Contractor licensing schemes against minority groups - part 2

4 months ago
11

The New Period Chat Radio. States use licensing schemes, for contractors or professionals, not only to ensure applicants are qualified; but also to limit these careers to "certain" individuals. Many "licensing requirements" have the effect of “weeding-out” highly-qualified minority groups and of people of low-income. Immigrants, blacks, indigenous folks, and LGBT peoples; are among the most affected by these licensing schemes, and are routinely denied access to these lucrative and essential careers. For example, by requiring high “application fees” and “testing fees”; you deny the poor these oportunities. The poor are largely made of minority groups. And, by requiring a "squeaky clean" “criminal background”; you deny many disproportionately-targeted Blacks and Latinos in poor communities. And, by requiring an excessive command of the english language; you deny many qualified immigrants from entering these fields. For example, electrical contractor “requirements” in the state of Georgia, mandate you to be endorsed by no less than 4 other “contractors”, and they must all "certify", under penalty of punishment, that they have "known your work" for at least 4 years. This and other draconian "requirements" firmly keep these licenses in the hands of a dominant group, who has held them for generations. Effectively, states engage in “Jim Crow-like” tactics, resembling the “poll taxes” and “literacy tests” of the segregated South. Lastly, the incentives to “endorse” applicants requires an “intimate friendship” unlikely in work circumstances and among different races. Having the effect of "grandfather clauses" of the old "literacy tests" of the past. So enabling those with "licensed" family and friends to effectively "inherit" these licenses. In this series, I explain these and more.
Hector Vladimir 2024©
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