'BUSI
Overca
ATLANTA -- From his f hionable
·ffice ov rlooking the tangle of traffic
:avelin, Atlanta' fr e ay Marshall
reOects on a journey of a dif­
eren sort -- t e mile tone that he
nd 0 r Black Americans ve
lOved p t durin, the I t 60 years.
A yopn ter, Ba dreamed of
eing doctor. When a draft notice
rter interrupted his plans, he t hi
: h on becomin an Army general,
ut that never happened, either. In­
cead, he helped manage global
o mer products bu ine filth
20,000 employee -- but during tha
_. tinguiahed corporate career, he ha
lso help d heal the ound of the dis­
dvan d and ed ar on di -
riminat' pn.
B • nior vice pre ident of RJR
lb' co, IDc., h helped guide the
empany' hu r source policie
>r 20 yean. From hi offices in At-
ta and Winston-Salem, N.C., Bas
dministe progr . that pan
eric d touch many live in di -
m soci tie uch Kenya and
�t Africa. The' ambitioo drive
t make . corporate Program
today ere apparent even
urin . boyhood ye in the mall
Jorth Carolina town of Gold boro. _
Wh n B . five ye ' old, hi
r died, I aving behind 11 chil-
n. 'mo r determined
her 80 and d ughte ould no
limited to an ilhth-grade . educa­
.on � sh h d. He biped fulfill ber
ream, eaminc a B.S. decree from the
Jniversity of arylaDd - College Par ,
d later bein a arded honorary
..n"I". from five' 0 er colleg .
"Education and discipline' ere
trY important to my mother," B
!Calls. "In our hou e, m' sing school
. euld ve ., en criminal. Inver
d 0 day -- from fll" t de-
vough high school gr duation."
At a tender e, B displayed the
rae .. ical mind of bu ine man and
elf-di cipline of someone de -
d for ucce . Aa a boy, he to ed
lI'Dace for ealthy homeowners be­
e d wn each momin , delivered
.. era! different n sp pe on be­
n«:hooI roo and' pOe-
I "Inspiration
for ucce s must
: begin at home"
His viewpoint changed after attend­
in officers candidaie chool ancJ· be­
ing eommi ioaed .a eeond lieu­
tenant at age 19. "By then I had de­
cided I anted to be an Army general,
80 I accepted the Army' offer to finish
college t tb Univer ity of Maryland.
Afterward, I eho a: competitive tour
of Nice in order to earn a regular
Army co . ion."
He w de tined to witne the'
"d th of gregation in the military.
"In 1950 I s in Korea 'th a Blac
batWion, stationed aJpngside �
white b ttal· ona. The hi units ere
in trou , 10 the· c0mmand­
er asked for reinforcements. The
general came through and found our
Blac battalion playing carda in the
ar area, not permitted to enter com-
t. Th ral rell v d th regimen· ,
tal commancl r of duty on the apot."
. By 34, B a lieutenant·
colo 1 co diq tb north m-
most battalion comb t team ill th
DMZ in Kore "My IDOl cbal1enPnI
military auipm nt as commandin
those 1,500 m n for 13 montba," .. ya
B . "To have that.many live. in your
banda it an eaam re ponaibility.
But e din't 10 e a man."
Wh n h left Ko ea, Baa became
chief of Army promotion at the Pen­
tagon. He began to co ider dev tin
from his successful military career
following a mid-air conversation with
Vic Pre ident Hubert Humphrey
durin a flight from Kore to A Ita.
Humphrey I ted that B ami t
e valuabl n contributio
e
and ervice from minority and wom­
en upplier . The e kind of program
help a lot of people."
Ba beli ve there i much more
yet to be done; and i bother d b
tho e who are pectator rather than
participant in progre . "Onl a gen­
eration ago, Black till had to fight for
the right to vote or to it a' a lunch
counter in a public place," a Ba .
