Educators, media personalities, students, and others frequently claim that blacks are subject to “systemic racism.” It’s a broad claim and sounds scary, but what does it actually mean? One might infer from the term “systemic” that it refers to racism within organizations, whether in government agencies, private industry, or society in general. “Racism,” in this context, refers to obstacles to education, employment, and career advancement. I asked X’s AI (Grok) to dig into some employment data to test this broad claim. In this research, Grok cited a number of public sources including the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) data, the Center for American Progress, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Housing and Urban Development (HUD), private companies’ diversity reports, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filings, and data aggregated by third parties such as DiversIQ, Statista, and McKinsey. The employment data is presented below along with a brief discussion on the impact of education.

First let’s look at black employment within the Federal Government. The most recent OPM data suggest that black employees account for approximately 18.2% of the workforce across the federal government as a whole. The percentage in some specific agencies is even higher. For example, the Department of Education reports 38%, HUD reports 38%, the Transportation Security Agency reports 26%, and the EEOC reports 40%.

In state and local government, the data suggests that black employees make up 13% to 20% of the workforce.

Now let’s look at some of the larger employers in the private sector. The Walt Disney company, in 2021, reported that black employees represented about 8.6% of their workforce. Walmart reported 21%, Amazon 26%, JP Morgan Chase 13%, Bank of America 12%, Wells Fargo 13%, Apple 9%, and Microsoft 6%. Overall, blacks make up about 13% of the entire private sector workforce.

Do these numbers reflect a “systemic” bias? Considering that estimates of the number of blacks as a percent of the U.S. population are in the 13% to 14.5% range, I think not. Across both private and public employers, most employ blacks at a rate near or above their percent of the population. That does not support an argument that blacks are discriminated against in employment opportunities.

Some point out that many of these jobs are lower wage positions. That’s true, but it’s only a reflection of the qualifications and education of the employee.  It’s estimated that only around 2 to 3% of the black population aged 25+ holds a bachelor’s or higher in a science-related field. That’s not enough to do well in our increasingly tech-dominated economy. The lack of degrees in the sciences and engineering fields accounts for the lower black employment in tech companies like Microsoft, Apple, and many others, not discrimination. In fact, well-qualified blacks are actively recruited by many companies, not discriminated against.

There are no external barriers to blacks seeking a college education. Anyone with a desire for higher education will find many avenues open to them. Unfortunately, in high school many individuals give in to peer pressure that discourages good performance. As a result, in many black communities, students are graduated from high school lacking the basic reading and math skills that would enable them to pursue a higher education. They will have little to offer potential employers, and will only qualify for unskilled, low-level jobs.

In 2023 only 26.2% of blacks aged 25 or older had earned a bachelor’s degree or higher in any discipline, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Many degrees that are awarded are of questionable value (i.e., Star Wars Studies, University of Southern California). As a result, not all of those degrees actually enhance employment opportunities. This has resulted in many graduates complaining that they’re not able to find work in their chosen fields. Choosing a major not focused on the needs of potential employers can lead to poor employment opportunities. When you don’t get hired because your degree is of no value to the employer, that’s not discrimination. When you don’t get hired or promoted because you lack the qualifications or experience required, that’s also not discrimination.

There are undoubtedly racist individuals within many organizations. Discrimination is real and will always be with us; it’s not possible to legislate morality. It is, however, possible to legislate many behaviors, and there are laws that protect individuals of all races from discrimination. Individual discriminatory actions are the outliers and do not support a charge of being systemic. In fact, that individual will likely find themselves in trouble as a result of their actions. So, when someone throws out the “systemic racism” canard, ask them for details. Ask them where they see this racism. How is that racism manifested? It’s worth having that discussion, because the employment numbers clearly don’t support that belief.

Image generated by AI.