The New York Times has published an essay by RSF author Nancy DiTomaso on the relationship between social networks and racial inequality. In the essay, DiTomaso draws from her research in The American Non-Dilemma, which argues that economic racial disparities are perpetuated not by explicit racism, but by seemingly innocuous processes, such as networking, that institutionalize racial bias:

The mechanism that reproduces inequality, in other words, may be inclusion more than exclusion. And while exclusion or discrimination is illegal, inclusion or favoritism is not — meaning it can be more insidious and largely immune to legal challenges.

Favoritism is almost universal in today’s job market. In interviews with hundreds of people on this topic, I found that all but a handful used the help of family and friends to find 70 percent of the jobs they held over their lifetimes; they all used personal networks and insider information if it was available to them.

DiTomaso's research suggests that we need to adjust the conversation on racial inequality in America. While discrimination obviously still exists, whites helping other whites, be they friends, family, or peers, also limits opportunities for African Americans in the labor market and reproduces racial exclusion. As DiTomaso said in an interview with RSF Review earlier this year:

Because whites disproportionately hold jobs with more authority, higher pay, more opportunities for skill development and training, and more links to other jobs, they can benefit from racial inequality without being racists and without discriminating against blacks and other nonwhites. In fact, I argue that the ultimate white privilege is the privilege not to be racist and still benefit from racial inequality.

Read DiTomaso's Times essay here. You can purchase her book here.