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4A EDITORIAL AND OPINIONATlje €^axmt $oat Thursday, June 14, 2007 Cljarlotte The Voice of the Black Community 153 / Camden Road Chailotte, N.C. 28203 Gerald O. Johnson ceo/publisher Robert L Johnson co-publisher/general manager Herbert L White editor in chief Published weekly by The Charlotte Post Publishing Company Inc. Subscription rate: $40 per year. Periodicals postage paid at Charlotte, NC. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Charlotte Post. PO Box 30144, Charlotte, NC 28230 ~ OPINIONS Running a numbers game on black folks Given our unique history, one would expect African- Americans to be more supportive of undocumented workers, many of them filling the low-paying jobs once held by blacks. Like many whites, blacks are quick to say the estimated 12 million immigrants who entered this country illegally should be deported. But that’s not realistic, as many of the blowhards on Capitol ' Hill already know. A study by the Center fo'r American Progress, a progressive think tank, found that expelling undocumented workers would cost from $206 billion to $230 billion over a five-year period. Taking the low figure, that would be $41.2 billion a year. Even worse, the effort would reach only 20 percent of ille gal immigrants. That reality doesn't stop politicians from grandstanding for the folks back home. Consequently, both President Bush and Democrats looked silly when Congress failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform. Some African-Americans are clashing with Latinos. There are gang wars on the streets of Los Angeles, prison inmates are dueling, and some poor blacks are angry that many once all-black neighborhoods have been taken over by Latinos. There is no denying that those tensions exist. But underneath the friction, there is one element driving the gulf between blacks and Latinos, two groups that should be allies: a num bers game. Comparing blacks to Hispanics is a false equation. Latinos are not a race - they are an ethnic group. In fact, they can select their race on Census forms and more than half identi fy with being white. Therefore, Hispanics can’t be “white” and a "minority” at the same time. Let me rephrase that: they shouldn't be allowed to have it both ways. The Census Bureau reported a month ago that people of color now number 100.7 million in the United States, a figure larger than all but 11 countries. People of color are the major ity in four states and the District of Columbia. Haweiii leads the way with 68 percent, followed by D.C. (68 percent). New Mexico and California (each at 57 percent) and Texas (52 per cent). "Hispanic remained the largest minority group, with 44.3 million on July 1,2006- 14.8 percent of the total population,” the Census Bureau said in a press release. "Black was the sec ond-largest minority group, totaling 40.2 million in 2006. They were followed by Asians (14.9 million), American Indian and Alaska Native (4.5 million) and Other Pacific Islander (1 million). The population of non-Hispanic whites who indicat ed no other race totaled 198.7 million in 2006.” Let’s look at that again. There are 40.2 million blacks and 44.3 million Hispanics. But that’s not where the fear factor kicks in. Another Census release show that the Latino popu lation will double as a percentage of the U.S. population, from 12.6 percent in 2000 to 24.4 percent in 2050. The white pop ulation will decline during that period, from 69.4 percent to 50.1 percent before slipping to minority status less than a decade later. While most of the public attention is focused understand ably on the phenomenal Latino growth, it’s not like African- Americans are doing a disappearing act. The black population will grow from 35.8 million in 2000'to 61.3 million in 2050; it has already reached a record high 40 million. As a share of the total population, the black percentage will rise from 12.7 per cent in 2000 to 14.6 percent in 2050. People of color are projected to have a combined annual spending power of $3 trillion in 2011, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia. By then, Hispanic buying power would have jumped from $212 billion in 1990 to $1.2 trillion in 2011, a 457 percent increase. Again, black dollars will be nothing to sneeze at. Black spending power, which stood at $318 billion in 1990, will rise to $1.1 trillion in 2011, a 237 percent increase in 22 years. White buying power is expected to grow by only 175 percent over that same period. As a percentage of total buying power, the black share will increase from 7.4 percent in 1990 to 8.7 percent in 2011. That means that within four years, Afric^- American consumers will account for almost nine cents' of every dollar spent in the U.S. Black buying power is even greater in certain states, accord ing to the Selig Center research. From 1990 to 2006, African- Americans represented 31.1 percent of total buying power in the District of Columbia. 