--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The exclusion of blacks from high-skill…" description: "\"“The exclusion of blacks from high-skill, high-wage employment is rooted in Jim Crow and resistance to integration and is sustained through tradition, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/725/karl-alexander-21491_jim-crow_the-exclusion-of-blacks-from-high-skill_1151717.jpg" --- # The exclusion of blacks from high-skill, high-wage… ![“The exclusion of blacks from high-skill, high-wage employment is rooted in Jim Crow and resistance to integration and is sustained through tradition, word-of-mouth network hiring, and employer attitudes. Also, although disinvestment and job loss have affected neighborhoods throughout the city…” quote by Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/725/karl-alexander-21491_jim-crow_the-exclusion-of-blacks-from-high-skill_1151717.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/725/karl-alexander-21491_jim-crow_the-exclusion-of-blacks-from-high-skill_1151717.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/725/karl-alexander-21491_jim-crow_the-exclusion-of-blacks-from-high-skill_1151717.jpg) > ““The exclusion of blacks from high-skill, high-wage employment is rooted in Jim Crow and resistance to integration and is sustained through tradition, word-of-mouth network hiring, and employer attitudes. Also, although disinvestment and job loss have affected neighborhoods throughout the city, Baltimore's black neighborhoods have suffered more”” [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Systemic racism and discriminatory hiring practices keep Black workers out of well‑paid jobs, reinforced by historic segregation and biased networks, while disinvestment hits Black neighborhoods harder. **In simple terms:** Racism blocks Black people from good jobs and hurts their neighborhoods more. Key Takeaway Address hiring bias and invest in Black communities. Themes racism employment urban inequality historical segregation Mood concerned determined hopeful Type analytical policy social justice When to use this quote - policy reform - community development - corporate hiring practices - urban planning Key Concepts structural inequality network effects disinvestment labor market segregation Questions to Reflect On - How can employers redesign hiring to eliminate bias? - What policies can reverse disinvestment in Black neighborhoods? A Different Perspective Change requires confronting entrenched attitudes and powerful networks. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Baltimore Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/baltimore-black-3258129/) [Black Neighborhoods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-neighborhoods-1248718/) [Employment Rooted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/employment-rooted-3258128/) [Exclusion Blacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exclusion-blacks-3258127/) [Jim crow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jim-crow/) [Job loss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/job-loss/) ## Related quotes > [“Still later, I read Ira Katznelson’s history of discrimination, When Affirmative Action Was White, which argued that similar exclusions applied to other “color-blind” New…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/still-later-i-read-ira-katznelson-s-history-of-discrimination-when/) [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) > [“It is useful to be reminded that in even the most distressed black neighborhoods, the majority of residents are “decent folk” who live by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-alexander/it-is-useful-to-be-reminded-that-in-even-the-most-distressed-black/) [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) > [I was brought up in black neighborhoods in South Baltimore. And we really felt like we were very black. We acted black and we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-leiber/i-was-brought-up-in-black-neighborhoods-in-south-baltimore-and-we/) [Jerry Leiber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-leiber/) > [Groups that work in black neighborhoods around the country have contended that much of subprime lending is 'predatory lending.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-dedman/groups-that-work-in-black-neighborhoods-around-the-country-have/) [Bill Dedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-dedman/) > [I'm a woman of color. I've lived in black neighborhoods all of my life, and most of the time I get hit on in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tatyana-fazlalizadeh/i-m-a-woman-of-color-i-ve-lived-in-black-neighborhoods-all-of-my-life/) [Tatyana Fazlalizadeh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tatyana-fazlalizadeh/) > [“The vicious housing cycle had already begun. Racist policies harmed Black neighborhoods, generating racist ideas that caused people not to want to live next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/the-vicious-housing-cycle-had-already-begun-racist-policies-harmed/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [I grew up in predominantly black neighborhoods and went to predominantly black schools. And hip-hop is what I grew up listening to in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-wahlberg/i-grew-up-in-predominantly-black-neighborhoods-and-went-to/) [Mark Wahlberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-wahlberg/) > [I lived in a little working-class town that had no black neighborhoods at all - one high school. We all played together. Everybody was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/i-lived-in-a-little-working-class-town-that-had-no-black/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [Having to parent your mother or father is a challenge that way too many teens have to deal with. Teens whose parents are dealing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-halse-anderson/having-to-parent-your-mother-or-father-is-a-challenge-that-way-too/) [Laurie Halse Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-halse-anderson/) > [“-the bank recently introduced a new system that automated many tasks in my role as a risk analyst and therefore my position has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-a-tucker/the-bank-recently-introduced-a-new-system-that-automated-many-tasks/) [K.A. Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-a-tucker/) > [The fact of the matter is, this is a very dynamic economy we have, and in this dynamic economy, you have a lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-herman/the-fact-of-the-matter-is-this-is-a-very-dynamic-economy-we-have-and/) [Alexis Herman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-herman/) > [Even institutions of State, such as the judiciary, were seriously weakened, to the extent that the citizenry justifiably feared a breakdown in law and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamisese-mara/even-institutions-of-state-such-as-the-judiciary-were-seriously/) [Kamisese Mara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamisese-mara/) > [The rise of populism is in part a response to stagnating incomes and job loss, owing mostly to new technologies but widely attributed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-n-haass/the-rise-of-populism-is-in-part-a-response-to-stagnating-incomes-and/) [Richard N. Haass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-n-haass/) > [There are always, of course, job losses of a cyclical nature in a recession.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-bishop/there-are-always-of-course-job-losses-of-a-cyclical-nature-in-a/) [Tim Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-bishop/) > [President Barack Obama has stood watch over the greatest job loss in modern American history. And that, my friends, is one inconvenient truth that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitt-romney/president-barack-obama-has-stood-watch-over-the-greatest-job-loss-in/) [Mitt Romney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitt-romney/) ## More by Karl Alexander > [“From a stratification perspective, we want to understand both immobility and mobility. For immobility, the issue is how status is inherited across generations. Not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-alexander/from-a-stratification-perspective-we-want-to-understand-both/) [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) > [“The quarter century following World War II was a ‘golden age’ for most workers and their families…, even for men with a high school…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-alexander/the-quarter-century-following-world-war-ii-was-a-golden-age-for-most/) [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) > [“THIS BOOK is about the reproduction of social advantage and disadvantage across generations in the experience of typical Baltimore youth, anchored in their childhood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-alexander/this-book-is-about-the-reproduction-of-social-advantage-and/) [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) > [“Problem behaviors potentially are obstacles in both school and labor market, especially for the African American urban disadvantaged. White men, of both lower and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-alexander/problem-behaviors-potentially-are-obstacles-in-both-school-and-labor/) [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) > [“Family conditions early in life cast a long shadow. That principle holds broadly, but with exceptions, and in this context they are numerous. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-alexander/family-conditions-early-in-life-cast-a-long-shadow-that-principle/) [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) > [“those African Americans who did manage to penetrate the skilled trades mostly were consigned to low-wage work. According to Social Security Administration data, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-alexander/those-african-americans-who-did-manage-to-penetrate-the-skilled/) [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) > [“For almost twenty-five years, we tracked the life progress of 790 children who began first grade in the fall of 1982 in twenty Baltimore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-alexander/for-almost-twenty-five-years-we-tracked-the-life-progress-of-790/) [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) > [“It is important that this first assessment of parent expectations, having been elicited before the first report card in first grade, is properly considered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-alexander/it-is-important-that-this-first-assessment-of-parent-expectations/) [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) > [“Parenthood, it turns out, is common to all the negative transition sequences (that is, those that depress socioeconomic prospects) and delayed parenthood is common…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-alexander/parenthood-it-turns-out-is-common-to-all-the-negative-transition/) [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) > [“This volume aims to identify the resources and personal qualities that help disadvantaged youth, but also the barriers they face. It is a book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-alexander/this-volume-aims-to-identify-the-resources-and-personal-qualities/) [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) > [“Nationally in 2011, poor whites exceeded the poor African American total by roughly eight million: 19,171,000 versus 10,929,000.