Dec. 4, 2012

Black Leaders Plan to Hold Congress, President Accountable - But How?
By Hazel Trice Edney

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – One month after the re-election of President Barack Obama, more than 40 Black leaders convened this week to begin crafting what appears to be a strategy by which to hold politicians accountable to a suffering Black community that has given overwhelming political allegiance to President Obama and the Democratic Party.

“We just concluded a historic four-hour discussion about the state of the nation, the state of Black America, the challenges and problems we face, as well as the excitement we feel about our ability to impact the challenges of now and the future,” National Urban League President/CEO Marc Morial began the afternoon press conference Dec. 3. “We embrace our historic role as the conscience of the nation and we are united in our mission to support and protect the well-being of the African-American community, low income and working class Americans across the nation.”

Immediately, Morial read a joint statement from the group, focusing on what politicians and economists are calling the “fiscal cliff”, a year-end convergence of tax hikes that could throw already economically destitute people into a tail spin.

“Millions of African-Americans are still reeling in the wake of the great recession and trying to regain their footing after overwhelming losses in wealth, income and security,” Morial read. “In this first year of the recovery, 93 percent of the income gains have gone to the wealthiest one percent. Yet, African-Americans, low, middle and working class Americans have already paid a disproportionate price and have been left teetering on the precipice of financial ruin. And some would ask middle, low and working class Americans to give more.”

The meeting, led by Morial at a Washington, D.C. hotel, was convened by him, Melanie Campbell, president/CEO, the National Coalition of Black Civic Participation; the Rev. Al Sharpton, president/CEO, the National Action Network; and Ben Jealous, president/CEO of the NAACP. A string of other stalwart Black organizations were also represented, including the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies; the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; the National Congress of Black Women; the Black Women’s Roundtable; the Hip Hop Caucus; and the Institute of the Black World - 21st Century.

The joint statement, which specifically addressed the fiscal cliff, urged leaders to preserve tax cuts and take a “fair and rational approach” that will secure the safety nets of Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and support “investments in education, innovation, jobs and infrastructure that will be necessary for real and meaningful recovery in these communities.”

Morial called the gathering a “first step in a new direction.” But, as they promised to continue their watchdog roles and share their proposals with politicians, little was said about what exactly they will do if the Congress and President do not listen.

“We believe that it is the responsibility of those that offer leadership to push the envelope forward. We cannot sit and ask the president to write an agenda to himself from us. It ought to come from us to him or the Congress from us to [them],” said the Rev. Al Sharpton who has typically held mass marches and demonstrations in order to get his points across. He stopped short of saying whether such action is on the agenda.

“Next year will be the anniversary of the March on Washington, where a collective of civil rights groups came to Washington and raised the issues of our community to then President Kennedy and the Congress,” Sharpton said. “They did not ask the president to write the agenda. They asked him to receive the agenda and from that they went back into the South and got the Civil Rights Act of ’64 and the Voting Rights Act of ‘65. It is in that spirit a half century later we come to say that we’ll work together, we’ll come together and try to set an agenda that will alleviate the economic, electoral, as well as criminal justice disparities that yet plague our community a half century later.  We have made a lot of progress in 50 years, but we’re nowhere where we need to be. We are closer, but we have not arrived.”

As the Black community finds itself still embroiled in economic and criminal justice inequities, sporadic battles continue to arise that symbolize the overall battle for racial justice.

In that regard, Melanie Campbell, who also heads the Black Women’s Roundtable, announced that the Black leadership group has joined the BWR’s petition against the political attacks on United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice. Republicans have viciously attacked Rice, claiming to oppose the possibility of her nomination as secretary of state because of initial inaccurate or insufficient information she gave the public after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack in Benghazi in which four Americans were killed. Rice has said and it has been confirmed that she was only reporting information given to her by the intelligence community, namely the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Central Intelligence Agency.

“We gathered on last week with over a hundred women leaders,” said Campbell, appealing – not only to Black leaders - but “those who believe in fairness.” She said, “The attacks on Ambassador Susan Rice should cease and desist now. And she should be given her due respect in her role.”

