There's been a few diaries today about unemployment among African Americans, so I decided to post my experience with the subject. My experience was humbling, and changed the way I think about the economics of race. (sorry, this diary is a little long)
Rewind back to spring, 2007. The Great Recession hadn't "officially" begun yet according to Wall Street economists, but here in Ohio the recession was already very real. Jobs were becoming scarce, especially in the manufacturing sector. LTV Steel closed down, Rubbermaid sent many of their jobs to China, GM in Lordstown was building fewer cars, the list goes on and on. Many of the employers who stayed in Ohio became greedy and opportunistic, because they had the upper hand in this situation and they knew it. Luckily, I was employed by the war, cutting Humvee doors out of armor plate to send to the Army and Marines. I was employed by high gas prices too, cutting railroad parts when there weren't any orders going to the military.