Randell McShepard
Chairman, Policy Bridge

As America wrestles with remaining competitive in an ever-changing, fast-paced global economy, one fact holds true. All Americans must be actively engaged in making and keeping the nation competitive. The challenging economic times that we currently face require “all hands on deck” to restore our nation’s economic vitality and prowess. Clearly, this “call to action” cannot and should not exclude any demographic group. Unfortunately, there is a demographic group that is slipping further away from opportunities to contribute to the nation’s economy. That group is African-American males, particularly in the 25-54 year old category.

As economists pontificate about the 5% unemployment rate being a clear sign of a looming recession, African-American males in many urban centers in America are unemployed at a minimum of twice that rate or higher. In Cleveland, Ohio, the unemployment rate among African-American men 25-54 years of age was 13% in 2006, according to the American Community Survey. In that same year, unemployment in Dayton for African-American males in the same age bracket was 26%, a rate higher than the national unemployment levels during the Great Depression. High rates of unemployment plague urban core cities in Ohio including Cleveland, Cincinnati and Youngstown, as well as cities in neighboring states such as Detroit, Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia at equally devastating levels. Keep reading

Last month, a report commissioned for the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs said that 18% of discharged military vets are jobless.  Now that number reflects both former military men and women who are not looking for work (they might be suffering from PTSD or adjustment issues or just not ready to be back in the civilian world), but also those who are…and just can’t seem to find it – despite sending out resumes each day.  So with the 5th anniversary of the Iraq war now just behind us, we thought we’d find some veterans to find out why they are struggling.

Working with several veterans groups, like the Veterans Today Network  and Swords-to-Plowshares  we spoke to – and received emails from – almost 100 former servicemembers.  And I was frankly surprised at the universality of the theme:  they come back from serving their country with skills and training they thought would make them marketable in the civilian world…only to find that not quite to be the case. 

Sometimes it is employer biases against vets (that they are going to be unreliable, that they don’t know how to do anything but shoot a gun, that they all suffer from PTSD).  Sometimes it’s that after five or ten years in the armed forces, it’s difficult to even know how to write a resume or make the right contacts to find stable work.

Keep reading