I'm also a white male and reading the article I kept thinking "The requirement for speaking and dressing well doesn't have anything to do with your skin color." The old adage about dressing for the job you want is true for everyone. I'm not suggesting that people of various colors, or women, or gays, or whatever other group does not face a greater degree of difficulty in these areas, but if you want to be one of the ducks, you gotta walk, talk, and act like a duck.
mcv|12 years ago
I also think it depends a lot on the job. Jobs just above the low-end might have a stronger interest in filtering out the supposed low-lifes, than a job that requires a good education before you can even be considered. I can dress however I like, partially because the dress code for coders isn't terribly strict, and partially because my CV sells me much better than any suit could possibly do.
On the other hand, maybe I would be able to get a better job if I wore a suit. But because my income is good enough, I can afford to ignore jobs that require nice clothes. But if you're poor, every step up is a step away from poverty, and you can't afford to ignore that.
As for skin color, I think black people are still much more strongly associated with poverty than white people, so for them, avoiding the appearance of poverty might still be more important than for a white person of similar wealth. Anything to dodge the stigma.
gaius|12 years ago