24 percent in Mississippi, 22 percent in Maryland, 20.5 percent in Georgia, 20.3 percent in Louisiana, 18.4 percent in South Carolina, 17.3 percent in Alabama, 14.6 percent in Delaware, 14.5 percent in North Carolina and 13.1 percent in Virginia. The reality is that Latinos are growing faster than any other group. But African-Americans shouldn’t fear that spurt. Both our numbers and dollars continue to increase beyond today’s level. And if blacks and Latinos really work on mending polit ical fences, both groups would enjoy greater political clout. Combined, the numbers are awesome. Divided, it’s sdll the old divide-and-conquer numbers game. GEORGE E. CURRY, former editor-in-chief of Emerge maga zine and the NNPA News Service, is a keynote speaker, moder ator, and media coach. He can be reached through his Web site, www.georgecurry.com. Connect with ®[)e ^oit Send letters to The Charlotte Post, P.O. Box 30144 Charlotte, NC 28230 or e-mait editorial@thecharlot- tepost.com. We edit for grammar, clarity and space. Include your name and daytime phone number. Letters and photos will not be returned by mail unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Ho C’HF'&efiCE. / Ho A happy Father’s Day to you, Dad Father’s day is Sunday and rarely a day goes by when 1 am not reminded of or think , about my editor. Herb White, wanted to find out some lessons these individuals had learned from Bill myself. Johnson Interestingly, the . most memorable lessons I learned from my father did not come directly from him attempting to teach me something. They came through observing how he responded in situa tions. The first lesson occurred when I was in elementary school. A bill collector called to discuss when he could expect a payment on a bill that surmised was overdue. My father picked up the phone, listened for a minute and then started his part of the conversation. “Well Bob, I am going to be a week or so getting that payment to you because.,,, ", then a pause from my father. Then with an angry look on his face, he yelled, “Well I am Mr. Johnson to you then” and hung up the phone. He walked away mumbling under his breath. My father was a very kind, even-tem pered man that you really did not want to rattle. I know because I rattled him a lot. Trust me, 1 paid for it. In less than two minutes Bob called my father back. My father listened for a moment and then said, “That’s better. Like I was saying, I can get you your money next week.” He hung up the phone and walked away with a grin on his face. 1 could only hear my father's side of the conver sation, but 1 surmised and my father later confirmed that Bob said, “I am Mr. Thompson to you. Bill." This episode had a tremendous impact on my maturation. When I was in elementary school, Charlotte was a very segre gated community. All the blacks were relegated to the westside. I rarely came into contact with anyone white during my early years. But on those rare occasions the adults would always act in a subservient role. Black adults regardless of age were always referred to by their first name when addressed by whites. White adults regardless of age were referred to by sur names when addressed by blacks. As an impressionable kid you observe that this is Just how things are without any one ever specifically telling you any of this. To observe my father in this situation told me a lot about the man I loved hang ing around. He was a proud black man who insisted that you show him respect regardless of the situation. It was the observation of this incident that started my understanding that it is not so much about what life throws at you, but more about what you are willing to accept. The second very memo rable lesson occurred when I was in middle school. Billy, my middle brother who is now deceased, came home bragging about having to go upside his girlfriend’s head for disrespecting him. He was telling my older broth er, Bobby, the story and I just happened to overhear it. Unfortunately for Billy, my father overheard it. My brothers finished hav ing their conversation and everyone went about their business. A little while later, my mother called us all in for dinner. As we gathered around the table preparing to eat, my father came in with a very cold, angry look on his face. Since ha had not spoken that much to any of us since he came home, we all feared what the problem could be. We all sat to eat and my father looked at Billy with that cold look and said "Boy, don’t you ever let me hear about you raising your hand to hit a woman." The look on his face and the tone in his voice sent chills through me. This was really odd for me to afraid about this issue because I couldn’t beat most of the women I knew. I looked up at Billy and he really wanted to cry, but he was too afraid. Can you imagine being too afraid to cry? Billy didn’t