What a difference a year makes. Last year at this time I was unemployed and desperately looking for a job. I quit an adequate paying job without benefits and in a very expensive part of the country for something better for my family. My family and I made the decision to move from Idaho to Missouri. But we didn’t exactly have a place to stay. I had to borrow from my mom to put money down on an apartment and get utilities turned on. We had no health insurance. In order to make ends meet I worked as a day laborer in a plastics factory. We didn’t have an oven or a refrigerator, but we had a deep freezer, a microwave, and a George Foreman grill.
In the past year I was able to find a job as a systems analyst consultant. The first thing we did with our new income was to pay back my mom. Once we paid mom off we saved enough money to buy the refrigerator and stove. We then saved enough money to buy a slightly used Chrysler minivan. After a number of months as a consultant, the company made me an offer to become a permanent employee. That was sweet. It’s been years since benefits were actually part of my pay package. And we continued to save enough money to buy an abandoned house from the city for cash. We will soon be debt free home owners. What a difference a year makes.
While I was looking for a job, I went through a number of interviews with a number of companies only to be dismissed after making a face to face appearance. It was obvious that the determining factor for me not getting the job was that, visually speaking, I was not what they were looking for. And since the only difference between the people I was meeting and myself, other than I was unemployed and they had a job, was that I was black. I have no doubt that I was a victim of racial prejudices.
But even with twenty years of database application development and maintenance experience and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, combined with the cleanest of criminal records without even the slightest hint of a blemish, never in my life did I consider myself entitled to a handout. Never once have I said I deserved employment. Never once have I mentioned that I wanted a handout. And yet, many people who visit my website, who read my arguments and disagree with my views on the relationship between the black community and the racially generic dominant community that is coincidentally predominantly white, will dismiss me as wanting to do nothing but blame white people for all the problems in the black community, while waiting for an undeserved, unwarranted, never put forth an effort, handout.
In the past year, I’ve done a lot of reading of other websites that focus on the disparity between the black community and the dominant community. And not one of these bloggers ever wrote anything saying that they deserved something for nothing or that black people deserved something for nothing. I have never read an article that said white people are to blame for everything that happens in the black community and black people are without fault. I have never read anything that said black people are powerless. But these are the type of arguments that are regularly dumped on bloggers who are able to see and understand a different perspective of the problems of the black community that are much deeper than the rhetoric that black people just need to work harder.
Black people can do everything right and still be unfit for an employment opportunity. On one of the episodes of Black in America with Soledad O’Brien, a statistic was displayed on the screen that helps to put this circumstance into factual perspective. According to Devah Pager, an associate professor of sociology at Princeton University, a white man with a degree and no criminal record will get called back from a job interview thirty four percent of the time while his black counterpart will get called back only fifteen percent of the time. If that disparity isn’t bad enough, a white man with no degree and a criminal record will be called back seventeen percent of the time. A slight advantage, but an advantage nevertheless, over the no record and degreed black job seeker.
But the facts have no place in this contentious debate over who is ultimately responsible for the despicable conditions of the black community. Black people in America are fortunate they aren’t in Zimbabwe. It’s easy to complain but people who talk about being a victim need a plan. The last thing black people need to hear is another white people done did us wrong song. But if I may, it appears that’s exactly what some black people need to hear.
So many black people are caught up in the myth that if black people simply got an education and worked hard then the black community will be free to recover some margin of its dignity and/or worth. But if every black man, woman, and child, were to obtain at minimum an associate’s degree tomorrow, it would be foolish to think that there would be a sudden drop in black unemployment or an uptick in respect for people in the black community or that every last black person would have a job the day after. If back in the day of the institutionalized enslavement of black people, every field picker showed up on master’s porch with a tuxedo and white gloves, it might look nice, but somebody’s going back out in that field in his tuxedo and white gloves to work some hard labor. The dominant community only needs so many black people out of the job market.
The black community needs to come to a collective realization that not all of us are free to participate in the world of the dominant culture. Some of us will be allowed to make it. Most of us won’t. That’s not a victim mentality. It is a fact. We can dismiss it as nothing more than some black people wanting a handout. But the idea of black people wanting jobs is no different than any other race of people wanting jobs. The idea that black people want an education is no different than any other race of people wanting an education. Black people should not be made to feel that somehow we are different and we are to be considered separate and we are not equal participants in our national social construct.
