Job fair for convicted felons draws thousands...

[phillyphilly]

HOUSTON – A job fair for convicted felons drew an over-capacity crowd to the United Way Building and tied up traffic for hours on Waugh Drive near Downtown Houston.

Federal stimulus dollars made The Road to Re-entry Job Fair possible. It was meant to give convicted felons job placement skills and training. Organizers expected a crowd of several hundred people. Instead, more than 3,000 showed up by late Wednesday afternoon.

“I'm an ex-con and that's the main thing that's holding me back,” said Lavell Byrd, who went to the job fair searching for an opportunity.

Byrd said he last had a full-time job in December when he worked as a bell ringer for The Salvation Army.

"It's a very, very, very hard thing,” he said. “That people still look at what you did in the past and not what you can do in the future."

Community activist Quannel X told 11 News that people began to line up as early as 8 a.m.

“That says that they want to work,” he said. “That they want to be productive. They just want a chance at employment and they don't want their history to stop them from having that chance."

Don Jones, the president and general manager of Certified Traffic & Flagger Solutions of Texas, said unlike some employers, he thinks it’s a good idea to hire convicted felons.

“Everybody deserves a second chance,” he said “I'm a second-chance company. I believe that anybody, once they've been incarcerated, they've done something, we need to give them a second chance."

Because of the large turnout, organizers said they planned to hold another job fair at a bigger venue, possibly the George R. Brown Convention Center in Downtown Houston.

http://www.khou.com/news/Job-fair-f...housands-ties-up-traffic-86278177.html?hpt=T2

 

[phillyphilly]

But this does not guarantee them employment!

 

[doggish_098]

But this does not guarantee them employment!

it is a partial foot in the door though

 

[SamSneed]

good,some of them have kids and these kids need food and clothing.

 

[phillyphilly]

it is a partial foot in the door though

Positive take on this, thanks, doggish_098. I really felt bad for them. I work with them everyday.

 

[Rossini]

 

[Autobot8655]

this is good news

Everyone deserves a second chance after they paid their debt to society.

Ive always thought that:

"Have you ever been convicted of a felony?" question was discriminatory.

 

[phillyphilly]

Ive always thought that:

"Have you ever been convicted of a felony?" question was discriminatory.

Interesting, Dr. Munhihausen II. I never thought of that statement as a gray area.

 

[Autobot8655]

This is old, but check this out:

http://www.jobbankusa.com/News/Hiring/hiring100803a.html

October 8, 2003

Yet another study finds that racial discrimination is alive and well in the hiring process, and it's keeping black men in metro Milwaukee on the unemployment rolls.

The study offers this fictional scenario:

A young, white, male high school graduate with a felony conviction applies in person for entry level jobs as a driver, a dishwasher, a laborer, warehouse worker and production worker that are advertised in the newspaper and admits to employers that he served 18 months in prison for possession of cocaine with intent to sell.

A young black man with similar education, work history and style of presentation, but with no criminal record, applies for the same jobs.

Who do you think is more likely to be called back?

If you picked the white man with the felony conviction, you guessed right.

This study offers evidence that discrimination remains a major factor in the economic lives of black men, and highlights the fear and misunderstanding of black males that permeate the local job market.

Devah Pager, a sociologist at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., sent equally matched pairs of testers - two black and two white - to apply for low-skilled jobs at 350 places of employment in the Milwaukee area and found that white ex-offenders were more likely to be called back for an interview than black applicants who had no criminal record.

Students test employers

In this detailed study, bright, articulate, college students posed as job applicants. Even though the results were strikingly close, black men without criminal records were called back only 14% of the time, while whites with criminal records were called back 17% of the time.

The study, titled "The Mark of a Criminal Record," was conducted in Milwaukee between June and December 2001, and the results were released last month.

"It shows there's a great deal of work that has to be done in the education of employers and working on attitudes," says Julia Taylor, president of the Greater Milwaukee Committee. "This type of racial disparity in employment practices really impacts us as a region. It impacts our work force, and it really impacts how the inner-city moves forward."

Pager chose Milwaukee for her experiment because it is representative of most large metropolitan areas in its size, racial demographics and industrial base, she says.

The study's findings would surprise few African-Americans in this city, who know from experience that this kind of discrimination exists in the job market. Research shows that white Americans, however, have been led to think that direct, racial discrimination of this nature has become less of a problem in our society.

It was even surprising to Pager, a young white woman.

"I expected that there would be an effect of race. I thought the effect of a criminal record would swamp other effects," Pager says. "That assumption was clearly wrong. It really suggests that stereotypes and assumptions about black males are very much a factor in hiring decisions."

