Good time, good event that helps the homeless

While

a mostly young crowd was rocking out in downtownNew London Saturday Sept. 7, one of the city’s most diverse socio-economic annual gatherings was having itsowngood time at the Port ‘n’ Starboard ballroom at Ocean Beach Park and raising money for a good cause in the process.

The gathering, estimated at nearly 600, kept the dance floor crowded and raised $40,000 for the Homeless Hospitality Center and the The Covenant Shelter, the two facilities that provide refuge for the homeless inNewLondon and work together on programs to help individuals escape homelessness.

The Homeless to Hopeful benefit marked its ninth anniversary this year. It was initiated by businessman and former city councilor John Russell shortly after he made an unsuccessful bid for state representative. Russell said he believes he has done more to address the problem of homelessness by helping launch this event than he ever could have as a state legislature.

To date the annual event has raised $350,000, with more than 90 percent of proceeds going to the shelters for programming.

It is also a heck of a good time. My wife, Kathy, and I have not missed one yet and count it among the favorite fundraising eventswehave the good fortune of attending in the region. There is nothing quite the like the diversity of the crowd at Homeless to Hopeful, a true cross-section of the community— lawyers, construction workers, businesspeople, the homeless or recently homeless, college students, bank executives, doctors, Wal-mart cashiers, teachers, you name it. Attire is notably casual and comfortable, the failure to spend time on the dance floor considered a bit of an affront. The Rock& Soul Revue once again did a great job cranking out the classics.

Robyn Wolman, wife of developer Len Wolman, chaired this year’s event. Admission was affordable, $20 ($15 for students, seniors and military), with the bulk of the revenue derived by raffling and auctioning off a variety of prizes donated by local businesses and civic groups.

Next year will be a big one— the 10th anniversary— don’t miss it.

Last week I wrote about the need for NewLondon Public Schools to reduce the number of special education students it sends out of district, often at great cost. Steven Adamowski, the stateappointed “special master” appointed by the state in an effort to help improve academic performance of students in the district, stated in his recent report that keeping more students in the system would be better for them as well save money for other instructional programs. The $6.8 million spent on out-of-district placements represents about 17 percent of all spending.

After the column ran I received more interesting information from Superintendent Nicholas Fischer. Three emotionally handicapped studentswhohave been brought back created savings in excess of $500,000, with plans to return to the system another 20 such students, for an estimated savings of more than $2 million, he reported.

Afew students have such serious needs that they can only get the help they need in specialized, out-of-district facilities, said the superintendent.

All told there are 45 students in special education out-of-district-placement. In one strange technicality, keeping some students out of district saves money, said Fishcer— those placed by Department of Children and Families. The state pays 78 percent of the cost for the placements. There are 23 such students.

“Ifwebring them back, wepay,” said Fischer.

That is something the legislature needs to look at. Paul Choiniere is editorial page editor.

After five years of nonstop bad news regarding black unemployment, the Obama administration was finally able to celebrate some good news last month, or so it seemed. In July African-American unemployment dipped to 12.6 percent, a small but significant change from June’s 13.7 percent unemployment rate— and substantially lower than the high of 16.5 percent that it reached in January 2010.

But any celebration was likely short- lived. While the national unemployment rate decreased slightly in August, to 7.3 percent, reaching a five-year low, that same month, African- American unemployment rose to 13 percent.

So at this point, who exactly is to blame for the seemingly unshakable epidemic of unemployment in the black community? Bob Woodson, a black conservative, generated headlines for his fiery speech at a Republican National Committee luncheon commemorating the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. During his address he argued that when it comes to policy and progress, all other demographic groups have taken precedence over poor African-Americans. Woodson said, “Everybody has come in front of them on the bus — gays, immigrants, women, environmentalists. You never hear any talk about the conditions confronting poor blacks and poor people in general.”

Though his language may have been more pointed, Woodson merely gave voice to a criticism levied specifically at the Obama administration by many black Americans — namely that in the quest for re-election, President Barack Obama and his allies focused less on achieving solid policy deliverables to those demographics already most likely to vote for him and instead focused on delivering for those groups who needed more convincing.

Reinforcing the notion that the president prioritized the needs of other communities before those of the community that supported him the most in both elections are his own words. In a 2009 interview with reporter April Ryan, when asked about the criticism that black Americans— particularly unemployed ones — were being forgotten by the first black president, Obama replied, “So, we have made a series of steps that make a huge difference. The only thing I cannot do is, you know, by law I can’t pass laws that say I’m just helping black folks. I’m the president of the entire United States. What I can do is make sure that I ampassing laws that help all people, particularly those who are most vulnerable and most in need. That, in turn, is going to help lift up the African-American community.” This response was puzzling when considered against the many measures he eventually executed exclusively on behalf of another group of people: lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.

Although LGBT Americans could easily cite administration accomplishments, such as repealing “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” ordering the Justice Department not to defend the Defense of Marriage Act and appointing more openly gay elected officials than any other president, black Americans could not cite such a list.

But does that mean Republicans could do any better?

According to an analysis in Forbes, when Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter for the presidency in 1980, black unemployment hovered at 14.5 percent. (Perhaps as a nod to these poor numbers, Reagan received double-digit support from black voters.) But black voters did not fare much better under the Reagan presidency. Black unemployment stood at 14.3 percent when he faced re-election in 1984, although that number was an improvement over the nearly 20 percent of African-Americans who were unemployed at one point in Reagan’s first term.

Black unemployment was much better, but still in the double digits, at 10.3 percent in November 1988, when Republican George H. W. Bush defeated Democratic Gov. Michael Dukakis. But it was at 13.7 percent when Democratic Gov. Bill Clinton defeated the first President Bush. Black unemployment was back down to 10 percent in November 1996 when President Clinton defeated Republican Sen. Bob Dole.

Black unemployment was at an all-time low in 2000, dipping into the single digits. Though Vice President Al Gore was part of the administration responsible for such numbers, he ultimately won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College to George W. Bush. The numbers would creep just above 10 percent in 2004, and the second President Bush would defeat Sen. John Kerry. The numbers returned to the single digits in 2008 during President Bush’s final year in office, before the economic crisis would send them skyrocketing again in 2009, President Obama’s first year in office. They have remained a seemingly unsolvable problem.

Republicans express the need for lower taxes for business owners to spur job opportunities for black Americans.

Democrats have a different take on the kind of tax policy needed to help the black community. The White House official cited the extension of the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit, which have ultimately benefited more than 2.2 million AfricanAmericans, as a key administration accomplishment benefiting communities of color. The official also pointed to the administration’s role in facilitating more than $14 billion in contracts and capital to minority-owned business.

But most of all, the Obama administration points to heavy investments in higher education for minorities, including doubling Pell Grants and increasing investments in HBCUs.

Education certainly plays a key role in determining long-term career success. But the administration’s thin record of specific accomplishments in the area of black job growth, as well as the lack of specifics cited by the RNC, seems to indicate that the ongoing jobs crisis among black Americans may have less to do with the failure of the first black president than with our society’s failure to address the underlying issues.

Neither the RNC nor the White House mention some of the additional hurdles that black Americans face in the jobs market: A labor report from the Center for American Progress found that black employees tend to be the last hired and first fired. Intrinsic racial bias in the interview and hiring process is well documented.

So does this mean that when it comes to unemployment in the black community, all is hopeless? No. It does mean, however, that the only way to address the issue is to speak honestly about it. Whichever party does that first — Democrats or Republicans — will be judged most successful in leading the black community out of this crisis.