DISCRIMINATION IN THE OIL BUSINESS

Kayln Holcomb
11-30-2015
Mrs. Sherman
Practicum Business
Capstone Essay
Discrimination in the Oil Business

Background/ Defining Discrimination in Workplace/

Laws
Discrimination in the Workplace.
"Discrimination" means unequal treatment. Title VII of The
Civil Rights Act of 1964 says that no person employed or seeking
employment by a business with more than 15 employees may be
discriminated against due to his or her race, color, religion, sex, or
national origin. Racial Discrimination in the Workplace
Racial Discrimination in Workplace
Racial or ethnic discrimination in the workplace can rear its
ugly head in a variety of forms, some of which can be overt or
obvious. But racial discrimination can often be subtle and more
difficult to detect, such as an employer's failure to hire or promote
an individual on account of their race. Whichever form it takes,
however, racial discrimination in the workplace is strictly
prohibited by a number of federal and state laws.
Texas Anti-Discrimination Laws

Texas does not stand on the sidelines when it comes to

discrimination in the workplace. Texas legislation covering
workplace discrimination is fairly widespread, and generally
mirrors federal law in prohibiting discrimination based on race.
The primary differences are in the procedures used and agencies
contacted to make a claim of discrimination.
However, at both the federal and state level, deadlines are a
key consideration. There are often strict timelines for reporting
and filing claims of racial discrimination, so if you feel you have
been discriminated against, do not hesitate to contact an
employment law attorney in your area to discuss your situation.
Research Methodologies
Descriptive Qualitative- detailed descriptions of specific
situation(s) using interviews, observations, document review. I
used descriptive qualitative research because you describe things
as they are and it gets you the straight to the point facts without
any extra nonsense. Correlational/ Regression Analysesquantitative analyses of the strength of relationships between two
or more variables. I used this when I interviewed my mentor and

her boss to help me ask better questions and to compare their

stories and analyze the similarities and differences. Quasi
experimental- comparing a group that gets a particular
intervention with another group that is similar in characteristics
but did not receive the intervention. Meta-analysis- synthesis of
results from multiple studies to determine the average impact of
a similar intervention across the studies. Case studies- Various
methods of data collection and analysis are used but this typically
includes observation and interviews and may involve consulting
other people and personal or public records.
Sources of Information and Collection of Data
The researchers began by considering the limitations of
previous economic approaches to explainingor explaining away
racial wage disparities. The so-called Mincerian approach,
Spenkuch explains, uses statistical regression methods to assign
an impact to various observed variables affecting wages,
including race. This approach crucially relies on high-quality data
in which there is no variable you could possibly think of that is
correlated with race and also affects wageswhich is of course

never true, he says. Another approach uses structural models of

the labor market, which can generate results that are highly
dependent on initial assumptions used to construct the model
and if those assumptions are implausible, the results are suspect.
Spenkuch and his coauthors attempted to combine the strengths
of these two approaches while avoiding their shortcomings. The
strength of the structural approach is that theres a model of how
people make decisions, he says, and the strength of the first
approach is that we can control simultaneously for a lot of
different variables. The researchers also obtained access to a
novel and uniquely rich set of data which observed the jobseeking activity of approximately 5200 recently unemployed
black and white workers in New Jersey over twelve weeks in 2009
basically yesterday in economic terms, Spenkuch says.
Crucially, this data also included wage offersand not just the
offers that applicants accepted, but also ones that they rejected.
Spenkuchs empirical test became a matter of finding pairs of
job-seekersidentical in every aspect except race, including the
wages they received at their last joband comparing the set of
offers they each received while searching for a new job. First,

black job seekers were offered significantly less compensation

than whites by potential new employers. Second, blacks were
much more likely to accept these lower offers than their white
counterparts. This is exactly what you would expect if blacks
know that theyre being racially discriminated against, Spenkuch
adds. Finally, and surprisingly, the researchers found that wage
gaps narrow over time as black workers stay at the same job. As
an employer I may discriminate against you by offering a lower
wage when I first hire you, Spenkuch explains, but over time as
you work for me, I come to know how good you really are as an
individual, and I adjust your wage accordingly. By taking these
variables into effect alongside race, the researchers found that
the raw wage gap between black and white workerswhich we
observe at around 30 to 35 percent, if we dont adjust for
anything, Spenkuch explainsnarrows to between ten and
twelve percent. This means that racial discrimination must
account for at least a third of the factors that contribute to black
workers receiving lower wages than whites. It follows intuitively
from the two assumptions in our model, Spenkuch says. Those
assumptions are not necessarily innocuous, but we feel confident

that they are plausible.(Workplace Fairness." Race

Discrimination; John Jared)

Multiple Perspectives (different views from works at the

company about oil business racial discrimination)
Samuel Holcomb
How long have you been working here?
35 years
Do people ever turn down your services because of your race?
Yes, one time a man told me, Boy I dont need your business
here we only need N*ggers to pick cotton not to pump out our oil
and diesel. I walked away because I know I had a family at home
and I wanted to return to them but I would have probably yelled
at him and it could have gotten worse. I didnt want to go to jail.
Phyllis Turner
How long have you been working here?
25 years

Do people ever turn down your services because of your race?

