weta studios in Washington, home
of the pbs newshour.
Geoff: The latest jobs report
for April shows the U.S. Capping
a year of solid growth.
Employers added 428,000 jobs in
April, and the unemployment rate
remains steady at 3.6%.
That's a pandemic-era low.
But as the economy recovers from
the pandemic, inequality
persists.
Black unemployment stands at
5.9%.
That's close to double that of
white workers.
For more on this I'm joined by
Maurice Jones.
He's the former commerce
secretary of Virginia, and a
former housing and urban
development official.
Jones is now the CEO of an
organization called oneten,
which seeks to close the
opportunity gap.
It's great to have you with us
here in studio.
Maurice: Thanks, man.
Geoff: I want to start with this
-- what accounts for this
disparity in employment and in
wages?
Maurice: So the disparity is
really about the holistic
picture of blacks in the economy
today, right?
You have to have quality
training, you have to have
access to transportation, all of
those things impact one's
employment, one's wages, one's
ability to get to a job.
And so all those things have to
be addressed in order to really
close this, if you will,
employment gap that you're
seeing.
Geoff: And so how is oneten
seeking to do that?
And then we should say your
organization is trying to get 1
million African American workers
into sustainable successful
careers over the next 10 years.
Maurice: Over the next 10 years,
that's right.
So one of the challenges is the
impact of systemic barriers, if
you look at black talent in the
workforce today, ages 25 and
above, 76% of us do not yet have
a four year degree.
So you literally have a systemic
barrier in the form of a
credential to black talent, and
by the way, other talent of
color, earning their way into
the middle class.
Geoff: How has your organization
sort of stepped into the breach
here and helped people?
Maurice: What we're doing now
with companies is challenging
them to recredential their jobs.
So a real concrete example is,
we now have -- I'll give you an
example without naming a company
-- a major health care company
that has operations not only in
the U.S., but also outside of
the country.
They now as a result of joining
oneten have decided that they're
going to reposition, rebuild all
of their jobs from a skills
first perspective.
That means that now where they
have some jobs that require you
to have a certain academic
degree to actually enter, if
there are additional ways that
you could actually get the
skills for those jobs, they're
going to remove that academic
credential as a requirement for
the job.
Geoff: I think your personal
story is in many ways
instructive and inspirational.
You were born into a small
farming family in in rural
Virginia, worked your way up,
ultimately was a Rhodes scholar
and then became a leading voice
in politics and business.
What were the inflection points
in your career?
Maurice: The first inflection
point is my grandparents, right?
My grandfather born in 1914.
By the way, he went to school in
a barn for six years and then
because of his color, had to go
to work, could not go to school.
Grandmother born in 1919.
Went to school because she could
walk.
She went to the segregated
colored school.
Another inflection point for me
was when I was 14 years old,
eighth grade, I was on a debate
team in my junior high school,
and a science teacher introduced
me to a senator, a state
senator, and said, hey, we think
you would be a good candidate to
be a page in the general
assembly.
I had no idea what a page was.
The only page I knew up with the
ones in books, so I looked at
them real strange, like, what
are you all up to here?
[Laughter]
But I went off and I became a
page.
And during that time, I saw all
these lawmakers -- I am a
14-year-old -- with law degrees,
and so I concluded wow, if I
want to make a difference in the
world, I'm going to try to
become a lawyer.
And so my ambition to become a
lawyer was forged because of
this eighth grade science
teacher.
Introduced me to a state
senator.
Geoff: It goes back to that
notion that you can't be what
you can't see, and that people
need to be able to see
themselves in these different
environments.
Maurice: Yes.
It also goes back to the notion
-- the notion of being self
made.
I just don't know any self made
folks.
I'm definitely not self made.
All of these people -- my
grandmother, my science teacher,
my coaches, my professors --
they made me.
So that's the key.
And the other piece of it for me
is you can start anywhere, and
if you've got people who love
you and who will invest in you,
your opportunities are certainly
going to, to your point, they're
going to outstretch your vision.
That's for sure.
Geoff: And now you're trying to
provide similar opportunities
for so many other people.
Maurice: I'm just trying to keep
telling my grandmother and
grandfather, thank you.
Geoff: Maurice Jones, thanks so
much for coming in.