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V O L . X X V I N O. X X I X D E C E M B E R 1 4 , 2 0 2 0 16 WO R K F O R C E D E V E L O P M E N T M aine's focus on diversity in hir- ing may have been energized by this year's national reckon- ing on race, as a variety of businesses and organizations in the state pledged to make it a priority, but it began with something more prosaic. Historic unemployment among white workers the past several years meant jobs were going unfilled, and, so, attention turned to Maine's people of color, whose unemployment numbers stubbornly remained in double digits. "Up until this crisis moment, I think there were good intentions, but people didn't really know they didn't know," says Deb Breiting, cofounder of Maine Intercultural Communication Consultants. Employers' attitude was often, "We want to hire people as long as they have the skills to fit into our company culture." e "right person" usually means the white person, according to "e F O C U S P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY There's been much more attention on the fact that cultural differences matter. [Employers are] saying, 'We need to shift our systems and figure this out. — Deb Breiting Maine Intercultural Communications Consultants H iring experts say one challenge to inclusion and diversity in the workplace is the education gap regarding systemic racism and how it affects an equitable workforce. Many people don't understand what it is and what its effects are. Systemic racism is the ingrained policies and practices — government, in the private sector, and among individuals — that support unfair treatment of people who are not white. Because of it, people of color In Maine are twice as likely to experience food insecurity, have more difficulty paying for health care and finding adequate housing, among other challenges. Some systemic racism is set in law. For instance, the national Fair Wage Standards Act of 1938, which created the minimum wage, work week standards and overtime, and is still the foundation for labor law, deliberately excluded jobs more likely to have Black and Latinx workers, including in agriculture and domestic trades. Maine's first state minimum wage law, in 1959, followed suit, exempting jobs in agriculture, restaurant servers and domestic service. Maine overtime law also excludes occupations that disproportionately employ people of color — most notably food processing. But systemic racism is also reflected in practices not set in policy. Here's how systemic racism looks in Maine: Unemployment rates for Black, Latinx and American Indian Mainers are consistently much higher than for white residents. Access to higher education plays a part, but employment levels for Mainers of color with a bachelor's degree are similar employment to those of white Mainers without a degree. "Resume audits," in which employers are sent nearly iden- tical resumes for the same job, but with one resume signaling an applicant's race, find that Black, Latinx and American Indian applicants are called for interviews less frequently than white applicants with identical experience and skill sets. A study that compared outcomes for Somali Americans with other Black Americans, as well as white applicants, found they faced even more discrimination than other Black candidates. Black and American Indian workers in Maine face significant barriers finding employment suited to their skills and education, and earn less than their white peers. The number is even higher for immigrant Black college graduates, who are more than twice as likely than a white graduate to work in occupations that don't require a degree. Mainers of color are less likely to have the means to afford college. Black Mainers are much more likely to be sent to prison on a first offense. Black and Latinx job applicants with criminal records, even for a minor offense, are less likely to be hired than white applicants with the same history. Maine arrest rates are most race- disproportional for drug offenses, especially for class A and B offenses, which are more serious and carry bigger penalties. S O U R C E : Maine Center for Economic Policy's "State of Working Maine 2020" MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME IN MAINE BY RACE, 2018 Deb Breiting, left, and Kim Greason, cofounders of Maine Intercultural Communication Consulting. What does systemic racism look like in Maine? White Latino Black, U.S.-born Black, immigrant American Indian Asian (any) $30K $20K $10K $0 $40K $50K $60K $70K fair playing field A employment B y M a u R e e n M i l l i k e n Maine's struggle with equality in the workplace goes deeper than numbers

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