Mennonite Central Committee News Service
June 13, 1969
(5)
RETAINING FOR PROFIT
Don Bender
former MCC VSer, Atlanta, Georgia
After teaching three years in two
Atlanta black schools, I resigned to accept a job with Learning
Research and Development Corporation. LRD is a company which
carries on a program of adult education for the "hard core
unemployed." Most of its contracts are with private industry
to implement a basic education program for newly- recruited employees
from the slum areas.
The program is composed of an intensive
12-week course and includes discussion of relevant topics such
as personal development, attitudes toward work, community social
problems and the management of personal finances. The core of
the program consists of training in reading and mathematics skills.
The program supplements individual instruction with the teaching
machines and programmed materials. These techniques, together
with an emphasis on developing a positive self-identity in the
trainee, will hopefully produce a significant improvement in
their ability as an employee and a person. It is, however, too
early to accurately evaluate the accomplishments of the company.
My particular assignment is in Gainsville,
Georgia, a small city at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains.
Since this particular contract is with the Federal government,
the program is slightly different from that of the other contracts.
Trainees are placed on jobs after the training period; we have
not yet graduated our first class.
I was attracted to this assignment
because it was an opportunity to work with poor whites as well
as poor blacks. As white people, one of our greatest challenges
is to "civilize" ourselves and thus alleviate black
peoples' greatest problems -- white racism.
Gainsville still thrives on white supremacy.
There has been opposition to our program because both the staff
and trainees are racially integrated. Since our program depends
on community support, the question arises: how much can we afford
to lay racial issues on the line and let the chips fall where
they may. When some of our staff were refused service at a local
restaurant, the management of our company responded timidly.
They declined to take action for fear of encountering community
wrath and losing support for our program. Those of us who differed
were called crusaders and were told that our jobs were at stake
if any personal action that we took in this matter reflected
on the company.
I have drawn several conclusions
from this situation. I cannot accept the attitude that "these
things take time." Time does nothing! Perhaps it is not
always necessary or practical to work through confrontation,
but if we choose not to do this, we must replace confrontation
with deliberate and purposeful efforts to erode the racism of
whites. To back away from issues is to essentially align oneself
with the oppressor. Is it not the ultimate in paternalism to
see injustice and do nothing to face the oppressor honestly,
only because we fear that he is not ready for honesty?
There are also certain questions
to consider about training the "hard core unemployed"
for jobs. Is it necessary in the increasingly automated society
of ours to employ all or even most of the population? In the
future will there be any work positions available for this segment
of our population, which we are training in our program?
After withdrawing from employment
in black communities and institutions to work now in situations
which involve more white people, I must confess long moments
of uncertainty, not concerning what ought to be done, but rather
about how to accomplish it. Perhaps companies like Learning Research
and Development, which are set up to make money, cannot afford
to counter the classism and racism that have created the community
of poor in the human family.
There are no perfect answers, yet
better solutions must exist, if we have the patience to work
for them. We must continue our efforts and be honest enough not
to settle for anything less than a real answer.
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oel3june69