About the Author

author photo

Fredric is a web developer based in Chicago who hopes to one day start a foundation to support young, Black males in programming and computer science.

Other posts by Fredric

Sounding Black

July 9th, 2008 • Related • Filed Under

It’s always a scary thing when science or research attempts to validate human predispositions, especially when race is involved. An article in today’s NYTimes detailing a study by a University of Chicago professor associating wages to race inequality is another step in this sensitive direction.

Prof. Jeffrey Grogger
Prof. Jeffery Grogger

The NYTimes blog article paraphrases Prof. Grogger’s working paper as:

[B]lacks who “sound black” earn salaries that are 10 percent lower than blacks who do not “sound black,” even after controlling for measures of intelligence, experience in the work force, and other factors that influence how much people earn. (For what it is worth, whites who “sound black” earn 6 percent lower than other whites.)

The measures taken to create constants in the survey are admirable, and while I do not have a doctorate in public policy, the conclusions drawn by the professor reaffirm something we’ve all known for awhile. Being an adult in the adult world is nothing more than being in a predominantly white high school with money. Anyone who has had this experience has dealt with the teasing of jealous Black kids and exclusion by ignorant white kids (I’ll spare the other racial attitudes for another article). The stereotypes humans place on each other is a fact of life, with the resounding fact being that if one group (white kids) make up the rules, other groups (minorities) will be forced to play by those rules.

So what does this study really do? In the academic space, it’s a point of conversation for educated people to say ‘Hmm. Interesting.’ In the corporate world, it’s another factor to balk at or implore better diversity education. In the real world, it will be fodder for both sides…either feeding the ego of supremacists who fist-pound the “King’s english is the only english” rhetoric or conspiracy theorists who believe all white people are out to get the rest of us.

As a YBP, this paper is a documented, vanilla version of something we’ve known since first hearing the term ‘oreo’. We know the phrase ‘needing to play the game to win’ and are watching a potential future president attempt to win the ultimate game. My mom always taught me that you had to be tri-lingual: around your friends, around your family, around your job. Dr. Grogger simply put his PhD pen on that piece of wisdom.

Speech Patterns and Racial Wage Inequality (Full published paper)

Hat tip: Thanks Latonya!

Viewing 6 Comments

    • ^
    • v
    this was an utter waste of time and money. seriously, why bother intensely studying a well-known fact. so what now? they've officially decided that if i sound like Quita from the block i'm poorer? newsflash, iit's been that way! FOREVER! !YAWN! if i see this professor in hyde park i'm going to mean mug him and say, i wear the mask, but you should have found a better task. mmmmm AIDS research, howsabout you donaate some of that research chop to charity. better yet, buy me a pair of fancy shoes boo boo. CHUCH! and that's negro for "it is so" ;P
    • ^
    • v
    Hold up a minute Tahani. Let's not beat up the doctor for his works.

    1. This may all be old hat to you and most people, simply knowing or agreeing that something seems real isn't good enough to get the problem addressed. It is an academic bias that things need to be proven before setting off. Maybe that's the cultural difference - many people of color say "hey I knew that, I didn't need some expert to prove it me". But like Frederic says, when the ruling class makes the rules, we have to roll with it. In policy decisions, no one is going to address an issue that hasn't been demostrated as real. This paper does that. The good news, we all agree that the elephant is in the room. For far too long we've been looked at like we're crazy for pointing out the obvious because others didn't see it (or want to see it). Now, all of those diversity HR people can justify spending money to address this issue.


    2. What's worthy research. I find it interesting how lay people balk at research studies they think are riduculous or a waste of time. But the truth is - academic research is conducted on an individual basis. Unlike most other industries, it is NOT markert driven. Researchers, like myself, study questions that are interesting to them. We don't receive orders from someone who says - "Study this, because a board or poll said we need this answer". There'll alays be something other people think is more interesting or worthy. And I don't think it was a waste of time.

    One of the biggest barriers I've noticed many black or poor kids have when at college or interacting with field experts is the assumption that everything we think we know is a firm fact. In fact, there are many more questions, assumptions, and caveats. Vetting and dissecting is a very normal and standard practice in science (natural, physical, & social). As annoying as it may be for most people, it is this seeminging un-ending question asking and examining that helps us fully understand a problem. Application and theory go hand-in-hand, though not usually the same hands.
    • ^
    • v
    I made a few more comments on my blog and I did a break down of the orginal research. Also, Cobb has some interesting points (as well as his commenters) on this same subject.
    • ^
    • v
    Here is a link to Cobb's take. He is a proclaimed Black Republican and has some good insight with an alternative perspective.

    The comments are also worth a look.
    • ^
    • v
    The overall problem with thoughts and research like this is that we will never be white. If we talk like them 10 years from now this professor will conduct research linking liking black music to lower wages. You said it best when stating that the world is like high school and in America the popular kids are white. A look a American high schools though and the white kids are trying to be black. What we should really be thinking is how can we do what hip hop did to the music industry, blacks have done to the MBA and black quarterbacks have done in the NFL to the business realm. Americans want to be popular and rich. If people that talk black start building million dollar companies, whites will as history has shown clamor for the next black sounding star to get them rich.
    • ^
    • v
    I know this study wasn't done for poeople of color!!! I learned about being bilingual very young while watching my mom and grandmother conduct business. What Grogger has done is reinforce the very notion that keeps us separate and not equal. If its not our speech it will surely be something esle that we(Blacks) lack. This way they don't have to share part of the American pie. We will never assimilate fully on their terms. We'll continue to be two faced, just as our past generations have. Stop wasting time and money.
close Reblog this comment
Powered by Disqus · Learn more
blog comments powered by Disqus