Facing tougher odds

The study demonstrates the increased odds black male ex-offenders face in finding employment and successfully reintegrating into the economic mainstream, says Lenard Wells, chairman of the Milwaukee Parole Commission and a former Milwaukee police officer.

"It's as if there's a concerted effort to keep black men from getting employment, to keep them oppressed," says Wells, former president of the League of Martin, an organization of black Milwaukee police officers.

"We say we want to reintegrate individuals into the community. We say that we want to do something about unemployment in the black community, yet we want to pretend that it's a criminal record that prevents blacks from getting jobs. It's blatant, undisputed, racism," he says.

Combine the effects of race and a criminal record, and the problem becomes worse. For instance, only 5% of black men with criminal records received callbacks from employers, the study found.

White men without criminal records fared the best in the Milwaukee-area job market, with 34% receiving callbacks from employers.

Keep in mind that it's illegal to discriminate against applicants with criminal records unless the circumstances of the crime correspond closely to the requirements of the job, says Phoebe Weaver Williams, an associate professor of law at Marquette University who specializes in employment discrimination.

"What's frustrating is that, after so many years of having laws in place, the laws haven't corrected the problem," Weaver Williams says.

Clearly, the study's findings demonstrate that a criminal record closes doors on employment.

Still, employers are averse to taking risks on black applicants, whom they perceive to have criminal tendencies, the study says. For example, black testers were more likely to be asked by employers whether they had any convictions, yet none of the white testers were asked about their criminal histories up front.

Image problems

A couple of factors that work against young black men is their portrayal in the media as gangsters, thugs and rappers on the fringes of society, and the fact that more black men are going to prison than college, according to a report by the U.S. Justice Department.

The sad reality is that the majority of those inmates will be released back into communities where they have little opportunity to obtain legitimate work. Research shows that one of the factors for recidivism is employment.

Black felons face a hostile job market in Milwaukee, says Wendell Hruska, associate director of Project Return, a Milwaukee agency that helps felons and people convicted of misdemeanors find employment.

"Discrimination is very much a problem. That's what we've been hearing from our clients," Hruska says. "A lot of people get discouraged. Unfortunately, many of them give up. You really can't blame people when you've been out there for months putting in applications and you hear nothing back."

This research helps us measure the degree of discrimination that exists in the hiring process.

But the question remains: How do we attack a problem that so affects the economic lives of black men in Milwaukee, where many employers still make hiring decisions colored by fear and misunderstanding?

 

[Autobot8655]

This article ^^^^ is why black people have the "2 times rule" In the US.

If you were born in the US and you dont know what the "at least 2 times rule" means, then you are definitely not black.

Unfortunately, there is no emphasis on the " at least 2 times rule" in education today...which is one of the many reasons that made me quit teaching.

 

[Adam Knows]

start your own thing.....




also as i found out last month, a lot of companies have a time period as far as how back they go on background checks which on avg is 7 years with some others going back as far as 10 years.

plus look at jobs that have no association with what your crime was...

theft? don't go looking for a job in a bank

 

[ShortyCumStain]

Good. It's either that or havin' some of those folks that they don't wanna hire kickin' in their doors or knockin' them over their heads for money so that they can support themselves.

 

[Rossini]

start your own thing.....




also as i found out last month, a lot of companies have a time period as far as how back they go on background checks which on avg is 7 years with some others going back as far as 10 years.

plus look at jobs that have no association with what your crime was...

theft? don't go looking for a job in a bank

Would you hire someone with a drug felony?

 

[Devilstrider]

But this does not guarantee them employment!

You take free job training where you can get it.

 

[8/11Streetz]

it is a partial foot in the door though

at least they get a shot


every convict is not a monster people fuck up sometimes Some learn from there mistakes some dont, hopefully something good comes out of this


my bad was typing way to fast the first time i wrote this

 

[Devilstrider]

at least they get a shot


every convict is not a monster people fuck up some learn from there mistakes some dont hopefully something good comes out of this

You my friend are right. I have a friend thats a ex-con and he beat the odd. This cat owns a nice house, married, three children that our his and 3 from her previous marriage. He has put 2 through college and is working on the third now. I did not even know he was a ex-con until he told me. He is very smart dude. Shocked me when he told me but shit I respect him because he did his thing to make his life grand.

 

[DaAssWatcher]

I always find it ironic when CACs are on tv and they quick to throw out "America is tha land of second chances" .Its like once you get a criminal record and do your time once you get out you wear that conviction like a scarlet letter for tha rest of your life.

 

[Upgrade Dave]

If it helps brothers stay out of prison, I'm all for it. That's a good use of tax money.

 

[Mrs.BCAA2009]

This article ^^^^ is why black people have the "2 times rule" In the US.