Until all of us realize this and come together to work as a unit for the betterment of the black community we will never be taken seriously. It might sound like little more than another white people done us wrong song. But until more of us start listening and learning to sing it so that our collective voice can be heard over the din of all the racialized rhetoric being made, it is a song I am more than happy to sing even if I have to do it alone. Black people can cross every T and dot every I and still not be accepted. All the cleaning up and straigtening up in the world won’t dispel this unfortunate fact.
I think we also need to embrace the diversity that exists throughout the African Diaspora. How can we expect dominant culture to accept us, if we marginalize and exclude members of our own community? Dictating who is accepted and who is not, based on the shade of one’s skin, location of birth or the circumstances in which one is raised, only adds to the divisiveness that is so prevalent in our community.
Its not the black people who have to here this, it is the “I’m not a racist crowd.” they need to be challenged on the own blogs, and black people need not be silent, because they are going to be accused of playing the race card, victim or racist. for those folk who want to perpetuate the ” if only black folk would… ” tale, need to have your word shoved in their faces and continually called on their BS. Call them out, they eventually reveal their true nature. Make them feel less safe in expressing their attitudes.
Congratulations for all of the progress you’ve made over the last year, and for continuing to look for a good position even when it was apparent that many of the rejections were based on your skin color. That takes courage and tenacity, and you obviously have a lot of both.
I’m a Black man. I had an experience recently wherein I agreed to tutor a white woman who thinks she is well-off financially. She began telling me that, since she was paying me, I had to tutor her in the way SHE wanted. It was her house and her money, she told me.
I told her that regardless of how much money she had, there were two people in the interaction and our interaction had to be based on negotiation, not the teacher’s obedience to the paying student. I also eventually had to tell her that if she had attended college she would know that professors often make demands of students that students don’t like, but part of being a teacher is helping to guide the student toward what they want to know, even if they don’t particularly like all of the path to get there.
Obviously, we were at an impasse, so a couple of days ago, I fired her. I told her that although I would be willing to share my knowledge with her on mutually agreeable terms, I was NOT willing to surrender my personhood in the process, regardless of how much obedience she thought her money should be able to buy. Now I feel great!
“But if every black man, woman, and child, were to obtain at minimum an associate’s degree tomorrow, it would be foolish to think that there would be a sudden drop in black unemployment or an uptick in respect for people in the black community or that every last black person would have a job the day after.”
Agreed. However, there would certainly be an uptick in our own SELF respect/ SELF worth/SELF esteem, there would certainly be an uptick in our treatment towards one another, there would be an uptick in how and where we spend our BILLIONS of dollars, there would be an uptick in creating money streams and business for ourselves and among ourselves, and there would be an uptick in economic and political power, thus we would be a force to recon with.
“The black community needs to come to a collective realization that not all of us are free to participate in the world of the dominant culture…”
When we become such a force as mentioned above, we would care less and less about participating in the dominant culture, because we would be creating a more viable culture of our own.
The Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey was not as interested in participating in the dominant culture as he was in teaching us to build our own culture to participate.
Amen brotha!!!! As a negro with an advanced degree and who has been unemployed three times in the past – I will testify to the validity of your article. As you stated, ” combined with the cleanest of criminal records without even the slightest hint of a blemish,” and “a white man with no degree and a criminal record will be called back seventeen percent of the time.” I’ve seen it first hand.
Today’s job market it extremely tough!
Nevertheless, persistence and agitation is key, but NETWORKING is a must.
Honestly, I’ve sang both versions of the song: another White people done us wrong song, and another Black person done us wrong song.
BP, since you seem to be riffing off of a previous post that I wrote I want to add my two cents:
When the “white man done us wrong song” is simply about what the white man don’ did to us one mo’ gin’ – I have no use for it.
When that song includes AND emphasizes STRONGLY – our gifts, our talents and our abilities to CREATE our own work, our own culture, parallel to the structures created by others, then that’s a song I’m willing to hear and sing.
