How do race and gender affect employment in working class society?

I am a 6’5” middle age white dude with a high school diploma, and I can’t get a job for McDonalds…I once had a job at A&W and I liked the experience I should never have left for university.

My mom used to own a shop that made high-end drapes. She would have turned down business if it meant she had to hire a black person to fill the order.

She voted for Obama twice too. So I guess racism is dead.

Race and gender do not trump a skill or a product.
If you are a particular race or gender, with no particular skill or product, you are of questionable employment value.
If you have a marketable skill or product, your race or gender are not relevant.

That is the biggest pile of bullshit I have ever heard Josie.

I have seen bosses not hire because of race. And that is in Eugene Oregon. The most liberal and PC place in the world.

It is a issue.

You rarely see women or blacks in the entry level construction trades.

@johnpowell
And I have seen people, me included, who hire anybody who can produce or innovate, regardless of race or gender.
But apparently, your comment is not bullshit.
Why not?
Because it is you and not me?

@josie the qualifer “should” is a necessary distinction. Race and gender should not matter as factors for hiring employees. However, the reality is that many employers continue to be biased (which not only manifests in their willingness to hire someone, but also in how much they will pay them, take them seriously, etc.)

Not to mention there is still an issue of access to quality education that factors into one’s ability to be a desirable worker, which I definitely see in Southern California where we have a higher density of Gen 1 and Gen 2 Americans.

Give @josie some credit, clearly @josie is putting in effort.

Also to answer op

“How do race and gender affect employment in working class society?”

It depends who’s answering and you’ll get two types of answers, one who uses this as some sort of excuse and others as motivation to push the boundaries of social “norms”

Why is it always race? Why is it always gender? There is another dynamic that I think is even more at play here… What if an ugly person is going after the same job as a good looking person? Gee, I wonder who will get the job? It does appear that looks are also a factor and I will use this article as a reference.

http://www.today.com/id/49350507/ns/today-money/t/hey-good-lookin-your-job-outlook-lookin-good/

Based on my company’s hires, it’s mostly married white females. I’m sure we work harder for less pay.

Well I’ve seen many minority kids throw chances away, either because they wanted to be cool, were too masculine to be seen as smart, or simply had loser mentalities. At some point we need to address what’s really occuring here and stop worrying about being politically correct. I’m sorry if my personal experiences seem like an illusion to many who don’t want to hear this.