get spanked. Nothing else was said on this matter. Nothing else needed to be said. My father made his point. We understood it. I can assure you we all acted accordingly from that day hence. Happy Father’s Day, dad. I miss you. GERALD O. JOHNSON is publisher of The Post. E-mail him at gerald.Johnson@thecharlot- tepost.com. You can also respond via blog at WWW.thecharlottepost.com. Diversifying the science and tech workforce As a senior member of the Science Committee and one of the founders of the House Innovation and Diversity Caucus, I am acutely aware of our nation’s need to stay competitive in the global economy. I strongly believe this is because we are not develop ing all of our nation’s human capital to the fullest extent possible. This chal lenge inspired my commit ment to ensure that mem bers of under-represented minorities have greater opportunities to enter - and succeed in - the science, technology, engineering and math (or STEM) fields. Current workforce trends 'demonstrate that blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans and other minorities are not entering STEM fields at rates proportionate to their num bers in our population. Most recent NSF data reports that, of all scientists employed in this country, nearly 75 per cent are white. A pitiful 3.5 percent of engineers are black, and 3 percent are Hispanic. Despite all the progress the United States has made in computing, technology, and health sci ence, we are still not devel oping the full pool of poten tial scientists, researchers and innovators! Highlighting and address ing the need for diversity in the 21st Century workforce is a goal shared by my col leagues in the Congressional Black Caucus this session. With their support. Congress has initiated or enhanced several Federal programs this year, designed to expand our nation’s STEM talent pool. Research shows that the pipeline to the STEM profes sions starts breaking down for minorities in the K-12 classroom. Research has shown that a well-trained teacher can make the differ ence between a student’s success and failure in math and science. Recognizing this, I' co sponsored legislation that .seeks to create 10,000 new teachers able to touch 10 million young minds. This bill boosts incentives for college students to pursue math and science teaching degrees and later teach in underserved schools. , Ultimately, it aims to increase the number of highly qualified math and science teachers in schools which suffer from a short age of well-prepared teach ers. It also authorizes $1.5 billion for federal scholar ships and continuing educa tion programs for current math and science teachers. Furthermore, my CBC col leagues and I championed legislation that increases the National Science Foundation’s focus on diversity at the collegiate level. A bill recently passed by the House directs federal researchers to report on the participation of under-rep resented groups in science, math and technology fields. They must also offer an annual plan describing how federal funds will be used to encourage more women and minorities to pursue science careers. This bill further provides special consideration for minority serving institu tions and historically black colleges and universities competing for grants. These colleges and universities produce an impressive number of minority scien tists disproportionate to their level of resources. So it is imperative that we help support these instimtions that help keep us competi tive. Finally, I have also worked through the Science com mittee to craft measures that encourage and support new researchers. One act, passed in the House, creates a new grant program for sci entists and engineers in the early phases of their careers. These new researchers are the pioneers who discover the new technologies that improve our economy and quality of life. The prospect of steady funding ensures that they will get to see their studies and research through to a successful completion. By supporting such legis lation and conducting out reach, my CBC colleagues and I are striving to make lasting and long-needed progress on this critical Innovation Agenda. In October, Congressman A1 Green and I will bring edu cation and technology lead ers to my home district of Dallas. There, we will dis cuss the skills needed for everyone to contribute to and benefit from the inno vation-based economy. Whether investing in research for the future, offering scholarships to tomorrowis teachers or improving K-12 science and math education, we are con tinually seeking and finding ways to enhance this ' nationis ability to compete and innovate. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. She is Democrat from Dallas, Texas.
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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June 14, 2007, edition 1
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