Its not an “either/or” thing; its an “AND” thing. We need to know the nature of the beast that confronts us. Jobs, police, education, all of that is rigged and more. And that should help us lose faith in that beast and his system.
When we complain and sing the same old toothless song – that doesn’t spend its time visioning a future of our creation – we dispirit ourselves, we debilitate ourselves, we neuter ourselves…by our overwhelming focus on the negativity heaped upon on us from without and failing to spend far more time on solutions found within.
Implicit in spending all of our time complaining about them and what they do to us and far less time on what we need to do, is the belief that they are superior. OR, that they are going to rescue us. It is implied; it is not, as BP points out, explicitly stated. No one explicitly states that because denial doesn’t work that way…But it doesn’t have to be said to be meant. All you have to do is spend 3/4 your time or more talking about what they are doing TO us as if they are God and 1/4 of your time on what we’re going through and you’ve said “I need a handout, not a hand” without even knowing you’re doing it.
I say, we should stick our hands out to each other.
And Ensayn makes a very good point: we raise our self esteem by doing esteem-able things. Maybe we wouldn’t tear up our neighborhoods (or each other) so much if we had higher esteem and a commitment to excellence whether the white man is unfair or not. Get a degree, hell, READ, whether it means he’s gonna love or employ us or not. This is creatively valuable regardless.
The more we focus on how bad we get treated, the more we stay mired and even, invite getting treated that way. The more we raise our creative vibe, the more we feel, the more we demand good treatment – by ourselves, for ourselves and radiating outward from there.
Its like a flood: see the waters rising and keep moving to higher ground. Or else.
Brotherpeacmaker Ensayn is correct.
You overcame racism and It is still hardest in America to be Black. Your hard work and education bring you joy and the ability to be creative. I agree that The odds are stacked against us like you stated. The stats from Soledad OBrian point to the fact that Whites have a distinct advantage. There is a old saying wich you are probably familliar with “If you are Black step back. If you are Brown stick aroung but if you are White then you are all right.” Most Black folks in the job market have experienced this. I have experienced this, but I have never been under the illusion that the World was not biased towards White people. We must still work twice as hard but I think that this is changing slowly. However I have to disagree with some parts of your post mabey I misunderstood your comments.
Saying that education and hard work will not help the Black community recover some margin of its dignity or worth seems a little extreem. Mabey this is correct if you are talking about the opinions of White racist. However in general those qualities are very benificial. I am 38 and I have never worked for more than 12 bucks an hour my whole life. Work has still been an incredible joy for me partially because I know I have life so much better than my father and most Black folks in the world. I own a house in Ca, and I am about to finish colledge, life is a struggle but I am happy. My twin brother has worked for minimum wage all his life and is very happy too. We both have wives who make good money, but if we were to make zero we would probably be very unhappy. Education and money make a difference which is usually positive.
Jessy Jackson Jr. once stated that if every unemplyoed African American were to take a minimum wage job at Mcdonalds or Wal mart, the amount of economic oportunities in Black neighborhoods would be incredible. Blacks could open more businesses and crime would go down. I agree with him. Stilll, White racism will be strong for a long time, but the happyness of those who work and can find joy in it, is valuable. Having a job is progress, raising ones kids is progress, finishing colledge is progress, Obama winning the White house will be progress. Please, hard work and education are quite valuable. Mabey White racist will not respect Blacks any more, but African Americans with any job and or a colledge degree are probably more happy than those without one.
Kudos on how far you’ve come and the courage you possess.
When we start working together as a community, the entire world will change. Yet, the best thing for us to do is often the hardest thing to do. What is the step by step solution to the BIG problem?
I couldn’t agree with Ensayn more.
What about a technical Plan to uplift the youths and middle age, willing to learning creative electronic/computer software Free Of Charge. How to create their own manufacturing factories, free of charge from after school programs by elder experience technicians teachers, via remote satellite schools.
Then teach the youth of how to become young international entrepreneurs on how to market their creative products on the international market place.
Show them how to create, by using their creative minds to the fullest, and how to market their products.