Campbell added that Black women and youth will continue to build coalitions on top of those that turned out yet another historic vote on Nov. 6.

The progressive agenda needed to gain even a semblance of equality for African-Americans includes issues that are incredibly broad and detailed. Representing the NAACP, Hillary Shelton, vice president for advocacy and policy, named a litany of such issues:

Economics; jobs; small business contracts; strengthening the infrastructure; support for quality education for pre-kindergarten to support of HBCUs; quality health care; voting rights and election reform; voting rights for convicted felons; and the reform of the criminal justice system from the misuse of the death penalty to the end to police brutality and profiling are among those he listed as being a part of the agenda.

Calling the issues, “game changers,” Shelton concluded, “We must move forward to a prosperity agenda…And we look forward to working with everyone to move this agenda forward.”

Dec. 3, 2012

Meaning of the ‘Fiscal Cliff’ to People of Color
Top 10 Reasons to Pay Attention

By Sophia Kerby, Center for American Progress

NEWS ANALYSIS

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Thanks to congressional Republicans holding the economy hostage during the debt ceiling debacle in the summer of 2011, a package of automatic, across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration is set to go into effect on January 2, 2013.

At the same time, the Bush-era tax cuts and a number of other tax breaks will expire, meaning that a massive fiscal retrenchment will occur unless Congress and President Barack Obama reach an agreement to forestall the spending cuts and tax hikes. The president has proposed a balanced approach to resolve this crisis, asking the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share, but congressional Republicans are again playing the hostage game, risking massive and harmful spending cuts and across-the-board tax increases in order to protect tax cuts for the rich.

Sequestration will impact all Americans, particularly communities of color. Many Americans are still recovering from the Great Recession of 2007–2009, and economically we are at a time when investment in growing communities is necessary and preserving middle-class tax cuts is crucial. The majority of Americans agree that higher taxes on the wealthy are necessary to pay for programs that benefit the most vulnerable Americans.

Our demographics are changing and communities of color are the fastest-growing group of Americans. It’s important that we invest now in these communities as they are our nation’s future workforce.

Below are the top 10 reasons why it’s important that communities of color pay attention to the fiscal showdown and the impact that it will have in these communities:

1. Deep cuts to the unemployment provision will disproportionately impact people of color. More than 2 million Americans could lose their unemployment benefits unless Congress reauthorizes federal emergency unemployment help before the end of the year. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of October 2012 the unemployment rate is steady at 7.9 percent. But people of color face higher levels of unemployment, with 10 percent of Latinos and a staggering 14.3 percent of blacks unemployed.

2. An average tax increase of $3,500 per household will adversely impact low-income and middle-class families of color. According to the Tax Policy Center, low-income families will be hit the hardest, with a couple making between $20,000 to $30,000 annually seeing a tax increase of $1,408. This tax hike will be particularly hard for the 16.7 percent of African Americans living in poverty and the 27.8 percent of Latinos who are near poor. Middle-class families of color will also experience a tax increase. The average tax increase for middle-class families is $2,000 each year. This is particularly devastating for the middle-income blacks and Latinos who are still recovering from the housing crisis.

3. Workforce-development programs that are vital to communities of color, like YouthBuild, face significant cuts. YouthBuild, a program connecting low-income youth to education and training, could be cut by about 8 percent. Coupled with previous cuts, the program could see about one-third of federal funding cut between fiscal year 2010 and fiscal year 2013. In 2010, 54 percent of YouthBuild participants were African American and 20 percent were Hispanic.

4. Federal budget cuts under sequestration would quickly mean cuts to federal, state, and local public-sector jobs, which disproportionately employ women and African Americans. In 2011 employed African Americans were 20 percent of the federal, state, and local public-sector workforce, and women were nearly 50 percent more likely to work in the public sector.

5. Early child care funding could be cut by more than $900 million, impacting the thousands of children of color who benefit from these programs. Such cuts will mean 96,000 fewer children in Head Start, a federal program that promotes the school readiness of children from low-income families from birth through 5 years old, and where 60 percent of program participants are children of color.

