Blacks and Whites. Men and Women. Historically, each group has held very different types of jobs. The divide between these jobs was stark—clean or dirty, steady or inconsistent, skilled or unskilled. In such a rigidly segregated occupational landscape, race and gender radically limited labor opportunities, relegating Black women to the least desirable jobs. Opportunity Denied is the first comprehensive look at changes in race, gender, and women’s work across time, comparing the labor force experiences of Black women to White women, Black men and White men. Enobong Hannah Branch merges empirical data with rich historical detail, offering an original overview of the evolution of Black women’s work. From free Black women in 1860 to Black women in 2008, the experience of discrimination in seeking and keeping a job has been determinedly constant. Branch focuses on occupational segregation before 1970 and situates the findings of contemporary studies in a broad historical context, illustrating how inequality can grow and become entrenched over time through the institution of work.

Potential whistle-blower bewares. Whistling blowing act might lead to career suicide. So think carefully before you plunge into action, because ultimately the price you have to pay is your dismissal. Government agency apparently is rarely prepared to admit mistakes or attend to the views expressed by their workers. In fact, more often than not, they would rather deny the charges from workers and continue to not respond to it or even lie about it. Government agency often issues its policy statement encouraging its employees to freely express their view without fear of recrimination or retributions. But be careful before you take the bait, which I did. Employees should know that there is also an unwritten policy, which is to harass or retaliate against people critical of or who disagree with any action taken by the agency. These people are labeled troublemakers and will eventually be terminated. Remember government rarely practices what it preaches, period. Government will often spend an enormous amount of time and resources to orchestrate the removal of the so-called whistle blowers, a.k.a. troublemakers. These whistle blowers are often persecuted for the only crime they committed which is to tell the truth, and would ultimately be dismissed from their jobs. My advice to the would-be whistle blower is this: do not blow the whistle unless you are prepared to lose everything. It is better to remain silence than to speak out to lose your job.

The case for race-conscious education policy In our unequal society, families of color fully share the dream of college but their children often attend schools that do not prepare them, and the higher education system gives the best opportunities to the most privileged. Students of color hope for college but often face a dead end. For many young people, racial inequality puts them at a disadvantage from early childhood. The Walls around Opportunity argues that colorblind policies have made college inaccessible to a large share of students of color, and reveals how policies that acknowledge racial inequalities and set racial equality goals can succeed where colorblindness has failed. Gary Orfield paints a troubling portrait of American higher education, explaining how profound racial gaps imbedded in virtually every stage of our children’s lives pose a major threat to communities of color and the nation. He describes how the 1960s and early 1970s was the only period in history to witness sustained efforts at racial equity in higher education, and how the Reagan era ushered in today’s colorblind policies, which ignore the realities of color inequality. Orfield shows how this misguided policy has resegregated public schools, exacerbated inequalities in college preparation, denied needed financial aid to families, and led to huge price increases over decades that have seen little real gain in income for most Americans. Now with a new afterword that discusses the 2023 Supreme Court decision to outlaw affirmative action in college admissions, this timely and urgent book shows that the court’s colorblind ruling is unworkable in a society where every aspect of opportunity and preparation is linked to race, and reveals the gaps in the opportunity pipeline while exploring the best ways to address them in light of this decision.