Today later, in a
W n, D.C. conference of
abc Raimow Q)alition Cinton
decided m bow up, but to give
J Jackson and rap Inger
ter Souljah the second in a
ries 0( laps at Black America.
At the end of the peech to
Jac n's group Cinton Said:
"You had a rap inger here last
night named Sister Souljah.
HER COMMENTS before
and after Las Angeles were filed
with the kind of hatred that you
do rot boror today and tonight,
J t listen to this that she said:
'If Black people kill Black
people every day, why rot have
a wee am kill white people?"
"If you took the words,
"white" and "Black" and
�\'Crsed them, you might think
that David Duke was giving that
speech." Souljah, n E ic
Remrding star w avowed
ion is to "uni Afri
, youth throughout the world" had
no comment regarding
ainlOn's statement.
, The Baltimorerreeting of the
Black Press attracted over 150
Black publishers, as well as: ex
ecutives from Corporate
America; Black organizational
leaders uch as Ben Hooks of the
NAACP; Secretary of Housing
and Urban Development Jack '
Kemp; filmmaker Spike Lee;
Arthur Ashe; candidate Leoora
Fulani and Ebony Executive
Editor Lerone Bennet.
Another major Democrat,
Representative Daniel Blue, the
only' Black, Speaker of the
Home, from North Carolina was
a oonfe�nce participant. Karen
Ne\yton, a member of a Black
press family spawning three
generations, said the NNP A
gro� should consider the im
pact of their "backhanded emor
aement of President Bush" by
'the oondemnatation of Ointon
for not bowing,
President George Bush did
respond to an invitation from the
po�. He, along with H. Ross
Perot, had other prior commit-
,men . ,Many of t� nation's
Black publishers are long-time
Republican backers.
JANE WOODS of the SL
LDuis Sentinal, Portia Scott of
tbeAtlanta Daily World and Las
. Angelea Herald Dispatch pub
lither John Holomon where at
the oonterence, but have exten
live oontacts with Bmh and the
RepubUcans. BUI Grath a lead
Ina board member, who heads
abc aucago Otizen Newspaper
Group, was openly upportive of
PelOt.
The alight of the Black Press
and Jac1cson' Rainbow Coali
tion created much national
media attention. African
Amerk:an Wall Street Journal
joutDaUIt, Michelle McQueen
IIId c1 the incidents on CBS'
"Flee the Nation, " "Itshows that
Clinton a new trategytt for
Black \'Oters.
McQueen also discussed the
·probability" that Clinton's
apecific rebuff of Jackson
abo cd "a lack of concern"
about the impact of the Rainbow
CoIUtion on the national elec
doni.
BUSINESS 'FINANCE
OPINION
reeommen
"0 PEOPL depending
on their cognitive tyl , have a hard
time picking out da from b r nd
li graphs," he aid.
a result of her tudy, Brown
II
Iping h
African-American
-workfore
By NORMAN HILL
MEMPHIS, TN - In early April,
the Labor Department released a
major report on America's
workforce that highlights a growing
problem within our economy. The
report was issued by the Secretary's
Commission on Achieving Neces-
ary Skills SC Sandi
Arne C8 to e ncreas ng y re n1
on ·Ued se ,
also argues forcefully that we are
not adequately supporting the train
ing that is so crucial to those ser
vices.
II
determined that businesse will in
creasingly require solid com
munications skills.
HOW DOES THIS affect
African-Americans? First, it is
clear that low-skilled positions are
rapidly losing ground in America's
economy. Thus, now more than
• tal that Americans in .
ral, and African-Americans
especially, take advantage of solid
job-training opportunities. Second,
given the $400 billion Federal
budget deficit, it is also clear that a
massive new Federal training pro
gram is not in the cards.
Entrants into America's
workforce, including large number
of African-Americans, must tum
somewhere else for opportunity.
The best answer, I believe, is the
private sector.
I have 'long believed that the best
job training program is, -in fact, a
job. Many entry-level positions,
while not exactly glamourous, do
teach invaluable skills. That's why
I have taken to calling them
"genesis jobs," since they are not an
end, but a beginning. They com
prise an enormous job-training pro
gram that dwarfs anything the
Federal government could put
together, even if it had the money.
In particular, on the same day the
SCANS report was issued, the
Washington-based Employment
Policies Institute released an inde
pendent poll of present and former
tipped emplcyee .. By overwhelm
ing mejortties, these individuals, all
of whom worked in hotels or res
taurants, said that in tho e positions
they learned such crucial skills as
problem-solving, customer satis
faction, and communication with
others.
NORMAN HILL
As an American, I am concerned
by this trend. As 'an African
American, I am doubly fearful, be
cause .many Americans, of all races,
come from poor or lower-middle
class areas where schools are not
good and learning opportunitie are
few. In these cases, the workplace
is the one area that promises to
teach skills they need to pull them
selves upwards, If skill-training
positions are not plentiful, these
aspiring employees' attempts to im
prove themselves are vastly more
difficult.
The Labor Department study
identified several attributes which
any employee, regardless of station,
who wants to be productive, must
master. Those qualities include the '
ability to acquire information and
evaluate it critically; the bility to
work with others; a comprehension
of technology; and an under
standing of how to allocate man-
. power and materials to solve a
given problem.
In a larger ense, underlying
these qualities are some very basic
ideas, also noted in the SCANS
report, of what constitutes profes
sional service. Basic school skills
(the three R's) are vital, as are the
requirements of integrity, creativity
and responsibility. In particular,
given America's tum toward er
vice industries, the Commi sion
ALL OF these are attributes the
Commission identified as essential
to becoming a productive
employee.
As someone who bas been in
volved in the restaurant industry
over many years, I can atte t that
tipped employment positions are
excellent proving grounds, espe
cially for receat entrants in the
workforce. African-Americans
especiall y can USe the e jobs as
training se ions to learn the com
plexities of the workplace. From
there, a wealth of opportunity will
open up once they acquire
marketable skill .
Above all, we should remember
that there is no magic bullet. Solid,
entry-level experience - these
genesis jobs - and the education
carried with it are together our best
road to pro perity. For African
Americans in particular, it is a road
to a more productive future.
Spike Lee econd from right telle th Nationai Newepap r Publish rs A.soclatlon (NNPA) that
Black pubilcatlon. would receive paid advertt Ing for the promotion of hlelateat movie. ·Malcolm
X.· 'Wlth Le at the NNPA'. 52nd Convention are from left. Rev. Frank Reid III. Pastor, Bethel A.M.E.'
Zion Church: Betty Shine, P p i-Cola Company: and Sonny Me. lah-Jlle •• Publl.her, Houston
Defender. Motion picture distributor generally end the Black pre new and photo r I a e •
. hoping for free publicity, butth distributor have been reluctantto uee paid advertising to promote
their film • During a spirited ermon, Reid told delegatee representing 205 publications that reach
mor than 11-million reader that Black publisher hould use their new papers to communicate
to the African American community the Importance of contrOlling Its own economic d tiny.
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