"Though 10 percent of the U.S. civilian labor force, African-Americans are 18 percent of U.S. government workers. They are 25 percent of the employees at Treasury and Veterans Affairs, 31 percent of the State Department, 37 percent of Department of Education employees and 38 percent of Housing and Urban Development. They are 42 percent of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., 55 percent of the employees at the Government Printing Office and 82 percent at the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency." - from a Pat Buchanan column (7/26/11)

In the parts of the country where lots of blacks live, that's who you run into in the DMV or social services, or whatever. Even if they don't hold that many of the jobs, to the white majority, a job that is more frequently staffed by black employees is noticed, just because it is different. As a result, they remember all the black employees they've seen at DYFS or DMV but the greater number of their white co-workers fades because they don't stand out as much to a white person. The average workplace will have 1 black person for every 10 employees, but the DMV or DYFS might have 3 or 4, so people will recall there being a lot of blacks there. This is the kind of minor thing that doesn't really register on many people's consciousness, but when they are casting interchangable actors for minor roles like this, a black caseworker or desk clerk 'feels' right.



This is also a case of art imitating life. Most police dispatchers or 911 operators are female, probably because that is a job without a lot of upward career mobility. A lot of women in the work force do so as a supplement to their household's primary source of income, or else because they are forced by their circumstances (usually divorce or premarital children) to take on jobs with little or no career progression. Jobs like this tend to attract more women than men, because men seek careers with the knowledge that they may one day be required to support a family, whereas a lot of women take jobs to support themselves UNTIL they start a family. A job involving answering telephones falls into such a category. Also, given their greater propensity to both draw and use their weapons, a desk job is probably a better idea for female cops.