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Cultural Brokers: Race-Based Hiring in Inner-City Neighborhoods

Columbia University

Race matters in today's inner-city job market. Small business owners in predominantly Black neighborhoods prefer hiring Blacks for reasons that have nothing to do with Title VII or government pressure for affirmative action. Instead, these entrepreneurs hire Blacks because of their perceived use as cultural brokers in dealing with a Black clientele. Based on 75 in-depth merchant interviews from five predominantly Black neighborhoods in New York City and Philadelphia, the author finds race-based hiring does not necessarily mean that African Americans will benefit. Black is an overinclusive category that carries both racial and ethnic meanings, and consequently, although firms may hire Blacks, these small business owners prefer hiring immigrants over native-born Americans, including Black immigrants. Affirmative action for Blacks and entrepreneurs' preferences for Blacks as cultural brokers may involve race-conscious hiring, yet both can work to miss or exclude African Americans.

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