Minimum Wage In Walter Williams 'Article, Elitist Arrogance'

In his article “Elitist Arrogance,” Walter Williams discusses the effects that setting the minimum wage at fifteen dollars an hour would have on African American and low-skill workers. He states that during the 40s and 50s, more African American teens were active in the labor market and employed than white teens. Today, however, more white teens are employed and active in the labor market than black teens, and Walter believes that this is because higher minimum wages have caused companies to discriminate against low-skill workers, which is largely represented by African American teens. Minimum wage is a good policy that the Department of Labor has every right to enforce in every state. Setting a minimum wage attempts to assure that citizens will not be totally taken advantage of in the workforce. Of course, there are some instances where people get paid minimum wage to do very difficult jobs that they should be making much more at, but for the most part the minimum wage is a useful guideline for companies to refer to when setting their wages. Today teenagers commonly think of the minimum wage and what the article refers to as a “crappy job” together. Williams writes in his articles that he and his friends

The minimum wage and “crappy jobs” associated with it should be something that people strive to work themselves out of through education and a strong work ethic. Ideally, people get “crappy” minimum wage jobs as teenagers still in high school, and the experience teaches them to work hard and apply themselves in school, so that they don’t have to work at that “crappy” job