The Pendulum Swings

"There are, in every age, new errors to be rectified and new prejudices to be opposed." ~ Samuel Johnson

After three months of only working on this house, it has now come time for me to get a real paying job. Here are some of the reasons I agreed to quit my previous job and move here in the first place:

1. A report came out stating that Fredericksburg currently has the best job market in the country. I figured if that is true, I shouldn't have any trouble getting a new position.

2. I had already had an interview with a company that a close friend of my fiancee works with and I had an inside track to getting the job. (I couldn't take the time off to schedule a second interview, and the window closed.)

3. I had to move here in order to be available to start work in this area. It is way to far to try to commute.

So, just before the end of the year, I began getting out and actively searching for work. I have found several positions listed in the newspaper for jobs in which I have vast experience and of which I have demonstrated immense capabilities. Of these jobs, I was interviewed once.

Once.

These aren't just entry level positions. They are opportunities that are right up my alley. There is little likelihood that there are very many people in this area who have the experience and ability that I have in performing these tasks. After all, I have received national awards for my job performance in these exact types of positions.

And yet, I have only been interviewed once, and was not called back for a second interview.

It is vexing, to say the least.

What is the reason for this lack of success in procuring a permanent position?

I am being discriminated against.

This fact became painfully obvious by the time I reached the level of my first and only interview. As I sat in the receptionists office waiting to see the Human Resources Recruiter, I had the opportunity to observe the people who worked there already.

They were predominately young, black women. The ratio was something like 50-1 women to men, 90-1 black, and I only saw two people there who were middle age, and both of them were white, one male and one female. The impression I got was that these two are long time employees of that company.

I sincerely hope they keep their jobs because all indications are they will have a difficult time finding another, if my latest job hunting experience is any indication.

Middle aged white males are apparently not a demographic politically correct enough to be hired in today's job market.

Don't get me wrong. I am not a racist. I believe the people working at that company are well qualified to do the job. I am happy to see racial equality has finally begun to be accepted, even here in the south.

I know the Liberals have pressured America's employers over the last decade or so to institute racial and gender quotas when hiring, but it appears they have gone way overboard.

Apparently, some people are now more equal than others. This unfortunately, was also true in pre-Civil Rights act America, only now the pendulum has swung the other direction.

Incidentally, this isn't an isolated situation, and it isn't just starting. Several years ago, my daughter and I applied for a position at a company on the same day. I had over 13 years experience at the position, and she had none. I aced the simple little skills assessment test and as I sat and waited for my time to be interviewed, I watched the employees of that company walk by as they went in and out of the building.

Not one person over 30.

Not one.

By the way, my daughter got the job. Me? I didn't even get an interview. Tell me I am imagining age discrimination.

It isn't reverse discrimination. Let's call it what it is.

Blatant discrimination.

Reverse discrimination, by definition, implies that no discrimination exists at all.

Could I sue? I could try, but it would be laughed out of court. After all, companies are smart enough to know they can't give age, color, or gender as a reason for not hiring someone. They will say they have no openings at this time, or that there were other candidates that were better qualified. No specific explanations and indeed, they are not required to give a valid reason at all.

Unless, of course, if I was black, and demanded they show proof I wasn't discriminated against because of my skin color.

If I never understood the plight of poor, uneducated blacks before the Civil Rights act of 1964, I certainly do now, because I am experiencing the same attitudes now.