Name Defines Job Applicants

I read a very suprising statistic while reading an article, "In Job Hunt, College Degree Can't Close Racial Gap". The article described the inequalities in our society regarding companies hiring more whites over blacks, even when those who weren't white had prestigious educations and lots of work experience. However, the statistic that suprised me was from a study in The American Economic Review, called "Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal?" The study showed that those applying for jobs with "black-sounding" names recieved 50% less callbacks for interviews than people with "white-sounding" names.

This infuriated me a bit, because your name should not be what defines who you are in regards to whether or not you will be a good employee. No one can control what they are named, however, they can control what type of education/experience they can bring to a position. A company should give each application a fair chance, focusing strictly on what is there, and give fair interviews to all applicants. According to the article, "Discrimination in many cases may not even be intentional, some job seekers pointed out, but simply a matter of people gravitating toward similar people, casting about for the right “cultural fit,” a buzzword often heard in corporate circles." In other words, some companies don't even know they are being discriminatory, but simply gravitate toward names that sound "white". Just because your name is not Emily or Greg, for example, doesn't mean that a person is any less adequate for a job. With college graduate black males having an unemployment rate of twice that of white males, and interviewers superficially judging people by their name, something people are not in control over, how can there be equal opportunities for all men in our country?