Christian Morrow, New Pittsburgh Courier, May 14, 2009
For some yet to be determined reason, African-Americans are missing in action when it comes to unique job opportunities being created in Pittsburgh.
Despite a heavy turnout at two recent job fairs conducted by the Rivers Casino, which organizers said yielded a great pool of potential employees, the number of Black applicants might have approached about 10 percent at best.
“We had an exceptional turnout for both events, but yes, there were not a lot of African-Americans and that’s a concern for us,” said George Matta, business development and community relations manager. “We specifically reached out—through the Northside Leadership Conference, CareerLink and the Urban League—to assemble a diverse applicant pool. So yes, we are aware of it, and we’ve recontacted those agencies to make sure make sure we have a diverse pool.”
Mark Fatla, executive director of the Northside Leadership Conference, said the turnout news is disappointing given the coverage of the job fairs, especially in the New Pittsburgh Courier. He said it is possible that some folks are putting themselves out of the process because they believe they won’t get hired.
{snip}
Through outreach workshops in conjunction with the Urban League, CareerLink and Community College of Allegheny County, Fatla’s organization assembled a pool of 827 low-income and minority applicants for casino positions. Of those, he said, 324 were scheduled for interviews, 237 actually showed up, and of those 150 were scheduled for a second interview.
{snip}
The low turnout phenomenon seemed to be present May 9 at the Hill House Association where a scheduled Trade Union Job Fair had only 45 people fill out forms noting their interest in getting into union apprenticeship programs.
{snip}
Original article
(Posted on May 15, 2009)
Comments
Why does this not surprise me? They don’t REALLY want jobs, their welfare checks are just fine thank you. Yet they will continue to complain about job shortages for blacks. Go figure.
“Yet they will continue to complain about job shortages for blacks.”
I guess it’s so you’ll think they’re on welfare because they can’t find work because whitey is keeping them down.
It goes back to Blame Whitey.
There are blacks who believe that whites have jobs because the government is white-controlled. Whether the white makes money working for someone else or for themselves, they owe their paycheck to the white government. This will only change when the government becomes black, and all the jobs are taken away from the whites and handed to the blacks. Until the changeover is completed, it is futile to expect a white government to hand out black people jobs.
Can you really blame them? Why work at a low-paying job when you can bring in almost as much money from welfare and social services? I have talked to several local employers who have told me they interview blacks on a daily basis who tell them they don’t want the job but they have to show up to interviews and turn in applications to stay on unemployment. These aren’t bad jobs either. Some of these jobs pay over $30k a year. (And I live in an area with a very low cost of living where you can actually buy a three-bedroom house for around $30-40k.)
Also, can someone tell me what happened to welfare reform as a political issue? Didn’t Republicans use this issue to take back the House in 1994? Why has it dropped off the political landscape? It seems to me that it would be a winning issue.
The last people to be laid off in this depression are blacks. Most decent blacks who have good jobs, work for government or are affirmative action hires. These jobs are safe.
The simplest answer is usually the best. They don’t want to work.
“324 were scheduled for interviews, 237 actually showed up…”
Ok, so for some undetermined reason, nearly 25% didn’t even bother to show up for the interview. What is that suppose to say to anyone?
Also, can someone tell me what happened to welfare reform as a political issue? Didn’t Republicans use this issue to take back the House in 1994? Why has it dropped off the political landscape? It seems to me that it would be a winning issue.
Posted by Anonymous at 11:32 PM on May 16
I have wondered about that too. Maybe the reason is so many “Hispanics” receive government benefits of some sort that the politicians are afraid to anger them.
… for some yet undetermined reason?
Duh? I wonder if that reason might be spelled L-A-Z-I-N-E-S-S?
Then again, maybe that explains why Blacks seem unconcerned about illegal immigration. By letting themselves be pushed out of the job market by illegals, it gives them the perfect excuse to file for welfare checks.
Unfortunately blacks are a regressive people, even though they get preferential treatment they don’t know how to forward this advantage or just don’t care.
Look no further than Liberia. The whites set up a new country for them and it failed. All of Africa is a failure, a total failure. They wanted black rule and they got it, the time will come when the blacks will beg whitey to come back and sort their problems out. They are incapable of creating a business based, wealth orientated and progressive society. They should just enjoy the ride and let the whites drive.
The reasons they give are priceless. I have written a short commentary on this story on my blog:
http://belatedtruth.blogspot.com
-Paradigm
Well finally with the nomination of a Black astronaut to head up NASA and a new Africa centric administration of cooperation, all the Blacks that previously suffered discrimination now have their chance to get to the stars and show whitey who really has the right stuff.
“Fed up” said blacks are unconcerned about illegal immigration.
I disagree. Blacks see how they don’t get along with Hispanic people. And Hispanic people don’t back down from blacks like white do.
No, blacks know white people are against illegal immigration and they don’t want to be seen as being on the same side as whites so they pretty much remain silent on this issue.
“The last people to be laid off in this depression are blacks. Most decent blacks who have good jobs, work for government or are affirmative action hires. These jobs are safe.
Posted by Charles B. Tiffany at 1:17 PM on May 17 “
I’ve heard in California that a number of government agencies had to lay off people/cut their hours. Government is only as secure as the people supporting it.
Fed up” said blacks are unconcerned about illegal immigration.
I disagree. Blacks see how they don’t get along with Hispanic people. And Hispanic people don’t back down from blacks like white do.
No, blacks know white people are against illegal immigration and they don’t want to be seen as being on the same side as whites so they pretty much remain silent on this issue.
Posted by Nick at 3:26 PM on May 18
Then I hope whites will have the collective and active gumption to say, “Hell with you. We’ve bent over backwards to reach out to you and you won’t stand with us for anything that affects America as a whole. Don’t ask us for help. Don’t ask us to include you anymore. You’re on your own.”
In order to comment I had to agree to the “Commenting guidelines” in which it states “Statements of fact and well-considered opinion are welcome, but we will not post comments that include obscenities or insults, whether of groups or individuals.”
Tiffany French must not get out much. What is the statistic? Something like one out of three Black males between the ages of 18 and 40 is in criminal justice system, jail, prison, parole, or probation. True, there are Whites in the criminal justice system, just not nearly so large a proportion as Blacks and Hispanics. True, there are Whites on welfare, just not nearly so large a proportion as Blacks or Hispanics. And, as the article from the New Pittsburgh Courier at the top point out, “For some yet to be determined reason…” Black people didn’t show up to apply for jobs. Not even for union apprenticeships. Might Ms French have some idea why that might be?
Actually Tiffany, blacks and now hispanics can’t even twist the raw numbers to say there are “more” whites on welfare for instance. “Minority” folks used to be able to do that, ignoring the high percentages of their own groups on welfare, but now things are fully out of control. Blacks and hispanics are now relying on govt. handouts not only at far, far, far higher rates than whites but also their raw numbers of people at the trough are higher than the white population. We now have generations of blacks in this country that have never worked, and the same is now happening with hispanics, despite all the claims of their work ethic. They seem to lose that work ethic in a generation or so as latent behaviors take hold.
It would be foolish for us to deny that there are certain social issues that are not ideal (far from it). It would also be foolish for us to resort to constant, senseless bickering over said issues. I challenge those who are quick to offer harsh criticisms (from either side) to propose reasonable and feasible solutions to the problems they are anxious to point out. If you feel the need, however, to simply point fingers and conjecture in a whiny fashion, I implore you to spare the world wide web of your ignorant thoughts.
Thanks :-)
