried that these days it may not be politically correct to refer to black guys as frightening beasts regardless of size.

Ironic that Bill Cosby would be held up as some sort of poster............ wait I can't say that ...............some sort of model for the importance of education.

#1 He is a high school dropout.

#2 Later while in the navy, he got a high school equivalency diploma through a correspondence course.

#3 Next he got a Track and Field scholarship to Temple university and studied physical education.

#4 He had the good sense to drop out of college and pursue his career as a comedian

He joined the somewhat exclusive club of Americans who can say they are both a high school and college drop out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Cosby

Edited September 9, 2014 by Dan and Judy

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

I find it amusing that the poster who argues that it is the incomprehensibility of certain minority groups that is holding them back from advancement in the workplace is more often than not completely incomprehensible himself in terms of sentence and paragraph structure.