One time Mr. Holcomb sent me to a jobsite to pick up a check in
Sugarland Texas. There was a huge company called R&N Oil. The
check was supposed to be for $5,000, and the owner only gave
me a check for $2,500. I asked him nicely where the rest of the
money was and he said, Blacks dont get paid in full youre only
good for cooking, cleaning homes, and working farms. Why would
I pay you $5000 to pick up my oil? I should have paid a white
person to do it. Not some Colored people. I left in tears because
what he said really hurt me.
Ray banks
How long have you been working here?
15 years
Do people ever turn down your services because of your race?
Mr. Holcomb gave me a job ticket to go to Vidor Texas which is a
small town and it was to a gas station. I guess when they called
the job in they didnt know that the company was black owned so
when I got out the oil truck the man was like who are you boy. I

was looking confused because at the time I was 30 years told Im

not a boy Im a grown man. So I said I am from Holcomb Oil I
came to pick up the 500 Gallons of Oil. He said I dont want your
help boy cant you see there are no colored people in this town. I
replied with I am here to do my job and my job only. He asked me
to leave but I still had to get paid 300 dollars for the blank trip
because thats how much it cost when you cancel on site if your 3
hours away. He refused to pay and he pushed me against my
truck and threated my life so I hurried and left.

Ethics / Unanswered Questions

Ethics or moral philosophy is the branch of philosophy that
involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts
of right and wrong conduct.
Why do people discriminate people on a job site?
Why do people still some racism in America?
Why are black owned business so shunned upon?

Why do people have to go through the pain and heart ache of

being seen by their pigmentation instead of their work skills and
education?
Self-analysis
What factual knowledge did I learn?
I learned everything about the oil business from how to start up
my company to how to build an empire for future generations.
Learned soft skills and hard skills and how to treat people with the
up most respect because that can get you connections and raises
in your paycheck.
How might this knowledge help me now or in the future?
It will help me tremendously I the future. Now I know how to
conduct in a business environment and how to talk to
professionals in my career.
What did I learn about myself as a self- directed, life- long
learner?
I learned that no matter how bad your day is your boss and
mentor can show mercy and cheer you up. There really is kind

hearted people and good bosses in this world. You just have to do
your job to the best of your ability and build relationships with
them and always have a smile on your face.
What was new for me in this learning process?
Learning how to work in groups and how to official state paper
work efficiently.
What did I learn about my character, social skills, and
emotional makeup?
I learned that Im good at taking directions and working with
others. I learned how to separate my personal opinion form
affecting my work and how to keep my emotions good and caring.
After completing this project, how do I feel about a career
in this industry?
I feel very confident about having a career as an oil business
owner I show all the skills of a hard worker, I have leader ship
skills and I will be an intelligent boss.

Work Cited
Primary Resources (5): (MLA format, annotated) insert
lines as needed
1.

"Employee Rights & Laws." - Texas Workforce Commission.

Web. 18 Nov. 2015.

<http://www.twc.state.tx.us/jobseekers/employee-rights-laws>.
2.

"Workplace Discrimination Employment Laws | HR Topics for

Human Resources." HR Topics for Human Resources RSS. 17 Feb.

2013. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.
<http://topics.hrhero.com/discrimination-in-the-workplace/>.
3.

"Racial Discrimination in the Workplace - FindLaw." Findlaw.

13 June 2015. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.

<http://employment.findlaw.com/employmentdiscrimination/racial-discrimination-in-the-workplace.html>.
4.

Smith, Josh. "Discrimination by Type." Types of Discrimination.

2010. Web. 18 Nov. 2015. <http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/>.

5.

Jean, Ira. "Workplace Fairness." Discrimination in the

Workplace. 23 Sept. 2009. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.

<http://www.workplacefairness.org/employment-discrimination>.

Secondary Resources (10): (MLA format, annotated) insert

lines as needed
1.

Scott, Sherrie, and Demand Media. "Discrimination at the

Workplace." Small Business. 10 May 2015. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.

<http://smallbusiness.chron.com/discrimination-workplace2855.html>.
2.

"Employment Discrimination in Texas | Nolo.com." Nolo.com.

Web. 18 Nov. 2015. <http://www.nolo.com/legalencyclopedia/texas-employment-discrimination-32114.html>.

3.

"Workplace Fairness." Race Discrimination -. 8 Apr. 2013.

Web. 19 Nov. 2015. <https://www.workplacefairness.org/racediscrimination>.

4. Brown, Jake. "Race Discrimination and Racial Harassment in

the Workplace | HR Topics for Human Resources." HR Topics for
Human Resources RSS. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.
<http://topics.hrhero.com/race-discrimination-and-racialharassment/>.
5.

Hudson, Kevin. "Examples of Racial Discrimination." 23 Jan.

2014. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.

<http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-racial-discriminationin-the-workplace-examples-statistics-cases.html>.

6. Lane, Mary. "Race/Color Discrimination." Race/Color

Discrimination. 17 June 2014. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.
<http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/race_color.cfm>.
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Web. 19 Nov. 2015.

8. "All about the Oil Business." 30 Nov. 2010. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.
<http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/topic/oil-gas>.
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