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VERtRCATO*
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We're On the
Right Track
Sen. Harry
Reid
Guest
Columnist
Even when our economy
was strongs it wasn't strong
enough to lift everybody.
Working people struggled.
African- Americans struggled.
Many of our cities struggled.
Now. in a weak economy, it
is poor and working people
who are again left behind.
Unemployment among
African- Americans has topped
15 percent nearly double the
national average.
President Obama inherited
the worst economic crisis since
the Great Depression
It will take a long time and
a lot of investment to dig out of
the ditch President Bush creat
ed. We're on the right track
this year. -
We've cut taxes for work
ing families; ensured men and
women get paid equally for
equal work: are giv ing children
the care 'they need to stay
healthy; and will make critical
investments in health care,
clean energy and education;
The steps we're taking
today will lay the groundwork
for recovery. But as we try to
Stop the short-term pain, we
can never lose focus of our
long-term goal; an economy
that not only recovers, but lifts
all Americans up in equal
measure.
Investing in green jobs that
can never be outsourced is a
great place to start.
There's a myth that green
jobs mostly help people in
rural areas. It's true that using
today's technologies, much of
the greatest renewable energy
potential exists largely in
remote areas.
But if we make the right
investments now. we will
ensure the clean energy revolu
tion benefits people in every
corner of our country, includ
ing minority communities, and
that cities get their fair share of
these jobs.
We're already _ seeing
examples of this success In
Milwaukee, buildings are
being retrofitted for energy
efficiency, creating jobs for
thousands from underserved
communities
In Chicago, a new green
jobs training program called
Green Corps Chicago wijl
train local workers to install
solar panels for low-income
homeowners.
And in Nevada, we're
working to deliver clean ener
gy from the remote areas
where it is developed to the
urban centers around the coun
try where it is needed most.
These ideas are not only
starting to create jobs in both
urban and rural areas, but will
also save consumers money on
their energy bills for many
years to come. The most cost
effective, job-producing
investment is energy efficien
cy, and we must revive and
revise the manufacturing base
in our cities to build the supply
chain for renewable energy
technology.
Clean renewable energy is
also about environmental jus
tice. Oil and coal have been
polluting our air for genera
tions. but disproportionate
threaten our cities and minori
ty communities.
Sixty percent of Hispanics
and half of all African
Americans live in areas that
don't meet national air quality
standards. African- American
and Hispanic children rn New
York City have asthma rates
eight times the national aver
age.
This problem only got
worse when the last
Administration ignored it. But
President Obama has made
renewable energy and environ
mental justice a priority.
For example, the
Administrator of the
Environmental Protection
Agency, Lisa Jackson, just
recently announced a major
initiative to identify companies
that are polluting near schools.
President Obama's com
mitment to environmental jus
tice gives me confidence that
we will finally fulfill the prom
ise of a national energy policy
that not only creates jobs at
every rung of the ladder, saves
consumers money and reduces
our reliance on oil. but also
leaves our children and their
children with a cleaner, more
livable planet.
The path before us isn't
easy. We are investing a
tremendous amount of taxpay
er money, and we take serious
ly the obligation to spend it
wisely and to account for every
penny.
But if we set out on that
path today, we can make sure
that when the economy recov
ers. it won't lift up only the
privileged few, but will be
strong enough for us all to suc
ceed
U.S. Sen. Harry Reid (D
Nev.) is the Senate Majority
Leader.
Challenging world for graduates
* i
Juiianne
Vlalveaux
Guest
Columnist
Ninety-nine young women
walked across Bennett College
for Women's graduation stage
on May 9, 99 exuberant
achievers who. have cleared
one life hurdle, and now have
to gear up for another. There
are scientists going on to study
microbiology, aspiring
lawyers heading to Indiana
University and the University
of Iowa, social workers headed
to the University of Pittsburgh
and Simmons College, an
urban planner going to the
University of Illinois, a bud
ding journalist headed to
Columbia University.
soipe students are plan
ning to work. And a good
number are planning to look
for work. But where will they
look, and what will they find
in this challenging 2009 labor
market?
Just a day before students
graduated, the Bureau of
Labor Statistics released
unemployment rate data,
announcing that unemploy
ment rates are still rising,
reaching an official rate of 8.9
percent in April.
That official rate translates
into 15.8 percent when all of
the people who work part time
but want to work full time are
counted along with the people
who have just stopped looking
for work. The rates are more
staggering when we look at
other populations. The official
rate is 15 percent for African
Americans and 11.3 percent
for Latinos.
If 8.9 percent translates
into 15.8 percent for the over
all population, then the 15 per
cent black unemployment rate
translates into 26.6 percent.
More than one in four African
Americans is out of work!
Because the labor market
is dynamic, there are still jobs
out there and companies hir
ing, and there are opportunities
in every economy. The team at
Bennett has been stressing
preparation for students who
want to enter the world of
work. That means impeccable
resumes, top-notch interview
skills, overwhelmingly posi
tive attitudes and flexible spir
it^. And it means a w illingness
to jump into a job with energy,
enthusiasm and gratitude . .
Even with all those posi
tive attributes, however, the
economy is the context, the
water in which we swim. Right
now, we are swimming in
some mighty muddy water.
Some would say it is less
muddy than it has been - while
more than half a million jobs
were lost in April, that's the
lowest level of job loss we
have experienced so far this
year. Further. President Obama
has asked states to change
their unemployment insurance
rules so that people who are
unemployed and in school for
job retraining can keep their
unemployment benefits.
That's good news
presently, people have to prove
they are looking for work . and
their time can often be better
spent training for a different
line of work.
