2011
C arEErS E ditiOn
new migration needed for african-americans
W
hen two million Blacks moved
T he C urry
from the rigidly-segregated
South to the North, West and
r eporT
Midwest from 1910 to 1930, it was
called the Great Migration. When anoth-
George E.
er five million African-Americans fled
Curry
the South between 1940 and 1970, many
seeking good jobs and a better life in
New York, Los Angeles, Chicago,
Cleveland and Detroit, it was called the
Second Great Migration.
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk thinks it is now time
for a Third Great Migration, this one to far-flung cities
around the world. He advanced that argument in his office,
which is directly across the street from the Old Executive
Office Building.
“Whether you’re Black, White, Brown or whatever, the
No. 1 concern of American families is: ‘Where am I going
to find a job? More importantly, where is this kid that I just
spent x amount of money getting out of college going to
find a job?’”
The job market has undergone a global revolution.
“I don’t know why my friends are upset when I say to
them, ‘If all your kids do is what we’ve been doing, we
haven’t advanced the ball,’ “said Kirk, who served as mayor
of Dallas and Texas Secretary of State. “Our kids are going
to live in London, in Shanghai, or in Abuja (Nigeria). It’s
just as likely they’ll be stationed in Johannesburg as Detroit
The Skanner News thanks our sponsors
for this Special edition
Community Cafe
ClaCkamas Community College
linfield College
metro
nW natural
oHsu
Pge
Port of Portland
Portland Community College
Portland fire and resCue
univertsity of oregon
Wells fargo Bank
or New York.”
That migration to London, Shanghai,
Abuja and Johannesburg has been pro-
pelled by new opportunities opened up
by advances in technology and the inter-
national removal of quotas, tariffs and
outrageous export fees.
And there’s also Sutton’s Law. When
bank robber Willie Sutton was asked
why he robbed banks, he reputedly
replied, “Because that’s where the
money is.” Sutton’s law dictates that one does not ignore
the obvious.
“One way to create wealth and a better life – assuming
you make something – is to think about selling it to the 95
percent of the people who don’t
call the United States home,”
Kirk advised. “If you look at the
Fortune 100 companies, the
absolute common denominator
among them right now is that
they, for the most part, are singu-
larly looking at how they are
going to access these hundreds of
millions of young people who
are growing up in Africa, Asia,
India, and Latin America and are
hungry for something called,
‘Made in America.’”
Kirk believes America can
profit from that sentiment.
“If you want to attack the job growth problem –and the
president firmly believes in this – whatever we can do to
empower and enable small businesses to grow faster is a
great way to grow our economy,” he explained. “And, so a
big part of our trade work has been targeting, first, those
small businesses that already export and learning more
about them, what their challenges are and trying to remove
them.
“And secondly, that universe of people that have never
exported, either because they are afraid or they’re saying,
‘How am I going to find customers?’ That’s why we’re put-
ting out more information about the Export Import
Bank. The bottom line: they finance your sale.”
Kirk said African-Americans have not exploited their spe-
cial connections to Africa and the Caribbean.
“Corporate America realizes, ‘If I am going to go to
Brazil, I better find somebody who speaks Spanish and
understands the culture,’” he said. “If I am going to Africa,
I am much better served by having somebody who under-
stands the values, reflects the culture and knows the ropes
in Kenya, Ghana and West Africa. I want our young people
to realize, ‘You’re more marketable now in a global, com-
petitive society than you might have ever been.’ But you
got to think globally.”
Black businesses must also look beyond the shores of the
United States, the trade official said. He said the Commerce
Department and his office provides assistance to small busi-
nesses trying to engage in international trade.
“The generation that grew up on the Web – where they
live, breathe, educate and shop – is a little less intimidated,”
Kirk said. “I tell people, once you put up a Web site, you’re
global. On the Web, nobody
knows whether you’re a woman,
Catholic, Black, tall or straight.
All they want to know is, ‘I see
you got a product. I think it
might be able to help me. How
do I get at it?’ If you’re not
intimidated by doing business
over the Web, I don’t think it’s
that much of a leap to begin
thinking about global trade.”
Despite anti-American senti-
ment in some countries, Kirk
said the U.S. is still a strong
brand.
“They’ll complain that maybe
our products cost a little more,” Kirk said. “They will com-
plain, ‘You preach to us too much. You come over here and
tell us about corruption, democracy, rule of law and,
frankly, if we do a deal with China, we don’t have to go
through all of that.’
“But at the end of the day, there is an implied value propo-
sition that if I buy this from George and Ron, it’ll probably
work the way they say it will. It’s not counterfeit. If some-
thing goes wrong, America has a legal system that can help
me hold them accountable.’ That’s a huge advantage for
us.”
Kirk strikes a cautionary note about international busi-
ness. “It’s a huge opportunity,” he said. But don’t rush into
it.”
‘Whether you’re Black,
White, Brown or whatever,
the No. 1 concern of
American families is:
‘Where am I going to find a
job?’
Check Out The Skanner’s
Turn-the-pages WebPaper
Go to www.theskanner.com home
page and click the ‘Full Print Version
Online’ button.
View our full newspapers, just as
they are printed, but on-line. Just
click to turn the pages and click to
zoom in and out.
page 2 The Skanner Careers Edition June 8, 2011