"We have come a great di tance ince
then, but the tragic effec of 200
year of di crimination cannot be
magically wiped out in a couple of
decade -- which explain why about
one-third of Black American tillli e
in poverty,"
Ba fervently believe that the in­
piration for ucce mu t begin a
. home. 'It i imperative that Black
parent in till in their children an
appreciation for the value Of a good
education "he ay. '
He al 0 tre e the need for con­
tinued growth of Black particip tion
in bu ine , and commen on one key
to ucce . "I believe tron ly tha for
minoritie to ucceed in any enter­
pri e, th y mu t under tand ho .
others communicate. For example, a
white upervi or might ay, 'Have you
thought about trying to do thi a dif
ferent way?' But he might really mean,
'Don't do it your ay anymore'."
Ba believe that minoritie mu t
be, expo ed to integr ted environ­
me beginnin t a yery young age.
"White account for the majority -­
that' ju t th way it i ," ay B
"Black mu t learn to hare th mean­
ing of white ,and not ju t in bu ine .
For example, a Blac tudent ho
doe n't fully understand a hite m th
teacher will encounter problem ."
Ba believe that Blac youth mu t 1
be continu lIy encouraged to cro
ne boundarie. "When 1 wa a boy, I
. thought that my choice of a pro­
f ional career were limited to doc­
tor, lawyer, teacher, preacher, or un-
When the tobacco company brancheCi dertaker," y the man who has car-
into the food indu try and formed R.. ved a ucce Cui career a a enior
ReynoldaInduatrieain 1970,Ba w I executive at one of the nation' Ie d-
promoted to manager of personD. I ing companie .
developm nt for that ne parent cor- "I've known many people ho could
poration. He elected vice pre . - have ou tripped ·my .ccom-
dent in 1982, and senior vice pre i- p lishm en but didn't -- becau they
dent in 1986. That year, he directed ere never given an opportunty, or
th company'a orld 'de public - never eized an opportunity," Ba
. and relations efforts. . conclude . "The key to verythi g i .
During bia career at RJR, B h opportunity, and being prepared to
helped guide the company' up recognize it when it i taring you in.
of educational, civic, health-and-w�1 the face."
fare and cultural programs. He CWTeI1t- oJ -------------:-�
Iy rve on the five-member con-
tributions board at RJR Nabi co,
hich r amon the top 10 cor-
porate dono in h Unite� State '.
"Busine hal played a Vital role in
eq al opportunity," Y B s. "RJR
ab' co it the barge corporate con­
tributor to United Negro Colle e
Fund Schoo". We purcha e more-'
than 136 million annually in goOd
political or bu ine career. Coin­
cidentally t hortly, thereafter R. J.
Reynolds Tobacco Company invited
Ba s to join the company.
"It wa a difficult decision, but I
wanted to be in the South," ay Ba .
"I believed that if I had any contribu­
tion to make to ociety, 1 should do it
where 1 wa born and raised."
In 1968, he joined RJR a manager
of p rsonnel development -- becom­
ing the first Blac manager in the com­
pany. He a re ponsible for RJR'
federal contract compliance program,
EEO career development, and general
personnel management.
"Some �eople ere hoping I would
fail in my ew job, but I wa too naive
to realize it," ay Bass. "I came from a
sheltered military environment, and
had been in integrated environment
ince college. Not eosing the prej­
udice wa probably in my favor, be­
cau e my energies were devoted to
trying to do my job well, rather than
orrying about people' attitude "
He began introducing ne per on­
nel techniques in the company. "In
1968, the Civil Righ Act of 1964 had
not yet fully taken hold in thi coun­
try," he explain. "The company' top
man gement realized that equal op­
portunity w becoming a critical i -
ue, and they wanted to get in front of
the problem. The company had al�
ready tried to put ome program iri
'place, but tl)ey hadn't been ati fleet
with the re ults." !
He developed a formalperfonnance
appraisal y tem, .btd instituted a
policy that offered traming 0pPOIi
tunitie' a ed on eniority. By 1971,
the dis ibution of minoritie and
omen in RJR' or force w com­
mendable. Between 1972 and 19r76,
more than 160 other companie vi�­
ited RJR to tudy the company
, I
equal opportunity program, .
liThe key to
everything I
opportunltyll
."