If you were born in the US and you dont know what the "at least 2 times rule" means, then you are definitely not black.

Unfortunately, there is no emphasis on the " at least 2 times rule" in education today...which is one of the many reasons that made me quit teaching.

I wasn't born in the US. Can you please explain what this rule is about?

 

[kenbgco68]

happy about the felons looking,
sad about the non-felons getting discriminated against

 

[D-TOWN REP]

They were expecting a few hundred but they really underestimate how many people really want to change and do things the right way, I would bet money if they keep having those there will be more and more people show up if it really gets jobs to some of those who attend

 

[Adam Knows]

Would you hire someone with a drug felony?

in the phone stores i have. in the computer shop, can't due to insurance and other companies i do business with criteria's.

 

[OTG08]

i'd only hire a felonly for janitorial type of shit. no way i'd let them handle money

 

[chitownsfinest]

But this does not guarantee them employment!

Duh...that's what a "job fair" is.

this is good news

Everyone deserves a second chance after they paid their debt to society.

Ive always thought that:

"Have you ever been convicted of a felony?" question was discriminatory.

I agree that this is a good thing. Folks do deserve second chances...even felons who served their time.

But how did this thread turn into a rant about job discrimination?

Also, I wish these young folks would pay attention to stuff like this before they commit their first crime.

-CTF

 

[masterzeek07]

niggas that get caught with 2 nickel bags of weed, will become an instant

felon for manufac/delivery of pot. I was looking at the show cop, white boy

had just bought some X pills, cops search his car find weed in 2 bags but he

get a misdemeanor or use. I like what kind of shit is that, but we all know why.

 

[Louis Koo]

wtf is a bell ringer

 

[Mistah__Mafioso]

i'd only hire a felonly for janitorial type of shit. no way i'd let them handle money

...and even then I'd be reluctant to do that. I've hired and helped out a number of ex-cons in the past, only to be burned. Most have been repeat offenders and are the worst, in my experience. I'm not willing to give them a chance any more -- they've caused me much grief and the damage has been done.

 

[Adam Knows]

wtf is a bell ringer

you know....

around christmas time they stand around a red pot ringing a bell taking donations....

 

[Adam Knows]

...and even then I'd be reluctant to do that. I've hired and helped out a number of ex-cons in the past, only to be burned. Most have been repeat offenders and are the worst, in my experience. I'm not willing to give them a chance any more -- they've caused me much grief and the damage has been done.

i've been lucky i guess..i've hired a few over the years and never had a problem.

 

[rtm862]

Would you hire someone with a drug felony?

What felons dont understand today, is that people really dont give a fuck what you did years ago. Most companies hire you based on "Character". You were a criminal ok, now tell me how you left that life behind you.

Never say stupid shit like you were in gang or anything like that. That shows that you are weak, and will give in to anything. And it also tells people your loyalty belongs to someone else.

It's not the felony that's holding you back. It's you.

 

[Mistah__Mafioso]

i've been lucky i guess..i've hired a few over the years and never had a problem.

Good for you. Let me ask you this: How many felony convictions did each of them have, and what were their offenses?

The one's I've hired in the past have had at least 4 or more [one dude alone had 9] different incarcerations individually, and their convictions were mostly larceny, theft, and burglaries...each having multiple drug offenses to boot.

BTW, who is that chick in your sig?

 

[rundatrack]

Would you hire someone with a drug felony?

Depends

4 out of 5 drug convictions are for possession. If bossman just had some herb in his pocket when he was 17 yrs old on a college campus.

My door is open.

 

[8/11Streetz]

You my friend are right. I have a friend thats a ex-con and he beat the odd. This cat owns a nice house, married, three children that our his and 3 from her previous marriage. He has put 2 through college and is working on the third now. I did not even know he was a ex-con until he told me. He is very smart dude. Shocked me when he told me but shit I respect him because he did his thing to make his life grand.

my bad about that first comment i was typing to fast but you get what i was saying

Yeah i have a family memeber who did six years in the can and he also came out and got his life together. He was determined to do better. It wasn't a easy road but in the end he came out on top. So yes i do believe in giving someone a second chance.

 

[The Pope]

start your own thing.....




also as i found out last month, a lot of companies have a time period as far as how back they go on background checks which on avg is 7 years with some others going back as far as 10 years.

plus look at jobs that have no association with what your crime was...

theft? don't go looking for a job in a bank

shit.......if you got a theft charge on you it's damn near hard for you to get a job anywhere, especially a place like Best Buy, Wal-Mart, etc.... the best thing for them to do is go to school learn a trade like HVAC or IT and you can damn near get a job anywhere.

 

[spicykjun]

actually it was over 7000 people who showed up
and it will b another in the GRB in may i think