6. Programs that directly help the most vulnerable families and children are on the chopping block in the fiscal showdown negotiations. Child nutrition programs such as the Women, Infants, and Children Supplemental Nutrition Program, commonly known as WIC, serves as a supplemental food and nutrition program for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women and for children under age 5. The program could be cut by $543 million—a devastating loss to the more than 450,000 people of color who utilize its services.

7. Education funding cuts will hurt the 66 percent of students who borrow to pay for college. Students of color, who have higher rates of borrowing, would be particularly impacted. Pell Grants, which provide need-based grants to low-income students to offset the cost of college, face severe cuts. In 2011 the Pell Grant program provided financial aid to more than 9 million students, many of whom are students of color. The lack of access to financial aid for people of color will further exacerbate the student debt rates in these communities. From 2007 through 2008, 81 percent of African Americans and 67 percent of Latinos with a bachelor’s degree graduated with student debt, compared to 64 percent of their white peers. Cutting access to these vital financial aid programs will curtail the higher education aspirations of tens of thousands of students of color.

8. Cuts to vital health services such as Medicaid will hurt the 60 million people who depend on it for health insurance coverage. People of color will be hit particularly hard by cuts to Medicaid, with Latinos accounting for approximately 29 percent of program enrollees and African Americans accounting for 20 percent. In 2010, 57 percent of people on Medicaid were people of color.

9. Since 2010, funding for housing has been cut by $2.5 billion, meaning any additional cuts would significantly hurt low-income families and communities. Many housing programs, such as Section 8 Housing Assistance, provide vouchers to low-income families for affordable housing in the private market. In 2011 the program aided more than 2 million low-income families across the country. Data from 2008 indicated that 44 percent and 23 percent of public housing recipients are African American and Hispanic, respectively.

10. As we move into the season of colder weather, programs such as the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, which helps bring down the cost of heating for low-income households, are crucial. The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helped about 23 million low-income people pay for winter heating bills, is in jeopardy of being cut in FY 2011. Low-income communities, who disproportionately tend to be people of color, depend on such programs to make ends meet during these tough economic times.

In order to avoid significant damage to the U.S. economy and particularly to communities of color across the country, President Obama and Congress must come to a budget agreement and protect the interests of all Americans.

Sophia Kerby is the Special Assistant for Progress 2050 at the Center for American Progress.

NAACP Exposes ‘Dismal’ Minority Hiring Record of Hotel Industry
By Hazel Trice Edney

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - As Black organizations spend millions of dollars a year on conventions at major hotels across the U.S., a study by the NAACP reports that “a dismal 0.9%” of the industry’s supplier contracts is spent with African-American owned companies even as hotels and lodges draw more than $120 billion a year.

“Moreover, the industry averaged a dismal 0.9% for supplier contracts with African American- owned companies, though individuals in this group ages 18-64 comprise 12.3% of the population. For these reasons and many more, much work remains to be done in the lodging industry to mitigate the racial economic inequality that threatens the future of this country,” states the report released Nov. 30 during an NAACP press conference in Atlanta.

The report, The NAACP Opportunities and Diversity Report Card: The Hotel and Resort Industry, “examines the representation of African Americans and people of color as a whole in the industry’s workforce, supplier diversity and hotel ownership,” states the executive summary.

Racial inequities remain a reality across the U. S. even as projections show that Whites will become a minority population by 2050. Despite this fact, “racial economic inequality increasingly impedes the country’s economic advancement,” the report states. “During this period of high unemployment and declining wealth, Americans need living wage jobs with long-term career tracks now more than ever.”

The 45-page report is being released into a climate in which unemployment rates among African-Americans remain well into double digits and the impact of the economic quagmire has disparately hit Blacks and Latinos. The NAACP says it will explore several major industries in order to point out and attempt to resolve racial voids in employment and contracting.

The organization “will regularly examine the current state of diversity and inclusion in various U.S. economic sectors, highlighting the ones that exhibit the greatest potential for African Americans and other people of color. Furthermore, the NAACP will partner with industry leaders to advance best practices for racial and ethnic inclusion and diversity,” the report states.

