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According to a new study, African-Americans face a particularly difficult situation when it comes to finding a job after school. The 2013 unemployment rate for recent college grads who are black was almost twice that of recent college grads overall, according to a report released Tuesday by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a left-leaning think tank that studies inequality and other economic issues.

Why? That age-old reality: Racism and discrimination.

It has typically been more difficult for young workers competing in the same job market as their older counterparts to secure employment, but the black jobless rate has consistently been double that of whites for the past 60 years. Combine these two factors, and you get a job market that’s particularly hostile to young black Americans leaving college.

According to one study an applicant with a “black sounding name” (researchers gave Lakisha Washington and Jamal Jones as examples) were less likely to get called back for an interview than their counterparts with the same qualifications who had “white sounding” names (like Emily Walsh or Greg Baker). Further, they earn nearly 25 percent less when they are employed.

To dwarf even more blatant assumptions about black applicants, other researchers have suggested drug testing because hiring managers most likely assume they’ve used drugs and are less likely to discriminate when presented with actual evidence to the contrary.

In other words, it appears that black people are still expected to jump through hoops in an effort to get white people to like them. Trust them. And treat them as equals, no matter what the level of education.

Unfortunately, it is the younger college graduates who are now coming into this reality.

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(Photo Source: AP)