After a generation of laws and programs designed to give African-Americans equal job opportunities, Greater Cincinnati blacks and whites still disagree sharply on whether those steps have worked.

        Nearly eight of 10 black workers in the region say minorities in their companies have fewer opportunities for assignments and promotions than whites. Even more white workers -- nearly nine out of 10 -- say that's not so.

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        The disparities reflect some of the deepest divisions in attitudes revealed in an Enquirer poll of blacks and whites in Greater Cincinnati.

        Many whites believe that plenty has been done to remove barriers that keep any talented, hard-working person from succeeding. Many blacks are just as adamant that subtle discrimination keeps them from moving up in their careers.

        Nearly five months after Cincinnati's riots, the gulf between white and black workers is a sign that racial tension exists beyond the streets. While conflict can complicate any job, racial tension in the workplace can hurt companies and drive good workers of both races away, business and civic leaders say.

        ''This sounds really bad, but I think white people don't notice it, and black people are overly sensitive to it,'' says Christina McDaniel of Alexandria, a white travel agent. ''That creates a big problem.''

        Steve Dobbins, an African-American who took early retirement in 1997 after a 30-year career at Cincinnati Gas & Electric Co. and Cinergy Corp., says blacks still have limited opportunities to advance at the highest levels.

        ''What we saw was a glass ceiling, and a number of people thought it was more concrete than glass,'' he says.

        The result is that whites are much more satisfied than blacks with their own jobs and personal financial situations, the Enquirer poll found. Perhaps not surprisingly, the poll also found that a worker's satisfaction level rises as he earns more money.

        ''White people, I really think, do access the job market a whole lot easier, and sort of expect advancement,'' says Mark Wellage, a white resident of Oakley who owns a framing company in Over-the-Rhine. ''African-Americans have not had those opportunities. There might be some reality in that.''

Two different worlds

        Few argue that nearly four decades of employment law have changed the face of the American workplace. In the Enquirer poll, 91 percent of blacks and 66 percent of whites agree that employers should establish goals and policies for creating a racially diverse work force.

        Companies of all sizes today actively recruit minorities, guided by official statements that say diversity is valued and workplace discrimination is banned.

        Incomes of many American black families have reached record highs, and poverty rates have dropped to record lows, according to the Council of Economic Advisers, a White House advisory group.

        Yet African-Americans still lag behind whites in income.

        The median household income for Greater Cincinnati blacks in 2000 was $32,822 a year, about $14,000 less than for whites, according to Scarborough Research, a New York-based consumer research firm.

        The difference in perceptions about career advancement is so pronounced here that black and white employees often view the same set of circumstances in completely opposite ways.

        Many whites say they've never seen evidence of bias against blacks. All workers are slighted from time to time, they say, but it has nothing to do with race.

        ''In places I've worked, I didn't see it myself,'' says Ms. McDaniel, the travel agent. ''But I know (minority workers) felt that way.''

        Blacks can't understand how whites can be so blind to what they see as obvious cases of discrimination.

        ''They don't see it. I think they're in denial,'' says Ted Mercer of Walnut Hills, a retiree from Georgia Pacific.

        ''You have equal experience and education, and you're less likely to get hired. I think (whites) just feel they should have a special privilege.''

        Charles Hunt, a 35-year-old African-American who lives on Prospect Hill and works at a bank downtown, says he hasn't seen any overt discrimination at his workplace. But blacks often don't have the relationships with bosses to get an equal shot at promotions, he says.

        ''You'll find people getting jobs that weren't even posted,'' Mr. Hunt says. ''Sometimes, it almost seems like someone went looking for them to give them a promotion.

        ''When you actively seek out a promotion, you pretty much create one for yourself. African-Americans often don't believe they can do that.''

        When an African-American is promoted, other conflicts arise because of the rarity of the event, he says. The promotion is sometimes heralded by management as a sign the company is serious about diversity -- rather than acknowledgement that the person has earned the job.

        Randy Freking, a white Cincinnati lawyer who specializes in discrimination claims, says the number of complaints to his office has remained roughly constant the past few years. Data from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission show little change in the number of claims filed nationally during the 1990s -- about 30,000 a year.

        But it is clear that racial disparities still exist, Mr. Freking says.

        ''Wherever you're working, would you prefer to be black or white in that environment?'' he says. ''I think most people would prefer to be white.''

Dominated by whites

        In Greater Cincinnati, many black workers see a power structure dominated by white men and powered by decades-long relationships built on golf courses and in elite business clubs.

        None of Cincinnati's 45 large public companies is run by an African-American, and there are fewer than half a dozen black senior executive officers.

        Yet all of those companies run active corporate diversity programs, designed to bring young black executives into the company.

        Many black workers at large Tristate companies say they have access to promotions but often are pigeonholed into slots that do not lead to becoming a top company officer.

        Mr. Dobbins, for example, worked as a lobbyist and manager of community affairs at Cinergy.

        ''I would never say these are not important positions,'' he says. ''But I think you find a smaller number of African-Americans in major positions in those companies.

        ''If I was a white male, I really would have moved (higher). You find that people are more comfortable with people who look like them.''

        People of both races who run Tristate companies acknowledge the difficulties of recruiting a diverse work force.

        Jim Sales, chief operating officer of the architectural engineering firm A.M. Kinney, says his firm's reliance on federal contracts will soon require that he employ a certain percentage of minority workers.

        Currently, the firm employs about 75 workers, and fewer than 10 are racial minorities, says Mr. Sales, who is white.

        ''Personally, I want to hire people who are qualified,'' he says. ''And I don't care what they look like. I care about what their abilities are. We don't go out looking for minority candidates. As one comes in, we want to talk to them.''

More black merchants

        In Greater Cincinnati as elsewhere, the number of minority-owned businesses is increasing as African-Americans advocate entrepreneurship as a way to create wealth directly in the black community.

        ''I think it's very important to develop a merchant class,'' says Chris Aldridge, an African-American who is head of community affairs at Fifth Third Bank and reviews business plans from entrepreneurs.

        ''You wind up generating a group of individuals that generate wealth as opposed to being wage earners,'' he says.

        Minority-owned businesses grew four times faster than U.S. firms overall from 1992 to 1997, according to the Commerce Department. Sales for those firms increased 60 percent to $335.3 billion, compared with a 40 percent increase for all firms.

        Yet executives of some of these companies say they find themselves facing a different sort of bias than they did as employees.

        Tom Revely, a former Cincinnati Bell executive who bought the company's Cincinnati Bell Supply unit in 2000 and renamed it CBS Technologies, says many black-owned firms here have to rely on customers outside the Tristate because of bias inside.

        ''This community has not awakened to the fact that it has eight cylinders available to it, but it's only using six of them,'' Mr. Revely says. ''In my opinion, Cincinnati gets close to a failing grade.''

Complete poll results and PDF of the report
At work, blacks still sense limits
Tell us what you think
Highest level jobs the next frontier
Training minority executives is part of owner's mission
About this series
How this poll was done