At this time of year, when we celebrate the birthday of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Black History Month, we often celebrate the successes of the Civil Rights Movement. But I never hear anyone speak of the many goals that the Movement did not achieve. One such goal is the goal of full employment for African Americans.
The 1963 March in which King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech was not simply a "march on Washington" as many people call it. The full title of the march was the "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom." The truly important part of the title is the "jobs and freedom" part. If we are going to abbreviate the title of the march, let's call it the "March for Jobs and Freedom." When we say "the 1963 March for Jobs and Freedom" we remind ourselves that jobs was a fundamental part of the African American civil rights movement.
One demand of the March for Jobs and Freedom was for "a massive Federal program to train and place unemployed workers." When Martin Luther King died, he was still planning the Poor People's Campaign. The number one goal of the Poor People's Campaign was full employment. In a full-employment economy everyone who wants a job can get one. In his book, I've Got the Light of Freedom, the civil rights historian Charles Payne points out that for Mississippians involved in the civil rights movement, civil rights included the right to a "decent job."
Jobs was such an important issue to civil rights activists because in the 1960s the black unemployment rate was about twice the white rate. Civil rights activists also recognized that without jobs, blacks would never conquer poverty and all of the problems that stem from poverty. Fifty years later, the black unemployment rate continues to run at about twice the white unemployment rate, and blacks have failed to conquer poverty and all of the problems that stem from poverty.
Many times over the last 50 years, the American economy has provided a job for nearly every white American who has wanted one. But the American economy has never succeeded in doing the same for African Americans. We need to create an American economy where not only every white person who wants to work can find a job, but also where every black person who wants to work can find a job.
In the past 50 years, the highest unemployment rates that white America has experienced are about the level of the lowest unemployment rates that black America has experienced. This means that if African Americans were to give up the struggle for equality and were to just obtain enough jobs to have the worst unemployment rate that whites have experienced over the last 50 years, this change would be a tremendous improvement over the status quo. When it comes to unemployment, African Americans are still second-class citizens, sitting at the back of the bus.
Pretty much all of the major social problems faced by African Americans are connected to the problem of the persistent high levels of joblessness. Of course, black poverty rates are linked to high black unemployment rates. We also know that poor children do worse in school [PDF] than middle-class children. A significant part of the achievement gap stems from the high rate of black poverty. If you are interested in reducing crime in black communities, then it is important to reduce black unemployment rates. Economic disadvantage is correlated with crime rates. The wealth gap is also connected to the unemployment gap. People who are unemployed do not build wealth; they spend down their savings, and if they have no savings, they go into debt. If you are interested in increasing the black marriage rate, again, you should be concerned about the high rate of joblessness among blacks. Economic insecurity is linked to lower marriage rates. Greater rates of steady employment in good jobs for blacks, and particularly for black men, would lead to an increase in the black marriage rate.
The civil rights activists of the 1960s marched on Washington to fight for job opportunities for blacks. They succeeded in obtaining anti-discrimination policies, but they did not succeed in obtaining "a massive Federal program to train and place unemployed workers," nor did they obtain a real federal commitment for full employment. If we truly want to honor Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement, we need to continue the work that they did not complete.
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There is very little our Government can or will do to help us make this change.
We have the Power to do it Ourselves we just need to start coming together and building businesses until we can't build anymore.
We as African Americans alone spent 1 Trillion Dollars last year yet none of us out of 50 Million people owned 1 business in any industry that took home 1% of that money. That's only 10 Billion dollars of the 1,000,000,000,000 we spent.
To put that into context Oprah is the richest African American woman in America and she is only worth 2.7 Billion which took her 25 Years to make.
That's just not right. The reason we are the most unemployed is because we own the least amount of businesses to higher ourselves.
In our neighborhoods we don't even own the Liquor Stores, The Bodegas, Beauty Supply Stores, or the Car Repair Shops.
Open your eyes people. You are fighting for jobs to work in someone else Company instead of getting together and starting your own.
We need to focus on building WEALTH through Business and forget everything else. Those other problems will still be there when we are done. The only difference is then we will have the resources to affect real change.
The residual of racism still paints the culture in the US.
Of the thousands of people I have interviewed, I have not once interviewed a black candidate. Not once. Quite a few indian (from india), a good percentage of various asian cultures, Middle eastern, and even a few native americans. But not one black candidate.
It's not that I just don't interview black candidates either. I've interviewed a number of candidates of other races with names that I would have guessed would be black candidates. I don't discriminate and give everyone a fair shot.
This tells me that blacks don't generally apply for positions in the computer and software field, which is also one of the fields with the least unemployment these days. So if they're not applying for jobs in the sectors with the highest rate of hiring.. that can explain partially why the unemployment rate is higher. They're applying to jobs in sectors with very high unemployment rates.
America has brought everybody and his brother to America to get a job, but refuse to hire Blacks. Have you ever read the "White Papers" from Measure up website. They are educating companies how to hire on preference.
At least in 1963, I could get a job as a domestic. Now, with a degree and 20 years of communications work experience, they will say I am over qualified :( !!!
Keep telling the truth!
There are plenty of wealthy black business owners in this nation. How many of them reach back into the community to pull other black folks with them? Not many. As soon as they move up, they move out. They move out of our communities and take their tax dollars with them. Their tax dollars and the know-how move out of our communities and improve the lives of non-black people. Or like Clarence Thomas, they get an opportunity (yes, he benefitted from affirmative action and insist that no other black person should benefit from it), and slam the door shut behind them.
When black people come together and take care of each other, then the disease that ails us (self-hatred, envy, jealousy) will finally leave our community.
How many people who choose to comment can say that they have given to this nation what the Black people have?
Go to where there's a large concentration of black folks. You see vacant buildings, crumbling streets, crumbling buildings, Asian nail shops and beauty supply stores, the unemployed standing on the streets, women with multiple children, liquor stores, drugs and blocks and blocks of churches.
The difference between us and everybody else is they don't have their hands out begging. They've come together as a community to improve the lives of the members of that community. Black folks just don't get it. And as a result, we don't have it.
Make sure when you are applying for work, speak english, no slang or jive or whatever. I would feel the same way about some one speaking redneck talk. So it is not a racial thing, it is what is standard in the workplace. People spend moeny to get rid of their southern drawls or strong Jersy accents.
Some are not keeping track, and they think it's always safe to kickoff making the Black Man Wrong. And what's this word I see kicked around saying, the 'Economy' provided jobs for the White man, or the economy don't provide jobs for Black man; with that talk they are creating an 'Entity' to blame, the 'Economy'. Yes, the economy regulates the rate of employees, but it don't discriminate, people discriminate. It's not the economy, it's the White man that gave jobs to the White man simply by hiring as many Whites as they can, and too many are hiring with the intentional exclusion of African Americans, just like some Union Apprenticeship Programs.
And these CEO's tell me they simply cannot get quality resumes. I believe them. And I understand why.
Now that is one statement that is really off the wall.
Anyway, let us cut to the chase, we should do everything we can to enforce equality of opportunity.
It is unacceptable that everyone is not given an equal chance to carry their share of the water.
But we must be just as determined to never propose equality of outcomes. Otherwise we will end up with a Soviet Union style theft based society.
If African Americans make up a higher percentage of the unemployed, than African Americans will receive a higher percentage of assistance from unemployement programs or government programs.
The idea that we should have a greater desire to help a poor/unemployed person because they are black is a form of discrimination.
Every single human life is precious. No exceptions.