What does this mean for
Bennett students, and for the
1.5 million young people who
will complete college this
year? Some will find them
selves working in unpaid or
low paid internships, amassing
experience until the economy
turns around. Others will go to
graduate or professional
school if they find the job mar
ket uninviting.
Still others will have to"
make compromises, working
not at their "dream" job, but at
a job that will help them pay
their bills. The average college
graduate shoulders more than
$20,000 in student loan debt
that they must begin to repay
just six months after gradua
tion.
Given the weakness of the
labor market, the Department
of Education might want to
allow students a year or 18
months before beginning to
repay those loans.
College career service and
alumni offices must also do
whatever we can to share job
opportunities with our new
.graduates. The .networks that
they developed while in col
lege will keep connections
strong alter graduation. And
the students who learned to
develop their networks. will do
the best in the job: market.
High unemployment rates
notwithstanding, employers
are hiring even as they lay peo
ple off. The Class of 2(XH>
faces a far more competitive
labor market than any graduat
ing class has faced in the last
decade or so.
And if the unemployment
rates are any indication,
African-American graduates
face stiffer competition than
others. Those of us who
encouraged these students to
chase the brass ring of an
undergraduate degree are now
charged with helping them
make the degree meaningful
through work or graduate
school.
Julianne Malveaux is
President of Bennett College
for Women. She can be
reached at presben
nett@bennett.edu.
Mac
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Quotes that unite and divide
Peter
Bailey
Guest
Columnist
It's amazing how language
has the ability to send subtle
or blatant messages that either
unites or divides people. The
following is a compilation of
such quotations from promi
nent African-Americans:
- Former Secretary of
State Colin Powell: "Most
West Indians are high
Anglicans, the same as high
Episcopalians - the higher the
better. Their value system is a
combination of the family and
the British tradition, which
was strong in Jamaica. They
never forgot that they were
British subjects. This makes
them somewhat different form
other American Blacks". -
From the "National Review,"
April 1, 1991.
- Journalist/Historian
Lerone Bennett, Jr.: "The
Black middle class can no
longer avoid its destiny. The
black middle class can no
longer avoid the necessity of
redefining itself in terms of
the needs of black people. It is
necessary now for the black
middle class to become the
servant of the black communi
ty and not the mediator of the
white community. - It is not
necessary for all black people
to do the same thing. But it is
necessary for all black people
to do something. It is equally
important for the black com
munity to judge individuals
on the basis of their contribu
tions. Some men can write,
some can fix cars, some can
cook, some can raise hell: all -
the writer, the mechanic, the
cook, the hellraiser? are valu
able because their skills are
complementary and not con
tradictory. - From his boolu
"Challenge to Blackness'.'
- Supreme Court Justice
Clarence Thomas: "If I ever
went to work for the EEOC
(Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission) or
did anything directly connect
ed with blacks, my career
would be irreparably ruined.
The monkey would be on my
back because I'm black.
People meeting me for the fist
time will automatically dis
miss my thinking as second
rate." - Pre-Supreme Court
Quote from Richmond Times
Dispatch
- Human Rights
Leader/Activist Malcolm X:
"U.S. politics is ruled by spe
cial-interest blocs and lobbies.
What group has a more urgent
special interest, what group
needs a bloc, a lobby, more
than the black man? Labor
owns one of Washington's
largest non-government build
ings - situated where they can
literally watch the White
House - and no political move
is made that doesn't involve
how Labor feels about it. A
lobby got Big Oil its depletion
allowance.... Twenty-two
million black people should
tomorrow give a dollar apiece
to build a skyscraper lobby
building in Washington. D.C.
Every morning, ever^ legisla
tor should receive a communi
Tatiuuabout what the black
man itwtmterica expects and
wants and needs. The
demanding voice of the black
lobby should be in the ears of
every legislator who votes on
any issue." - From "The
Autobiography of Malcolm
X."
- Political analyst Juan
Williams: "Another telling
finding is the difference
among black people in how
much they feel 'personal fac
tors,' instead of 'racial dis
crimination' determines how
far any black person can
expect to get in life. The Pew
poll found that 53 percent of
black Americans agree that
'blacks who can't get ahead
are mostly responsible for
their own cohdition.' That fits
with poll findings that two
thirds of all Americans (71
percent of whites and 59 per
cent of Hispanics) feel that
personal behavior - values,
education, hard work - is
what holds back those black
Americans still trapped in
poverty." - Washington Post
Op-ed
- Entertainer Whoopi
Goldberg: "Call me an &?
hole, call me a blowhard, but
don't call . me an African
American. Please. It divides
us as a nation and as a people
and it kinda pisses me off. It
diminishes everything I've
accomplished." - From her
book. "Book: Whoopi
Goldberg"
Civil rights
leader/activist Martin
Luther King, Jr.: "There are
already structured forces in
the Negro community that can
serve as the basis for building
a powerful united front - the
Negro church, the Negro
press, the Negro fraternities
and sororities, and Negro pro
fessional association. We
must admit that these forces
have never given their full
resources to the cause of
Negro liberation. .. But the
failures of the past must not
be an excuse for the inaction
of the present and the future.
These groups must be mobi
lized and motivated. This
form of group unity can do
infinitely more to liberate the
Negro than any action of indi
viduals. We have been
oppressed as a group and we
must overcome that oppres
sion as a group." -From his
book, "Where Do We Go
From Here: Chaos or
Community?"
Journalist/Lecturer A .
Peter Bailey, a former associ
ate editor of Ebony, is cur
rently editor of Vital Issues:
The Journal of African
American Speeches. He can
he reached at
apeterh@verizon.net.
Justice Thomas
Colin Powell
Juan Williams