Issues Affecting At-Risk and Out-of-School Youth

Seminar IV:  "Perspectives of Young African American Males about Jobs, Careers and Education"
A Forum — April 28, 1999

This seminar was the fourth in a series of learning activities organized by AYPF to explore issues affecting at-risk and out-of-school youth. Edward DeJesus, President, Youth Development and Research Fund (YDRF), facilitated a discussion with youth leaders who are promoting educational and work achievement in their communities: Daniel, Washington, DC, Khaleaph, Arlington, VA, and Armone, Clinton, MD. These young men participate in YDRF’s National Institute for Survival and Economic Self Sufficiency (NISESS). NISESS is a grassroots effort to inspire, train and educate a cadre of urban youth to take the message of the importance of education, work and positive values to the "streets."

Daniel, Khaleaph and Armone, though all in their early 20s, are at very different stages of education, training and work experience. Armone has had some college and recently completed a Job Corps program, Daniel is presently unemployed and has been involved with the criminal justice system, and Khalealph attended college and is employed as a legal assistant with the Social Security Administration.

DeJesus began the discussion by sharing with the group a recent article from The Wall Street Journal by Glenn Burkins entitled, "Strong Economy Leaves Young Black Behind," (March 9, 1999) and asking for the young men’s reactions to it.

Average unemployment for 1998 by race
	Ages
	16 – 19	20-24
Black Men	30.1%	18.0%
Black Women	25.3%	15.7%
White Women	14.1%	6.7%
White Men	10.9%	6.3%
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

The article indicates that according to the latest employment reports, "Nearly 32 percent of black male teenagers who want to work remain unemployed, compared with 12.2 percent of white male teens." These figures mask the true rate of unemployment since they do not take into account the number of black youth who have either given up looking for work or who are in prison, thus probably making the real rate of unemployment for black youth closer to 50 percent. Factors attributing to this high rate of unemployment include: poor education and job skills; the reluctance of many white employers to hire young black applicants; and a simple refusal by many young black men to take low-paying jobs with no long-term prospects. (See table for average unemployment for 1998 by age and race.)

Khaleaph felt that the article correctly captured the experiences of black youth. In his community, the unemployment rate is easily 50 percent due primarily to racial stereotyping. "When you walk into an establishment, even if a business has advertised a job, the people there quickly say that they have no openings."

Daniel concurred with this assessment adding that he has put in two to three applications a day but never gets called back or offered a job.

"Have you thought about changing your appearance?" DeJesus’ asks. Daniel, who is currently wearing a black tee-shirt and baggy jeans, says, "I’ve thought about it, gotten dressed up, then gotten hot and discouraged."

This led to a discussion of appearance and what’s presentable on the job and on the street. Khaleaph, in sports coat and tie, acknowledged that he has been on job interviews where "employers constantly stared at my hair [in dreadlocks] for the 30 to 40 minutes it took for the interview." He indicated that his hair is a part of who he is and he’s comfortable enough with his knowledge and skills to not have to change his appearance to suit the comfort levels of employers. But still the racial stereotyping persists in all facets of life. While waiting for his car at a parking garage, a customer gave him her keys thinking he was the parking attendant. Although he has been working at the same place for two years, on the day that he did not have his key card, another staff member refused to let him into the building. He attributes this kind of behavior to the media that promotes fears of African American males and expectations of them in menial positions.

Armone conceded that how you present yourself to the world could become a barrier to success. "I see the difference in how people on Connecticut Avenue react to me—how they smile and look comfortable with me when I’m dressed like to day [in slacks, shirt and tie] and how they try to avoid me when I’m in baggy jeans and a cap. A shirt and a tie gives you a real head start."

Still, Khaleaph stressed, "Most people don’t take the time to try to understand or share each other’s culture." He also noted that discrimination has transformed over the last 40 to 50 years into a subtler, yet equally effective, form and is now deeply embedded in the context of hiring and jobs. There, it serves to frustrate minority youth that aspire to more than a minimum wage job at McDonalds, and turn to what they think is an easier route—risky and life-threatening endeavors.

Armone, who has been out of the Job Corps for about a month, finds the unwillingness of many young people to accept a low-paying job to be a real problem. In the Corps, they received a stipend of about 11 cents an hour, but this was in addition to the free room and board, health care and education and training provided. A number of youth failed to see this as an investment in their future.

Daniel also attributed many of the unemployment problems young people face to the lack of good educational opportunities, and cited the need for more charter and vocational schools (such as Phelps High School in the District of Columbia) where "kids can learn about work." Although he is presently in a GED program, he would prefer to be in a program that placed more emphasis on work in addition to developing study skills.

DeJesus indicated that Daniel faces another barrier to employment—his past involvement with the criminal justice system. According to Daniel, you must indicate whether you have been convicted of a crime on a job application. Once potential employers learn that he has a criminal record, it is evident that he won’t be hired.