According to the report, the largest hotels were included in the study on a voluntary basis. They included Hilton Worldwide; Hyatt Hotels Corporation; Marriott International, Inc.; Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc.; and Wyndham Hotel Group.

The study graded the industry in three categories, including hiring and job advancement; contracting and procurement; and ownership. Among the findings quoted from the report:

• Marriott International received a B grade—the highest rating out of the five industry leaders reviewed in the study. The B “indicates an overall performance that exceeds industry norms in inclusion.”
• No corporate leader received a grade of A, which would “indicate that the corporation greatly exceeded the industry norm.”
• Because “the industry rate of inclusion for people of color is quite low in governing body representation, management, property ownership, and supplier diversity, it is clear that corporate leaders in the hotel and resort industry—along with leaders in many other industries— still have far to go to ensure their workforce, leadership and suppliers adequately reflect the demographics of the United States.”
• Two out of three (65%) lodging industry employees work in the service sector and it is projected that its five largest occupations – food preparation and serving workers, janitors, waiters and waitresses, restaurant cooks, and housekeeping cleaners – will add more than one million jobs this decade. Like other service industries, hotels employ many low-wage, part-time/seasonal workers.
• Although African Americans comprise the largest percentage of travelers of color in the United States…and while the lodging and hotel industry is largely staffed by workers of color, racial and ethnic minorities remain inequitably disbursed throughout the lodging workforce. They overpopulate entry-level and lower-wage positions while being underrepresented in higher-level, more lucrative positions, such as that of general manager.
• Out of all jobs in the lodging industry, hotel owner positions show the greatest lack of diversity. 

The report also points out some of the specific hindrances and solutions to minority economic progress in the industry. Among the findings quoted from the report:

• To advance beyond the plentiful lower-wage and entry-level positions in the lodging industry, workers must be educated about advancement opportunities. Hotels typically establish career tracks in marketing, public relations, law, accounting, architecture, and hotel operations. To qualify for a managerial or executive position, job candidates must acquire and develop business and operational skills.
• The National Society of Minorities in Hospitality (NSMH) is one of several organizations attempting to address this issue by linking people of color with hospitality company sponsors, industry representatives, hospitality organizations, advisors, and mentors to support the leadership pipeline for people of color in the industry.
• The hospitality industry’s reputation with people of color is another barrier to diversity in hotel management. On the website The Black Collegian, Flora Gailliard states, “Although African Americans have had a wealth of experience in hospitality, it has not always been positive.”12 In the past, African Americans were relegated to solely low-level positions “in back-of-house … departments such as the kitchen and housekeeping.”
• Over the past several decades, hotel chains have attempted to reach out to communities of color through multiple diversity recruitment and retention programs. These programs enable hotel companies to diversity and have led to a higher retention of staff. However, with the recession, many hotels have reduced resources for diversity recruitment, retention programs, and diversity-based initiatives.
• Michael Roberts, an African American hotelier, thinks expanding minority hotel ownership could have a major impact on the industry: “African Americans’ ability to own produces job opportunities in leadership roles for other African Americans.”

Despite the grim numbers, the NAACP report gives hopeful projections for the industry if affirmative action is taken to improve diversity through outreach, education and specific programs.

“Though the majority of jobs in the hotel and lodging industry are lower-skilled, there are a number of career and employment pathways that can lead to management-level careers. As with most other industries, a college degree in the lodging sector is an important stepping-stone for promotion—a college degree in fields of study such as hospitality management will open many doors for advancement. Shadowing experiences, mentoring relationships, and internships also provide valuable ‘on-the-job’ experience that helps candidates stand out,” the report concludes.

Despite these remedies, the hotel and lodging industry, a subsidiary of the tourism and hospitality industries remains woefully short in its hiring and business exchanges with African-Americans. The report concludes: “For these reasons and many more, much work remains to be done in the lodging industry to mitigate the racial economic inequality that threatens the future of this country.”

Dec. 2, 2012

Republicans Present All White Males as Committee Chairs

 By Zenitha Prince