Vulnerable workers seek to blame their fears on public policy. It is likely that affirmative action programs that were once accepted will be scuttled by citizen initiative. Since public sector jobs reflect stable civic chores rather than the turbulence of the competitive marketplace, I collected some data on employment changes within components of California state and local government. Employment practices ought to be reflected in employment patterns. Inspection of this table reveals some trends that are discordant with our everyday views.
Some trends encourage our hopes.
Asians, Filipinos, Latinos and African Americans have all made significant employment gains in the California state civil service in the last decade and a half. Asians, Filipinos and Latinos have also gained in the city of San Francisco. But not all boats have risen. Whites have ceded about 25 percent of their jobs in the California state and San Francisco city civil services. If this loss of upwards of 15,000 jobs is mirrored throughout those governmental branches not recorded in this table, such as the California universities and colleges, then it is plausible that the loss of tens of thousands of jobs might contribute to the waves of White Californian middle class anxiety.