Page A7
August 12. 2009
Workplace
Weathering the Recession Storm
Job access
for black
men targeted
by A lexandra
C awthorne
The recession is taking a toll
on m ost A m ericans and has re
sulted in jo b losses not seen in
alm ost 25 years, but black men
have felt its effects particularly
hard.
Black men have long faced
lim ited em ploym ent prospects
an d d is p ro p o rtio n a te ly high
rates o f unemployment. Even as
the econom y thrived and the
p a rtic ip a tio n o f lo w -sk ille d
w om en in the labor force in
creased over the last tw o de
c a d e s , m any b la c k m en r e
m ained largely disco n n ected
from the labor market.
W h ile the u n e m p lo y m e n t Johnnie Daniels (center) and Kerwin Barber, sort through job
rate am ong black men has de tor, stands prepared to answer questions at a job fair in Los
clined dramatically over the last to 15.4 percent in this recession.
fe w d e c a d e s , th e le v e l o f
Policym akers can take sev policies that will promote eco
w orkforce participation am ong eral steps to ensure that all com nomic recovery and create jobs.
A frican-A m erican men has not m u n ities h av e fair a c ce ss to Policym akers should not only
in c re ase d and rem a in s s ta g jobs, and that particular co m assess the actual and anticipated
nant. The current degree o f jo b m u n ities do not su ffe r m ore effects o f policies and budgets
loss am ong black m en is par th a n o th e r s as a r e s u lt o f on disadvantaged communities
ticularly alarming.
m ounting and w idespread jo b like low-skilled black men, but
To a d d r e s s th is c r is is , losses. The policies should re also identify ways to maximize
policym akers m ust address the duce in eq u ities and pro m o te equity and inclusion— especially
root causes o f black m en’s dif equal opportunity in the labor in the context of the economic
ficulties in the labor m arket, in m arket and prom ote access to recovery.
cluding high rates o f incarcera meaningful em ploym ent oppor
In good tim es and in bad, the
tion, lim ited education, child tunities for black men.
A frican-A m erican unem ploy
su p p o rt a rre a ra g e s, and d is
Racial equity and equal oppor m en t rate te n d s to be ab o u t
crimination.
tunity must be at the forefront of double that o f w hites, and in
listings, as Carlene Gepner, a business service coordina
Angeles. The unemployment rate for black men has risen
tough econom ic times, it rises
higher and faster.
The recession overall has hit
m e n m u c h h a r d e r th a n
w om en— so far, four out o f ev
ery five jo b s lost has been held
by a male worker. Black men lead
the unem ploym ent surge, with
an unem ploym ent rate of 15.4
percent. This com es as a result
o f a range o f barriers to em ploy
ment, including disproportion
ate em ploym ent in vulnerable
industries and labor market dis
crimination.
O ver a third o f young black
men ages 16 to 19 in the labor
market are unemployed. A broad
set o f com m unity-based youth
developm ent and mentoring ef
forts targeting teens and young
a d u lts , in a d d itio n to h ig h
sc h o o l-b a se d p ro g ra m s th a t
lead more young people to col
lege or directly into the labor
market would improve the work
outcom es for young black men.
M ore importantly, program s
like the Harlem Children’s Zone
that begin early in the lives of
b la c k c h ild r e n c o u ld h e lp
counter the achievem ent gaps
that develop early and follow
young men through life.
It is imperative that black men
have access to meaningful em
ployment opportunities in thriv
ing and sustainable industries.
M any jo b s in the ren ew ab le
energy, sustainable agriculture,
and green building fields are
m iddle-skill jo b s that require
more than a high-school edu
cation but less than a four-year
degree.
And these jobs are well within
reach for lower-skill and low-in-
come w orkers as long as they
h av e a c c e ss to e ffe c tiv e
workforce training and support
programs. Green jobs also pay
decent wages and can provide
opportunities for advancement
and high-level skill development.
R ecessions hurt us all, but
they hurt poor and marginalized
populations the most. A co n
scious and careful analysis of
the actual and anticipated ef
fects o f econom ic and spend
ing policies on com m unities o f
color and low-incom e families
is critical to ensuring an eco
nomic recovery that will “lift all
boats” and provide sustained
income growth and employment
opportunities for all com m uni
ties.
Alexandra Cawthorne is a re
search associate in the Poverty
and P rosperity and Women 's
Health and Rights programs fa r
the Center fa r American Progress.
American TV Newsrooms Fall Behind on Diversity
Survey finds
managers of
color decline
TV broadcast com panies fall
short w hen it com es to diver
sity in the top ranks o f new s
management.
A c c o rd in g to a stu d y r e
leased T h u rsd ay by the N a
tio n a l A sso c ia tio n o f B lack
Journalists, only 11.7 percent of
new s m anagers in the nation’s
new sroom s are people o f color.
T h at's dow n significantly from
last y ea r’s Television M anage
m ent Diversity Census, which
found that people o f color com
prised 16.6 percent o f the news
m anagers.
T he study w as based on a
count o f executive producers,
Barbara Ciara
m a n a g in g e d ito rs , a s s is ta n t
new s directors, news directors
and general m anagers at 111
stations ow ned by ABC, CB S,
Fox, NBC, H earst Television,
M edia G eneral and Tribune. O f
the 548 m anagers em ployed,
only 65 were found to be people
o f color.
“T hese results should be a
w ake-up call to m edia ow ners
who say they are serious about
diversity in m anagem ent," said
Barbara Ciara, president o f the
NABJ, w hich is held its annual
convention last week in Tampa,
Fla. “A t the end o f the day, we
fin d th e n u m b e r o f A fric an
A m ericans who actually have
the ability to hire or influence
content falls w oefully short of
the desired goals.”
W hile the econ o m y w as a
m ajor reason cited for cutbacks
to new sroom positions, diver
sity w as adversely affected, the
study found.
“ T h is is n o t a b o u t th e
econom y costing black journal
ists their jobs. W hen you have
111 stations, and in those sta
tions, you have 65 m anagers o f
Advertise with diversity ///
ri "' Portland Observer
color, th at's not because o f the
econom y. T hat tells you that
there w eren 't many there to be-
g in w ith ,” sa id Bob B u tler,
NABJ region VI director and
author o f the report. “ 1 think to
a certain extent the old boys
netw ork still exists in televi-
sion."
Our continuing effort to establish area standard
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