Black People: Role Models?

 

The paucity of Blacks in positions of private-sector
economic decision-making is a near-universal reality
in metropolitan America.
"The State of Black Milwaukee in National Perspective:
Racial Inequality in the Nation’s 50 Largest Metropolitan Areas
In 65 Charts and Tables," page 65

Employers have every right to be concerned about a potential employee's history of: moral turpitude; vocational stability; demonstrated compliance with employment law, contracts, and related legalities; and the likelihood of a candidate's "failure-to-perform" the posted essential job functions in compliance with established job standards. People should not be hired based on the race, sex, etc., but based on their demonstrated proficiency to perform the posted essential job functions at standard or better, right?

As detailed in the following exhibit:

1. If thoroughly vetted prior to hire, appointment, or election, and to ensure these individuals were not hired, appointed, or elected as "tokens," but for their demonstrated subject matter expertise and proficiencies, surely the abrupt circumstances, including failure-to-perform that prompted their separation or tainted their continuation of service would not have occurred, right?

2. Given the character and scope of their alleged performance, why would private-sector employers hire Black people to have any involvement in economic decision-making?

CLICK ABOVE IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Jessica Wade's March 28, 2023 article in the Omaha World-Herald boldly stated, "Despite Stothert's pledge, City of Omaha's boards see little change in diversity."

You know the rule, when Black people provide facts that detail overt racial discrimination, well, it generally doesn't matter, or it's brushed away, or buried, or just ignored; but when White people who hold power and affluence convey the same facts, well, obviously it must be true. As reported by the Omaha World-Herald:

>> Back in 2020, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer, Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert pledged to expand diverse representation on city boards and commissions.

>> Nearly three years later, however, it appears little change has been made in the racial and ethnic makeup of Stothert’s appointees to the city’s more than 40 boards and commissions. In fact, the Mayor’s Office isn’t even keeping track of appointee demographics — and doesn’t intend to.

>> “If you ask me right now, the diversity, the percentages of all the boards and commissions, I will honestly tell you, I don’t know, because I don’t pick them according to the color of their skin,” Stothert told The World-Herald. “I pick them because of expertise or qualifications or skills or experience. These are the things that we’re looking for.”

According to Stothert, Black people and other people of color do not possess the "things" Mayor Stothert is looking for. Some might consider Mayor Stothert's statement rather condescending if not racist, especially from a White woman who rose from an extremely limited vocational background as a nurse, with no prior experience managing any aspects of urban municipal government, to deploy her "privilege" to become Mayor of the thirty-ninth-(39) largest city in the United States.

Disingenuous? In July 2020, Mayor Jean Stothert named Keith Station, a Black man, to lead the City of Omaha’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion strategy. Station, as validated by his LinkedIn.com posting, has no previous experience or expertise directing Affirmation Action/EEO or DEI, and no previous experience or expertise in managing human capital or AA/EEO/DEI in urban municipal government. Likewise, Mayor Jean Stothert named Gerald Kuhn, a Black man, as the City of Omaha’s Director of Human Rights and Relations. Kuhn, as validated by his LinkedIn.com posting, has no previous experience or expertise directing Affirmation Action/EEO or DEI, and no previous experience or expertise in managing human capital or AA/EEO/DEI in urban municipal government. Mayor Stothert's DEI "strategy" has been to accomplish nothing by using "token" Black figureheads who lack expertise to accomplish any DEI strategies.

Stothert's "strategy" does not reflect poorly of Station or Kuhn, because they exist as nothing more than automatons, but only recognizes the well-established "practice" of Stothert's ilk to:

>> never intentionally hire people of color with subject matter expertise specific to the essential job functions and a robust record of successfully meeting and exceeding all job standards; and/or

>> never intentionally hire people of color with greater subject matter expertise than they do; and/or

>> never intentionally hire people of color "they" perceive as a threat or beyond their control.

These pre-determined "practices" exist as racist assessments to intentionally discriminate against "highly qualified, high performing, and thoroughly vetted" minority candidates with absolutely no record of insubordination.

In order to hire or appoint Black people and other people of color who possess the "things" Mayor Stothert is looking for, Mayor Stothert would actually have to make a serious commitment to do so; and she's never held any such commitment. As validated by Nebraska's 2019 EEO-4 report (at right) that tracks the hiring of all public sector employment by race and sex in Nebraska, Mayor Stothert and her public sector peers are unable or unwilling to hire or appoint Black people and other people of color in "leadership" positions because "those people" don't possess the "things" they're looking for. Conversely, although the hiring and retention of Black employees is not that much better, nevertheless, how and why do Nebraska's private sector employers consistently outperform Mayor Stother and her public sector ilk in DEI? Well?   Source: https://www.eeoc.gov/data/job-patterns-minorities-and-women-private-industry-eeo-1-0 Perpetual? The Omaha World-Herald failed to report that in Nebraska, the further back you go, the appearance of minorities and women in both public sector EEO-4 and private sector EEO-1 reports becomes increasingly rare.		"Those people" don't possess the "things" they're looking for.

So, again, what are your answers to the following questions:

1. If the "idea" is to lead-by-example, how are Black girls and boys inspired by the performance of these Black leaders?

2. Why would or should "elite," politically powerful and affluent White people have confidence in Black people?

Black and other people of color who rise to be in the "public eye" as politicians, business professionals, entertainers, etc., have always been under greater scrutiny by White-owned and White-controlled media than their White peers who hold similar positions. Somebody is always watching, waiting for an opportunity to publicize whenever Black "leaders" engage in acts of stupidity, incompetence, malfeasance, etc. Then, statistically, the judicial process is consistently skewed against people of color.

