the idea that raising minimum wage creates unemployment for blacks has little to back it up

In 1950, only 50 percent of jobs were covered by the minimum wage law. That meant the minimum wage didn't have today's unemployment effect. Today nearly 100 percent are covered. Today's child labor laws prevent youngsters from working in perfectly safe environments. The minimum wage has destroyed many jobs. That's why, for example, in contrast with the past, today's gasoline stations are self-service and theater ushers are nonexistent.

Then there are super-minimum wage laws, such as the Davis-Bacon Act, which were written for the express purposes of excluding blacks from government-financed or -assisted construction projects. Labor unions have a long history of discrimination against blacks. Frederick Douglass wrote about this in "The Tyranny, Folly, and Wickedness of Labor Unions," and Booker T. Washington did so in "The Negro and the Labor Unions." To the detriment of their constituents, black politicians give support to labor laws pushed by unions and white liberal organizations.

That is going to come as a surprise to economists Thomas Sowell and Walter E. Williams. In one of his commentaries, Williams says the following:

in terms of increasing the minimum wage, though, there isn't an indication that it has caused higher unemployment for black people,,,

Your argument is with Thomas Sowell and Walter E. Williams, not me.
They are the researchers who say that minimum wage laws have harmed black Americans.


Walter E. Williams

I guarantee if roles were reversed and it was three white teens on an african american kid Al and Uncle Jesse would be all over this like a fat kid on a twinkie.

lol

oh,, well if a black man thinks it it must be true,,,

I don't need to argue with them, I understand 'experts' come down on different sides of an argument all the time,,,,the relevance of these experts findings just don't hold much water with me though

Actually, it is more like this: If people with doctorates in economics find evidence for something pertaining to economics, then they might know something that is unknown to people who aren't experts in economics.

I see no reason to dismiss what the aforementioned economists have discovered (unless my preconceived ideas prevent me from accepting their discoveries [/sarc]).

here is why I see reason to dismiss it

the argument is two fold, the fold they are focused on is not what holds a priority for me

the fold they are focused on is strictly an UNEMPLOYMENT rate,, or how many people are not WORKING,,,,,

and , as I said before, almost all blacks were WORKING during slavery days but it did little to make life better for them


the second fold of the argument is,, once we do have standards that say peoples work should have a minimum VALUE,, there may be those employers who drop out unwilling or unable to pay that value

and there may be workers who will no longer work for a pittance that does nothing to help them move ahead in life

but that type of loss is welcome in return for PAY And EMPLOYMENT That is actually useful to the employee, and not just profitable for the employer,,,

From 1900 to 1954, blacks were more active than whites in the labor market. Until about 1960, black male labor force participation in every age group was equal to or greater than that of whites. During that period, black teen unemployment was roughly equal to or less than white teen unemployment. As early as 1900, the duration of black unemployment was 15 percent shorter than that of whites; today it's about 30 percent longer. To do something about today's employment picture requires abandonment of sacred cows and honesty.

The typical answer given for many black problems is racial discrimination. No one argues that every vestige of racial discrimination has been eliminated. But the relevant question is: How much of what we see can be explained by discrimination? I doubt whether anyone would argue that the reason for lower unemployment, higher labor force participation and shorter duration of unemployment among blacks in the first half of the 20th century was that there was less racial discrimination. I also doubt whether anyone would argue that during earlier periods, blacks had higher education and greater skills attainment than whites. Answers must be sought elsewhere.