Quote Originally Posted by Grinch View Post
I didn't know you was mixed race jazz?

I used to hate ticking the ''Other'' box in the ethic background section on application forms. Mixed race wasn't an option till about 2001



I worry about the state of things in the U.S. Mixed Race isn't an option there to this day... I truly HATE that Barrack Obama gets called black by 95% of the world.

He probably calls himself Black
My Mother would of smacked the shit out of me (no pun intended ) for that

Halle Berry, Thierry Henry, Lewis Hamilton, Alicia Keys etc.. all mixed race, all get called black/ call them selves black... I understand the hangup but it's nonsense.

What would you rather be? A Genetic hybrid or an Genetic Inbred?
The US is very different though because of the one drop rule. Someone who is say 1/16th black over there, is still considered black. Because of the attitude to mixed-races over there all those people have probably been defined as black their whole lives, so that's how they'll feel themselves.

Even in the UK a lot of people still tend to see mixed-race people as black, it's just the way of the world, it can be a bit irritating at times but it doesn't really bother me. Oddly, it's only really on here that I ever find myself reacting as a 'black' person because I always consider myself mixed, I mean I look more Arab or North African than anything else.

In most jobs that's the case, the areas I've found it in have been goverment jobs... there's strictly no canvasing.

The last one I went for before going self employed was in a Newcastle City Council Gym.

I had more qualifications than they wanted, I had experience and knowledge of everything on the person specification for the job and displayed this on my application form... I even had experience in working in newcastle city council (one of the specifications was 'able to work within and represent a local body). Ticked and exceeded every box... everything they wanted.

Like I said I live in a pretty nice area at the moment, so in terms of 'class' that's all they've got to go off on an application form.

They also wanted to know my ethnic background, maritial status, disabilitys and sexuality....



The application closed about 6 weeks ago and I've yet to hear a thing... I met literally every part of the person specification and my qualifications exceeded the minimum. Experience preferred but not necessary... I've got a shit load.

Not even an interview.
It's the same for me mate. They ask all those things (race, gender, sexuality, disability), but it honestly doesn't benefit you to be a minority. I'm an ethnic minority with learning difficulties, I've found it no easier to get a job than you & I'm similarly over-qualified for pretty much every position I apply to.

I've had so many interviews where I sit there & think I more than meet all the criteria, only for me to end up not even getting an interview. It's the recession, the new positions go to those who've got someone to vouch for them. I ended up taking unpaid employment for the TV station in the European Parliament. I was the only one who was unpaid of all the interns, but I was the most qualified & the only one who'd had any work experience in the TV industry (in my case working as part of the production team on the Beijing Olympics).

It's all about connections. You can have all the experience & talent in the world, but if you've got no connections you're fucked.