You do remember what happened to Bill Cosby, don't you? Here's the way "justice" has always worked in the United States: Prosecutors, judges, and legislatures can and do unilaterally go back and "selectively pick," or create, or amend laws to achieve their own malicious objectives. Consider the millions of people arbitrarily incarcerated based on the constant flip-flops in federal, state, and local laws on drug use, from alcohol (prohibition) to marijuana to a plethora of legal, semi-illegal and illegal drugs listed in the Controlled Substances Act. Again, if "they" want to get you, they are going to find a way, make a way, to get you! The "issue" behind the recent indictment of Donald Trump is not his innocence or guilt; nope. Not at all. If fact, throughout U.S. history, "innocence" has never been the cornerstone of U.S. jurisprudence; likewise, justice is supposed to be fair, and objective? Really?
You do remember what happened to Michael Jackson's doctor, don't you?

Equally important, as posted in a previous editorial, Black people should never, never ever ignore the rule! The rule: If it's bad for White people, it's going to be excruciatingly terrible for Black people! Again, if it's bad for White people, it's going to be excruciatingly terrible for Black people!

> When unemployment is "kinda high" for White folks, it's exceedingly high for Black folks

> When income levels for White folks drop, income levels for Black people disappear

> Even when arrested for the same crime, Black people are consistently, perpetually arrested more often and receive harsher sentences than White people

> COVID-19? The total number of White deaths per 100,000 through March 2, 2021 is 150.2, versus the total number of Black deaths of 179.8.

Is it fair that Black and other people of color who rise to be in the "public eye" as politicians, business professionals, entertainers, athletes, etc., have always been under greater scrutiny by White-owned and White-controlled media than their White peers who hold similar positions? The United States of America was not founded on "fairness," so get that stupid idea out of your mind. Here, yet again, is evidence, to get that stupid thought out of your mind:

In 1776, the only individuals who held the "privilege" to sign the U.S. Declaration of Independence were White men [not male or female Native Americans, not male or female slaves, not White women (although a White woman printed the document), not male or female Asians, not male or female Latinos], but only White men were established as "equal" in the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Nevertheless, they wrote: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all MEN are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Unfortunately, as detailed by polifact.com, the blatant hypocrisy of the Declaration of Independence is evident with thirty-four-(34) of the forty-seven-(47) men depicted in the famous "Declaration of Independence" painting were slaveholders.

Black people were NOT allowed to vote, or own property (because they were, in fact, "property"), etc.   Women were NOT allowed to vote, or own property (for the most part), except as provided by their husband, family hierarchy, etc.   These elite, well-educated, slave-owning, God-fearing "Founding Father" White men made "the rules" and defined all exceptions to "the rules," and it was not "self-evident" that all people are created equal, or they would have said so. As validated by the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, these men knew the value of words, and how to carefully craft sentences, paragraphs, and documents. Evidence of their intent to sustain their "privilege" is validated by the absence of any timetable to establish that "all people are created equal." Keep in mind, these elite, well-educated, slave-owning, God-fearing "Founding Father" White men had no problem executing contracts or agreements between themselves, or Native Americans, and with France, Spain, etc. Or, are supposed to believe these elite, well-educated, slave-owning, God-fearing "Founding Father" White men, who used the same colonization tactics as their British peers, were not as smart as Chinese men who established, with Britain, a 99-year (timetable) lease for Hong Kong in 1898?	The "Founding Fathers" wrote the Declaration of Independence and formed thirteen-(13) independent sovereign states to escape the tyranny of the Kingdom of Great Britian, but with blatant hypocrisy they also used the Doctrine of Discovery as the template for White ethnocentrism and to perpetuate White ownership, White control, and White privilege. Centries later, the legacy of White ethnocentrism in the United Kingdom contines to oppress people of color. Nothing changes. Click above image to watch video. The circle of systemic racism endures and is pervasive.
IN OMAHA, NEBRASKA THE PAST IS NOT THE PAST WHEN THE OVERALL STATUS OF BLACK PEOPLE HAS NOT CHANGED
CLICK ABOVE IMAGE TO ENLARGE Read the article on "Environmental Racism" at theblacknewsperspective.com

Not all White people are racist, and its blatantly "racist" to categorize all White people as racist, BUT White people, primarily "elite," politically powerful and wealthy White men, have always made all the rules (laws) and all exceptions to the rules, and they continue to do so!  It's their country.  White people, primarily politically powerful and wealthy White men, own and/or control everything – from education to business to government; and White people, primarily politically powerful and wealthy White men, unilaterally "pick and choose" if and when they'll adhere to whatever rules, laws, and contracts they establish.

Black and other people of color who rise to be in the "public eye" as politicians, business professionals, entertainers, etc., have always been under greater scrutiny by White-owned and White-controlled media than their White peers who hold similar positions. Somebody is always watching, waiting for an opportunity to publicize whenever Black "leaders" engage in acts of stupidity, incompetence, malfeasance, etc.

Attention Black and other people of color, look before leaping, thoroughly conduct your own "due diligence," and don't give "them" ammunition to ruin you personally and/or professionally, or to foster negative stereotypes of Black men and Black women.


I welcome your feedback.

Trip Reynolds
trip.reynolds@yahoo.com

Reynolds' Rap April 13, 2023 © 2017-2023 Tripoetry. All Rights Reserved. First Amendment to the United States Constitution - Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.