"What recommendations would you offer to Daniel?" asked DeJesus.

"Even though you may be in a situation with subtle racism, you must first address the problems that you bring to the job setting," said Armone. In the Job Corps, he found many youth that were highly resistant to any authority. "Next you need to learn how to conduct yourself. You learn quickly that attitude is everything." In the Job Corps, you had to learn social skills, how to talk to others, how to follow rules and the norms of the place.

"Why are so many youth in your communities unemployed?" asked DeJesus.

"The lack of basic skills, such as how to tie a tie, the lack of transportation, the lack of a babysitter so that they can go to an interview, the lack of motivation to face what’s out there," responded Khaleaph.

"The lack of motivation, lack of knowledge about how to carry yourself during an interview, or just the lack of knowledge of how to go about looking for a job," said Armone.

According to Khaleaph, "Today everything has ‘www’ in it. Lots of folk don’t know how to get on the ‘net’ or have no computer literacy skills. Just being able to access a job isn’t enough. The hard part about recruiting urban youth is that you must be organized to train them in the many areas that they will need to be successful on the job."

"The youth in my community are unemployed because their mothers and fathers are on the streets making a living. They [the adults] don’t have jobs. If they had a job they wouldn’t take chances with life on the street just to pay the rent. Some people have been taught, but are lazy. We need programs to give people hope and teach them that life on the street is a nowhere life," said Daniel.

"What do young people do to break through this wall to become successful?" asked DeJesus.

Khaleaph responded, "They must have role models—real role models whose success can provide a path for others to follow in. My father was a good example, but I still got in trouble and needed something more. The key for youth leaders who are trying to make a difference and policymakers is to dedicate themselves and realize that the work ahead is going to be hard and ongoing."

Armone said that he had not had role models, but had used his own self-determination and discipline to "get over that wall." He had been an active gang member. Fresh out of high school in 1993, he got a car and his father paid for him to go to college. But his thoughts were always with the "crew" (the gang) and everything he did continued to be for the crew. He constantly thought about how he could use the information learned in class for the benefit of the crew—how he could he could make it better, more efficient. Needless to say, he did poorly in college and eventually his father kicked him out of the house. At one time, he and five other crew members were homeless and hustling just to get food. They even broke into an abandoned house just to have someplace to sleep. It was then that he had his awakening and realized that whereas he was doing everything for the crew, his association with the crew had done nothing but bring him down.

At that point, he broke with the crew and started doing his own thing. Eventually he landed in the Job Corps and around people who were receptive to what he was saying about taking charge of your own destiny. In time, he was viewed as a role model by other corpsmembers. In the Job Corps, you have no option but to listen and get your life back on track.

Daniel couldn’t think of many young people who had gotten over the wall. He said, "Many are stuck in the old ways and still talking about the old life." He is trying his best to be a working model. This current program has really gotten him onto his toes. He’s in the DC Urban Services program for youth coming out of the juvenile justice system. He’s finally getting the hands-on experience he needs.

"What are the codes of the street?" asked DeJesus.

Armone: "You can’t smile. When gang banging, you must prepare yourself to get locked up. You can’t smile there or you’re done for."

According to Khaleaph, the media capitalizes on the code of the streets for their own benefit. The Hip Hop magazine Double XL ran an ad with a picture of young man lying in a coffin surrounded by his grieving friends. The caption read: "Clothes by Tommie Hilfigger, shoes by . . . ." The message: if you must be laid out, do it in style.

DeJesus indicated that a recent analysis of pictures of hip hop stars in Source Magazine showed 25 grimacing black rappers and five smiling white rappers.

Another big problem is alcohol abuse. Khaleaph has worked with the courts in DC and in New York City and sees this as a persistent problem that results in fighting and killing.

According to DeJesus, in DC, 50 percent of black males 18 – 25 years of age are under the control of the court. He asked, "Are the barriers that exist in the community and imposed by the code of the streets (such as lack of role models, the power of peers and alcohol and drug abuse) greater than the barriers confronted in accessing and succeeding in the workplace? What recommendations, policies and programs would you suggest to ensure better outcomes for African American males?"

Armone: "Programs and grants are available to support education and opportunities for young people and people in the community know about these sources, but that information doesn’t get out to the young people who need it."

Daniel: "Today kids are dropping out of junior high school. More work and study programs are needed at the junior and high school levels to prepare kids for real life."

At this point in the program, the panelists were given an opportunity to ask questions of the seminar participants. They asked:

"What will you actually do with the information you have learned today?"

• Kevin Fields from Associates for Renewal in Education indicated that the presentation today has helped him validate that what they are doing in their Circle of Hope program (to help change the lives of young people by addressing such issues as physical appearance and employment preparation) works. "Many minority youth must face the fact that the workplace requires a certain amount of conformity if one is to succeed there--it’s not necessarily a race issue but a conformity issue. The trick is to find a happy medium between expressing your culture and individuality and conforming to the standards of the workplace."

