Few Jobs for White Blue Collar Workers in the greater Washington DC area (townhome, neighborhoods)

[The Outcast]

I know quite a few white middle aged men who do not have a college degree and want to do what they call regular work. They want to do trained blue collar work but just can not get hired. They believe that white middle aged men are just not seriously considered for blue collar jobs in DC. Yes, I know Washington is basically a white collar city but as with any community there is a need for blue collar workers to make the city work. But in the immediate Washington DC these jobs are slotted for immigrants and African Americans.

Before you attack me as a troll or a racist spend the day and look around. Who is working at METRO? Who is doing road construction, who is working as the janator? Who is working as plummers and electricans? Who is driving trucks and buses? Not white men. Go to Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Buffalo and the white man is doing these jobs.

Agree? Or Disagree?

[jambo101]

Any one who has visited Washington will agree with your assessment that white guys are nowhere to be seen in the service sector,guess they are all in them fancy office buildings running the country.

[Avtomat Kalashnikova]

I agree.
For the 21 years I've been alive and living in this city, one thing I've always noticed is that almost all bus drivers and subway operators are black as well as most of the custodians/janitors. I'm becoming to think that something isn't righ, unless all the white people in this area are too good for blue collar work, because thats what its starting to seem like. You can go to other cities like New York and Chicago and you'll see much more white bus drivers and train operators. I'm guessing this maybe because unlike other cities, D.C. proper has virtually no poor white people, none whatsoever. I don't mean to make this more racial than it already is but it seems like theres are "massa - Toby" complex going on in D.C., even though there is also a lot of black white collar workers, not as nearly as blue collar ones in this area.

[The Heartbreak Kid]

Umm, could it be the demographics of the area

[Avtomat Kalashnikova]

Originally Posted by ahales

Umm, could it be the demographics of the area

D.C. demographics (according to city data):

Black alone - 312,590 (52.8%)
White alone - 194,260 (32.8%)
Hispanic - 51,124 (8.6%)
Asian alone - 19,696 (3.3%)
Two or more races - 10,096 (1.7%)
American alone - 1,571 (0.3%)
Other race alone - 1,931 (0.3%)
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone - 564 (0.10%)

and I can't even begin to show stats about how man y white people live in the western part of the DC area

[Bigbluelandrover]

Its demographics and class AND perceptions. What area is the "average white guy" going to live in that would work for metro or even as a janitor? These jobs don't pay high for this area so that would limit one to PG county and some of the bad areas of DC that do not attract whites. I DO so whites in the burbs working as plummers, contractors, on the road crews but as the cost of living increases you won't see them in the center of DC.

NYC doesn't compare because of the strong unions there, Cleveland, Pittsburg etc. are lower costs areas with a history of blue collar neighborhoods. I don't think DC ever had an enclave like that.

[The Heartbreak Kid]

Originally Posted by Avtomat Kalashnikova

D.C. demographics (according to city data):

Black alone - 312,590 (52.8%)
White alone - 194,260 (32.8%)
Hispanic - 51,124 (8.6%)
Asian alone - 19,696 (3.3%)
Two or more races - 10,096 (1.7%)
American alone - 1,571 (0.3%)
Other race alone - 1,931 (0.3%)
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone - 564 (0.10%)

and I can't even begin to show stats about how man y white people live in the western part of the DC area

I would like to see the education stats of the whites living in the city. If you going to bring one stat, bring them all.

[HurricaneDC]

Eh I'm fairly certain that Metrorail operators make a fairly nice salary for what their job is. Hell up until the Red Line crash they didn't even drive the trains, they just sat there and made sure ATC did its job.

But yeah, when I see a white Metro employee he's usually a maintenance guy. I think Metro Transit PD is the only Metro-related thing that has a lot of whites. That and probably administrative things in the Jackson Graham building.

I'm with ahales though... there really are very few white people living here who can't get a job in the white collar sector. There are quite a few working in trades, though. As far as I know, being a bus driver or Metro operator isn't a 'trade' per se... you just apply and get trained. I don't know if Metro uses affirmative action in its hiring process, but it would help explain why the majority of Metro employees are black (whether they use racial background or socioeconomic background). You've got a lot of black people living in the area, so if they use race as a factor then obviously you'll have more blacks working there. A lot of black people in the area are poor, so if they use your socioeconomic background as a factor then you'll also have more blacks working there.

[coolio69]

I see a lot of older white guys working as contractors (or for contractors) in renovation projects in NE DC. Lets say a family or organization wants to renovate or expand a townhome/building and they call these contractors in. Having talked to a few, they usually don't live in DC proper, but just outside the beltway. The last guy I talked to lived in Bowie. He recommended some good all-u-can-eat crab seafood places. BTW, either they or their parents used to live in DC, because they know how to get around and how to avoid our traffic tieups around here.

[Avtomat Kalashnikova]

Originally Posted by ahales

I would like to see the education stats of the whites living in the city. If you going to bring one stat, bring them all.

I couldn't find any that directly correlates education to race, however zip codes that are majority white will higher education and median income rates (like 20015, 20016) versus zipcodes that are majority black (ex 20019, 20020, 20032)where the poverty rate is much higher.