Obama and Race Relations

[Avi]

The Reich blog is not very long, lets take a look:

The Stimulus: How to Create Jobs Without Them All Going to Skilled Professionals and White Male Construction Workers
The stimulus plan will create jobs repairing and upgrading the nation's roads, bridges, ports, levees, water and sewage system, public-transit systems, electricity grid, and schools. And it will kick-start alternative, non-fossil based sources of energy (wind, solar, geothermal, and so on); new health-care information systems; and universal broadband Internet access.

It's a two-fer: lots of new jobs, and investments in the nation's future productivity.

But if there aren't enough skilled professionals to do the jobs involving new technologies, the stimulus will just increase the wages of the professionals who already have the right skills rather than generate many new jobs in these fields. And if construction jobs go mainly to white males who already dominate the construction trades, many people who need jobs the most -- women, minorities, and the poor and long-term unemployed -- will be shut out.

What to do? There's no easy solution to either dilemma. But there's no reason to think about "green jobs" as simply high-tech. Many low-income and low-skilled workers -- women as well as men -- could be put directly to work providing homes and businesses with more efficient and renewable heating, lighting, cooling, and refrigeration systems; installing solar panels and efficient photovoltaic systems; rehabilitating and renovating old properties, and improving recycling systems. "Green Jobs Corps" teams could be trained to evaluate and advise homeowners and businesses on these and other means of conserving energy.

People can be trained relatively quickly for these sorts of jobs, as well as many infrastructure j0bs generated by the stimulus -- installing new pipes for water and sewage systems, repairing and upgrading equipment, basic construction -- but contractors have to be nudged both to provide the training and to do the hiring.

I'd suggest that all contracts entered into with stimulus funds require contractors to provide at least 20 percent of jobs to the long-term unemployed and to people withincomes at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. And at least 2 percent of project funds should be allocated to such training. In addition, advantage should be taken of buildings trades apprenticeships -- wich must be fully available to women and minorities.

Ref: Robert Reich Blog

This is a reasonable discussion. Reich just says if "mainly" the jobs go to the white construction workers it will not go to those that really need it. I have not heard anyone accuse Reich of being racist. He is a staunch supporter of minorities.

The rest of the references given above are all second rate newsletters. Juan, I am surprised you chose this group of newsletters, they are not high quality newsletters. And especially the Alaska Standard . Juan, please .

The major newspapers did not cover this story at all, because it is a non-story. I searched on Google News and found nothing significant.

[path_of_one]

I don't think race has anything much to do with who is out of work in construction. My husband is a contractor and was a foreman for a large company, and everyone is out of work. It doesn't matter if you're white, Hispanic, whatever. Construction is down 50% in California and everyone is piecing together a part-time living.

I'm one of these "white professionals" and I get annoyed every time someone thinks that I grew up in some sort of privileged bubble because I happen to be of Celtic and French descent. We were under poverty line until I was 16. I started working at 16 to pay for my car insurance and college needs, got my college paid for by merit-based aid by working my butt off, and worked my way through grad school. All that, and there are no jobs in higher education, so I am now out of work too but overqualified for almost everything else out there.

People assume that because I'm white and have a doctorate that my life has been roses and it is a load of BS. You can't judge me by my skin color any more than I can judge a black person, brown person, or yellowy-tan person by their skin color. My standing as a "professional" tells you nothing about what my life has been.

I fully recognize that there has been (and still is in some places) systemic discrimination against certain ethnicities and races. And I fully support the end of racism and discrimination in all forms. I realize that I'm less likely to get pulled over by a cop and so forth. But what makes me annoyed is the assumption that just because I'm white, I've never faced problems and don't need any assistance during this recession. I know dozens of white "privileged" middle class families who have lost their jobs, homes, and entire savings (including us and many of the construction families we know).

A recession is a whole-society problem, not a problem to do with ethnicity. Everyone is hurting.

[citizenzen]

Originally Posted by path_of_one

But what makes me annoyed is the assumption that just because I'm white, I've never faced problems and don't need any assistance during this recession.

Who assumes that? There are plenty of poor and needy white folk around, recession or not. That seems like an odd assumption to make.

[Avi]

Juan, SG and Poo, I re-read Reich's blog and you guys are right. He should not have mentioned the racial issue. He should have just said the money should go to economically needy groups. A fine distinction but important one. Thanks for making me think about it further .

[DrumR]

Originally Posted by Avi

I think it was very reasonable to make the comment that he made, and reasonable for him to later apologize. He did not have all the facts and he was acting very humanly.

Let see, I haven't made much noise of late, raised some offending odors perhaps, but not much noise.
So I guess this is as good a place as any.

<Crash, bang, toot, screams of terror, loud grunts, patter of machine gun, whistle of a speeding locomotive + your favorite sound effects here.>

I think it was very reasonable to make the comment that he made,

Whereas I, on the off claw, believe otherwise.

A being of reason, while exercizing that faculty, not being in full command of the facts, and knowing of that lack of facts, would not have arrived at the same conclusion as was expressed by Mr Obama.

Further, Mr Obama, as President of the United States of America, is in the enviable position of having the ability to obtain direct telephone contact with each of those parties involved with the expectation of a timely and most immediate response from those parties. Wether that position of being the President of these United States was exploited in such a manner is unknown. Yet had such an opportunity been exploited in a timely fashion the otherwise unknown facts of the matter may have been obtained in order to progress toward an informed decision.

Mr Obama's statements, in light of being knowingly ill informed of the incident, displays a lack of, and a possible disregard for, the reasoning process.

Some of the unknown factors include the position of the police officer in question within the department itself. That officer taught classes on the procedure for racial relations.

and reasonable for him to later apologize.

In lieu of the mis-statements presented it would be considered as the reasoned response to have offered an apology to those parties involved. However, such does not appear to be the case. Instead of offering an apology to the Police Department and the arresting officer in question, the President of the United States of America issued public statements that point, in part, to a mis understanding on the part of The People of the United States of America of those words The President choose to use when framing his conclusion, that was based upon his self avowed ignorance, of the matter.

He did not have all the facts and he was acting very humanly.

Should one choose to use, as a standard of comparison, that portion of the old saying;
"to err is human;"
then it would be logical to pronounce that Mr Obama was acting very human indeed.

It is interesting to note that the stage of human social development where ir-responsibility is a major, and somewhat expected, characteristic is also known as childhood.

Happy un-birthday, pass the cake, and I'll have a double scoop of ice cream if you please.

<more sounds of crashing pots and pans then exit>

[Avi]

, I do like the sound effects .

Oh, yes, and the beer summit looked like fun .

[DrumR]

Thx 4 the favor of a reply, Avi.

Originally Posted by Avi

, I do like the sound effects .

Oh, yes, and the beer summit looked like fun .

Yeah, well. The sound effects are needed to get some notice 'round here.

While the "summit" looked like fun it wasn't. How could it be if we wern't there