• Nancy Rose of the U.S. Department of Labor said that she had always addressed gender issues, such as why expectations of success and opportunity in the workplace were always lower for young women, but today’s presentation had done much to sensitized her to the plight of young African American males.

• Devon Corneal, Policy Analyst with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said that she now has the voices and advice of three young men to take back to her cubical at HHS. There, the policy debate has been on the competing strategies of whether to focus resources and efforts in support of positive youth development by building upon the strengths of young people or to focus on changing risky behaviors. She now believes that both strategies are needed.

• Alice Johnson, Senior Policy Analyst with the National Institute for Literacy, who has worked on issues impacting the Job Corps but has never visited one, now has a better perspective on the value of the Job Corps experience.

"Is your work effective and do you see progress?"

• Kate O’Sullivan, Director of Program and Networking Services has been with the National Youth Employment Coalition for four years and through the new Workforce Investment Act has witnessed a new approach to policies affecting youth. She feels that people in Washington have listened to the voices of practitioners and young people at the grass roots level and that policy is finally beginning to reflect that.

• Joan Wills, Director, Center for Workforce Development, Institute for Educational Leadership, has seen progress but stressed that we have a long way to go. "The young people in today’s session have verified what researchers and practitioners have been telling us and what the PEPNet process has tried to reinforce: the strong role for mentors; the importance of support; and the need for better outreach so young people can take advantage of the programs and opportunities that we have in place. Still, this country and its policies are organized around coalitions but nobody is organized around youth."

• Samuel Halperin, Senior Fellow with the American Youth Policy Forum, said that he has seen a lot of progress in government since the years when a guy like Khaleaph would not have been hired. When he went began to work in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, the only black employees worked in one unit, Adult and Higher Education, or in security.

In follow up to Wills’ comment about coalitions for youth, he asked the panelists, "Are you registered voters and have you voted?" His concern is that only by voting and creating a political presence will the interests of young people be represented. "The problem is that young people don’t take care of themselves. We need better and more responsive lawmakers and it is up to young people to help do this." According to Halperin, in 1972, 18 year-olds got the right to vote, but only 49 percent of those eligible voted. In 1996, less than one-third of the eligible 18-years olds voted.

Khaleaph responded to Halperin’s first comment by saying that "Yes, he can now be hired in a federal office, but the barriers have taken different forms, such as ‘highway profiling,’ and a lot of young black men are still left behind." At the black college he attended, there were about 14 black women to every black male. His concern was always, "Where are all the black men?"

According to Kevin Fields, the issue is attitudinal prejudice. In 2020, about one-third of the workforce will be made up of people of color. What kind of policies can we devise to address the attitudinal prejudice and institutional racism that abound? The issue is similar to sexual harassment. We have begun to focus on what constitutes harassment in a work environment and to put in place policies to address it.

Participants then asked the panelists: What can schools do about the dropout problem and do better to keep youth in school? Among the answers offered were:

• Get young people involved in after-school programs and clubs.
• High school must be a learning and accepting environment that offers students something to get enthusiastic about. For too many youth, apathy with school has already set in by junior high school.
• Young people need to know what the financial benefits of a high school diploma are—that you can earn much more than a high school dropout or more than $400,000 over a life time if you have a diploma.
• Young people need more work-study and hands-on experiences.

"How can teachers and schools motivate youth?"

• Everybody cannot be a teacher. A good teacher above all must be able to relate to young people. They must act as the glue to keep students engaged in the school.

Summary

Among the issues raised by the young men presenters were:

• Racial stereotyping is very prevalent and dominates how African American males are perceived in public (e.g., as menacing) or in an employment situation (whether they are employable or not). The media does much to perpetuate stereotyping, but so does the code of the streets that can dictate attitudes toward authority, modes of expression and acceptable dress—much of which can run contrary to an individual’s success in the workplace.

• Young people want and need different types of learning experiences. For some, hands-on learning and vocational education are very critical and so is work-based learning to give them a sense of the opportunities and expectations of the working world.

• Due to discrimination or lack of preparation, many young people can only find employment working at minimum wages, yet they aspire to more than a minimum wage job. Turning to what appears to be an easier and financially productive route through risky and life threatening endeavors, many end up in prison or involved in the criminal justice system which further restricts their opportunities for legitimate employment.

• Eliminating discrimination in recruitment and hiring are only the first steps. To be successful in the work setting, many young minority men need access to education, training and support so that they can be successful on the job. Lack of good basic skills (as basic as knowing how to tie a tie, having social skills, knowing how to conduct a job search, being computer literate) and the supports that go with getting and keeping a job (transportation, access to baby setters, etc.) further contribute to high unemployment rates.

• Much more needs to be done to insure that information about available programs and activities gets to the young people that can benefit most from them.

 

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