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-alexander/nationally-in-2011-poor-whites-exceeded-the-poor-african-american/) [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) > [“By contrast, lower-SES children labor under the burden of cumulative disadvantage imposed by their location in the SES hierarchy. Their parents want them to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-alexander/by-contrast-lower-ses-children-labor-under-the-burden-of-cumulative/) [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) > [“It is commonly thought that high-poverty neighborhoods are socially fragmented and suffer a weak sense of community, but that is mistaken (see, for example,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-alexander/it-is-commonly-thought-that-high-poverty-neighborhoods-are-socially/) [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) > [“Other resources located within the family also weigh on children's development. In figure 7.1, they are represented by parents' psychological support for their children's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-alexander/other-resources-located-within-the-family-also-weigh-on-children-s/) [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) > [“In 1960, never-married mothers accounted for fewer than 5 percent of the children of single mothers; by 2006, they accounted for 43 percent (Thibos,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-alexander/in-1960-never-married-mothers-accounted-for-fewer-than-5-percent-of/) [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) [Explore all 29 Karl Alexander quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) ## More Jim crow quotes > [“It is also clear that structural racism is beating down the black chef. It started with segregation; black chefs in the South were either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-w-twitty/it-is-also-clear-that-structural-racism-is-beating-down-the-black/) [Michael W. Twitty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-w-twitty/) > [“Jim Crow repeated the old strategies of the reptilian powers of the air: to convince human beings simultaneously and paradoxically that they are gods…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-d-moore/jim-crow-repeated-the-old-strategies-of-the-reptilian-powers-of-the/) [Russell D. Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-d-moore/) > [The welfare state has done to Black Americans what slavery (and Jim Crow and racism) could not have done. . .break up the black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stossel/the-welfare-state-has-done-to-black-americans-what-slavery-and-jim/) [John Stossel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stossel/) > [Racism is not just slavery and Jim Crow. It is the daily violence that is enacted on our communities each and every day we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cori-bush/racism-is-not-just-slavery-and-jim-crow-it-is-the-daily-violence-that/) [Cori Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cori-bush/) > [Since the nations founding, African Americans repeatedly have been controlled through institutions such as slavery and Jim Crow, which appear to die but then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/since-the-nations-founding-african-americans-repeatedly-have-been/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“Felon disenfranchisement laws have been more effective in eliminating black voters in the age of mass incarceration than they were under Jim Crow…These figures…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/felon-disenfranchisement-laws-have-been-more-effective-in-eliminating/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [You cannot be responsible for Jim Crow. You can not be responsible for racism. This is much more a problem for the person exercising…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raoul-peck/you-cannot-be-responsible-for-jim-crow-you-can-not-be-responsible-for/) [Raoul Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raoul-peck/) > [As a southerner born after the epic events of the civil rights movement, I've always wondered how on earth people of good will could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-meacham/as-a-southerner-born-after-the-epic-events-of-the-civil-rights/) [Jon Meacham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-meacham/) > [The perpetuation of slavery, the exile and extermination of American Indians, and the passage of Jim Crow laws weren't carried out at the bidding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/the-perpetuation-of-slavery-the-exile-and-extermination-of-american/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [Michelle Alexander's brave and bold new book paints a haunting picture in which dreary felon garb, post-prison joblessness, and loss of voting rights now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lani-guinier/michelle-alexander-s-brave-and-bold-new-book-paints-a-haunting/) [Lani Guinier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lani-guinier/) > [Let us look at Jim Crow for the criminal he is and what he has done to one life multiplied millions of times over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosa-parks/let-us-look-at-jim-crow-for-the-criminal-he-is-and-what-he-has-done/) [Rosa Parks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosa-parks/) > [“A new civil rights movement cannot be organized around the relics of the earlier system of control if it is to address meaningfully the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/a-new-civil-rights-movement-cannot-be-organized-around-the-relics-of/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [We've come a long way from the days of Jim Crow, and yes, we elected a black president, but racism lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-beckel/we-ve-come-a-long-way-from-the-days-of-jim-crow-and-yes-we-elected-a/) [Bob Beckel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-beckel/) > [The Voting Rights Act of 1965 brought an end to the ugly Jim Crow period in American history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-murkowski/the-voting-rights-act-of-1965-brought-an-end-to-the-ugly-jim-crow/) [Lisa Murkowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-murkowski/) > [“Today my elation over Obama's election is tempered by a far more sobering awareness. As an African American woman, with three young children who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/today-my-elation-over-obama-s-election-is-tempered-by-a-far-more/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) [Browse all 180 Jim crow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jim-crow/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The exclusion of blacks from high-skill, high-wage employment is rooted in Jim Crow and resistance to integration and is sustained through tradition, word-of-mouth network hiring, and employer attitudes. 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