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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 24, 2015)
Diversity in the Workplace June 24, 2015 Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views of the Portland Observer. We welcome reader essays, photos and story ideas. Submit to news@portlandobserver.com. Page 7 O PINION First Job Brings More than a Paycheck Summer jobs for youth pay future dividends M ARC H. M ORIAL I can still remem- EHUP\YHU\¿UVWMRE² and the valuable les- sons I learned from it that continue to inform my career to this day. , JRW P\ ¿UVW WDVWH RI HQWUHSUH- neurship as one-third of a three- man janitorial company I started with two childhood friends. We mowed lawns, washed cars and FOHDQHGZLQGRZV,ILWQHHGHG¿[- ing or cleaning, we were the ones to call. At the age of 15, I earned my ¿UVW VWHDG\ SD\FKHFN DV D FRS\ boy for a local newspaper. Like so many millions of teens before and after me, I had the chance to be exposed to the world of work at an early age. And I earned more than money from the experience. With work came important lessons BY about responsibility, effective com- munication, time management, in- terpersonal skills and more. Today, as our nation continues to recover from the crippling impact of the Great Recession on our economy and job market, the ability of teens to jump-start their future careers, as they were once able to, remains in jeopar- dy. Not only did jobs disappear during our nation’s economic downturn, summer jobs—widely acknowledged as the traditional means of entry into our nation’s workforce for teens and young adults—became scarce. Competi- tion from older workers for those entry-level jobs once reserved for teens increased as the labor market weakened, and with states slashing budgets to make ends meet, state and federally funded summer jobs placement programs were either underfunded or cut. But teen employment matters for their future and for our nation’s. It not only gives young people something productive to do during the summer months, that job in the retail store, library or the local newspaper is money in their pock- et and money being spent within the community. Studies have also shown that those who work when they are young are more likely to be employed in the future and will earn higher salaries. After a high of 27.2 percent teen unemployment in 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment for workers ages 16-19 is now down to 17.9 percent. As is the case with adult workers, WHHQV DUH EHJLQQLQJ WR ¿QG MREV as the market recovers, but unem- ployment remains high for young people—disproportionately affect- ing low-income youth and blacks and Hispanics. The national unemployment rate stands at a staggering 30.1 percent for black teens and 19.2 percent for Hispanic teens. The groups of teens who need the work most in order to help themselves, and very often PDNH D VLJQL¿FDQW FRQWULEXWLRQ WR WKHLUIDPLO\¶VEXGJHWDUHQRW¿QG- ing the jobs. Our nation’s answer to this di- lemma has been a fractured portrait of private and public initiatives and success. Cities and states have cob- bled together money—when it’s in the budget— and have funneled it to local groups or agencies that connect youths to jobs or job train- ing. In 2012, the White House launched Summer Jobs+ as part of the “We Can’t Wait” initiative. The project brought together the federal government and the private sector to create 180,000 employment op- portunities for low-income youth. At the National Urban League, we work with at-risk youth to in- troduce them into the workforce through a comprehensive set of services through the Urban Youth Empowerment Program. While all of these efforts are laudable and have changed many lives and communities for the bet- ter, it is not enough. Our nation needs to expand summer job pro- grams and create year-round em- ployment for our young people. We need a commitment that says yes to teens and to their future. Our nation needs a comprehensive jobs solution for young people, because piecemeal solutions will only de- OLYHUIDUÀXQJSRFNHWVRIVXFFHVV Investing in our young people is an investment in the continued strength of this great nation and its workforce. Young people need the formative workplace skills they can get in those entry-level jobs to move on to greater career success and higher salaries in the future. Our nation, and its local econo- PLHV EHQH¿W ZKHQ WHHQV VSHQG their disposable income. Surely there are tax loopholes, corporate or otherwise, that can be closed, bringing additional dollars to the table to invest in our young peo- ple. 7KH¿QDQFLDOFRVWRIQRWLQYHVW- ing in teens, not creating opportu- nities for future success, is what will cost this country, and our fu- ture in the fast-paced global econo- my, the most. Marc H. Morial is president and FKLHI H[HFXWLYH RI¿FHU RI WKH 1D- tional Urban League. Being Black; Rachel Dolezal; and Charleston Painful reminders on issues of race BY J AGGER B LAEC A man on Twit- ter once said, ‘I have a dream…that I will live in a world where white people care about black people before Jon Stewart tells them to.’ That man was Clint Smith, poet, activist, and PhD candidate at Harvard University. This is my current situation. The white people in my life just don’t care. 0\ ¿DQFp LV ZKLWH DQG KH GRHVQ¶W want to hear it anymore. He told me he’s tired and asked me if we have to discuss race every single day. My best friends are all white and they have been radio silent for the past year for every single shooting of an unarmed black man, for every utterance of #BlackLivesMatter, and even recent- ly within the last two weeks where ra- cial identity and relations in America have seemed to boil over. But what exactly do I expect? These are the same people I spent my adolescence pretending not to be black. Hiding my natural hair under weaves and braids not to protect my coif, but to protect me from what I as- sumed would be ridicule and rejection in opposition to the European beauty standards my friends all replicated. I grew up in a predominantly white suburb and at times as the only “Black Girl In Suburbia” I wore my “to “token black girl” status as a badge of honor. People in my small town of Monroe, Conn. were used to me an and despite being visibly black I was oft often referred to as an “Oreo” and tol told I “sounded white.” For 20 plus years I was comfort- ab able with this position. Until just re- cently I left my comfort zone to move to a place that, unbeknownst to me prior to living here, is often referred to as “Whitelandia” or “Whitetopia.” ,FDPHWRWKH3DFL¿F1RUWKZHVW Portland, Oregon. When I moved to southwest Portland it was nearly three weeks before I had seen, let alone encountered another African-Ameri- can. I began to fear whether I would ever see anyone who looked like me again. Although I grew up around white people this was something to- tally different. Because I had always been able to assimilate with my white friends I never imagined the way I looked would be a factor in how peo- ple interacted with me. People I met were never overtly racist but they seemed strangely uncomfortable and , KRQHVWO\ FRXOGQ¶W ¿JXUH RXW ZK\ Never before in my life had I been so hyper aware of my blackness. Before moving here I was familiar with sev- eral local cities that had beautifully di- verse populations outside of my own hometown. I had never seen a metro area be so overwhelmingly white. So here I am. In a place where I KDG QHYHU UHDOO\ VSHFL¿FDOO\ GH¿QHG my racial identity and it felt as though ,ZDVKDYLQJLWGH¿QHGIRUPH'HVSLWH P\SUHYLRXVH[SHULHQFHV,¿QGP\- VHOIIDFHGZLWKMXVWKRZGLI¿FXOWLWLV to adjust to being black within a white space all over again. ,Q WKH 3DFL¿F 1RUWKZHVW , DP merely a few hours away from Spo- kane, where the now infamous Rachel Dolezal was able to fool the world into thinking she had what it takes to easily be a black woman. Just one look at any comments section on Facebook will tell you that white people were both fascinated and intrigued while being simultaneous- O\EDIÀHGDQGÀXPPR[HGDVWRZK\ on earth a white person in this coun- try would possibly want to be black. Some even went as far as accusing her of mental illness. Talk show hosts, professionals, and twitter spent four days straight exam- ining exactly what it takes to be black in America based on the observations of one single white woman. For what VHHPHG OLNH WKH ¿UVW WLPH HYHU WKH main stream media was spending WKHLUKRXUQHZVFRYHUDJHGHEDWLQJ the complexities of life in the US as a black woman who just happened to be white. Many, including myself, felt out- rage and offense that this lady from the most privileged demographic in today’s world would attempt to adapt our struggle. Not because this struggle LVFRYHWHGEXWEHFDXVHKHUGH¿QLWLRQ of blackness was limited to a blotchy spray tan, crooked weaves and some African studies classes. Others, even black people, didn’t see what the big deal was and thought what she was doing was harmless. For me it was painful to watch as this woman ran around presenting herself in a costume of what she inter- preted as being black costume which she could slip on and off like a nice SDLURI-RUGDQ¶V6KHQRWRQO\LQ¿OWUDW- ed safe spaces for African Americans, but prevented already marginalized black women from gaining opportu- nities like a full scholarship to How- ard University. This was all under the guise of an oppression she has never and will never endure. Dolezal stole count- less hours of precious time from platforms created to give a voice to legitimate black women with real experiences who will now continue to go unheard. Dolezal appeared a week after ZHZDWFKHGDQRI¿FHUPDQKDQGOHD \HDUROGJLUOLQ0FNLQQH\7H[DV DQG GD\V EHIRUH WKH DWURFLW\ WKDW the world is witnessing right now in Charleston, S.C. Two days ago a white male walked into a black church on a self-proclaimed mission to kill black people. Rachel Dolezal will never know what this feels like. Innocent black people are being murdered and brutalized while black people are being forced to relive these events repeatedly through our insatiable consumption of news coverage and social media. I am so exhausted from seeing these non-stop images of lifeless black bodies. I am so tired of seeing black girls and women being pushed around by those expected to protect and serve. I am sick of making RIP hashtags. All of these things are a painful reminder of the consistent dehumanization we face as a people in this country. I myself was guilty for many years of a kind of “don’t ask don’t tell” mentality when it came to my culture and a regular subscription to white supremacy. However, when I PRYHGWRWKH3DFL¿F1RUWKZHVWDQG P\UDFHEHJDQWRGH¿QHZKR,ZDV to other people I embraced letting it GH¿QHZKR,DPWRP\VHOI Being black is a beautiful burden. It is not something you can just wash RII6RZKHQP\¿DQFpVD\VKHLV tired of talking about race I must re- mind him that so are we. Jagger Blaec is a professional freelance journalist. She has a Bach- elors of Science in Journalism and her work has been published at XO Jane and Scallywag and Vagabond. She is currently helping to develop a blog for the Portland-based docu- PHQWDU\¿OP³%ODFN*LUOLQ6XEXU- bia” which focuses on what it is like to grow up black in a white space. You can follow her tweets at @basic- blaecgirl.
