RACISM IS ALIVE AND WELL

The next time you hear someone say that racism isn't a major problem anymore in the United States, tell them about this edifying new study, reported today in the New York Post:

"A white man with a criminal record has a better chance of getting an entry-level job...than a black man with a squeaky-clean record, a study has found. For one year, six two-men teams applied to some 1,500   employers offering jobs for drivers, couriers, fast-food servers and the like. They offered identical qualifications, but one said he'd been in jail. Unarrested blacks got fewer offers than whites who said they'd just been released from prison."

And where do you suppose this study took place -- in Alabama? Texas? Orange County? No, this happened right here in the little town where I live, called New York City.

A few years ago, Clarence Page (left) -- the syndicated Chicago Tribune columnist who's become familiar as a TV talking head on the public affairs chat shows -- wrote: "It does no service to the cause of racial equality for white people to content themselves with judging themselves to be nonracist. Few people  outside the Klan or skinhead movements own up to all-out racism these days. White people must take the extra step. They must become anti-racist." The new study cited above underscores the imperative truth of Clarence's useful reminder of our duties as dedicated small-d democrats.