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WHAT'S TO BLAME?: Annique Simpson asks black unemployment is due to racism or lack of ambition

THE NOTION of a progressive Black Britain has taken quite a blow over the past few weeks.

First the Office of National Statistics (ONS) reveals that we are less satisfied with our lives than the rest of the UK population. Now we have the highest rate of youth unemployment relative to all UK ethnic groups.

Just over 47 percent of black young people (excluding students) were unemployed at the end of last year - more than double the rate of their white counterparts.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, black males have fared worse in the current employment crisis than the females. Being a member of the latter group, these statistics struck a chord with me for two reasons.

Firstly, having experienced a bout of unemployment a couple years ago, I can empathise with the disillusionment, indignity and despair that my jobless peers are probably experiencing. Very few events are as humbling as attending a Jobcentre sign-on appointment.

Secondly, these figures reignite the age-old debate: are we not getting the jobs because we experience a greater level of discrimination than other ethnic groups in the UK or because we don’t try hard as they do?

Racial discrimination is palpable in the UK employment market. We’ve all heard stories about employers disposing of CVs and application forms because the applicant had a ‘black’ name or sounded ‘black’ from the off. Or even worse, they sounded ‘white’ and their blackness was only revealed at interview.

To many of those in positions of power, we are the dumber, aggressive and less-achieving race; more interested in our image and money than our level of intellect. Such attitudes can, and often do, create barriers preventing our entry into the basic stratum of employment, let alone the upper echelons.

However, we are not totally blameless. There are a considerable proportion of young black people who seem happy to perpetuate the black stereotype of being ignorant, indifferent and idle.

Driven by celebrity glamour, they demand instant materialistic gratification without putting in any of the necessary work, seeing completing job applications ‘a long ting’ and certain jobs as too menial to consider, despite lacking the qualifications or experience for their preferred positions.

Many would rather spend their time and limited money on material goods than educational/vocational courses. And even when they do try to get work, at the first sniff of failure they’re off to chase a get-rich-quick scheme or to give up entirely.

Of course this viewpoint is by no means limited to our community – I know white and Asian people who are of the same opinion - but it affects us disproportionately, as unlike other ethnicities, we do not typically have a family business, contacts, or the necessary ‘look’ required to secure work in these difficult times.

It may be the case that this apathetic attitude to work is a product of factors beyond our control: an education system that repeatedly fails our children or a media geared towards glamourising the bling-gang-ho culture that seems to have entrapped so many of our young minds. Then again it may not be.

Whatever the reasoning behind this mindset, it is likely that both this and society’s opinion and treatment of our young people are to blame for the differing unemployment rates between us and other ethnicities.

However, since it is far easier for us to change the opinions we hold than to those of others, our younger generation without work would do best to maintain a positive work ethic and to seize all employment opportunities offered to them if they want to get out of the dole queue and into the workforce.

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