The adjective being used to describe me this week is "racist."
Several callers and a handful of online readers branded me as such for talking with blacks and Hispanics about their experiences in the job market during the recession. They disagreed with the focus of the story, saying "everybody's hurting" -- not just minorities.
The article, which was published in
The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle this week and titled "
When Recession Hits, Minorities Really Feel It," gave voice to people who are more familiar with higher unemployment levels than some of their white counterparts -- even in good economic times. It served to explain some of the reasons behind these higher unemployment levels through statistics, research and personal anecdotes.
Algernon Austin, who directs the
Economic Policy Institute's Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy Program, offered his expert opinion on the unemployment landscape, factoring educational levels and discrimination into the equation. One study Austin cited, for example, found that black job seekers with a clean criminal history
were likened to white men who were just released from prison [PDF].
And we wouldn't write about this?
My response to the e-mailed insults was simple: "Thanks for reading and writing." I explained to the callers -- including a black woman who said the article embarrassed her -- that this was one area that the paper is exploring in its continuing coverage of the recession.
I reiterated that these groups typically experience higher levels of unemployment even in better economic times. I extended an opportunity for unemployed critics to offer their experiences for upcoming stories. All declined, eager to rant about the coverage but reluctant to be part of it.
Stories like the one I wrote may elicit negative responses, but we should still tell them to capture the difficulties that people of various backgrounds and sub-groups face.
To tell the story of these sub-groups, I used statistics from the
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the
U.S. Census Bureau. I also turned to the
Kansas Human Rights Commission, which offered sound information about employment complaints related to gender, race and age discrimination.
Nonprofit organizations and churches also provided assistance by giving me examples of solutions, such as educational programs tied to employment opportunities. Finally, let's not forget about the real people, the real voices that help lift these stories beyond bureaucratic rhetoric.
No one story can capture the entire scope of the economic toll on our readers, viewers and listeners. Tightly-written, focused stories from various viewpoints can begin to broaden the coverage in telling ways. To me, such storytelling approaches aren't racist. They're inclusive.
