Opportunities Denied, Opportunities Diminished: Racial Discrimination in Hiring (Urban Institute Report 91-9)

Recent decisions of the Supreme Court take as their point of departure the belief that American society is well on the way to becoming color-blind. This study calls that belief into question. A hiring audit in two cities sent pairs of job seekers, matched in terms of job-readiness but one black and one white, to apply for the same jobs. A pattern of discrimination was found on several dimensions. The black applicants were less likely to receive an interview than their white counterparts. If they got an interview they were likely to have a shorter one and encounter more negative remarks. They were more likely to be denied a job, and more likely to be steered to less desirable jobs.