Saturday, November 27, 2010

How are Black Women Making It in the Workplace?

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse UniversityScholarship in Action 

When a very important member of my management team told me that she was going to take time off to have a child, my brain stopped in its tracks. I wondered how we were going to remain fully productive, how long she would be gone, and how I should respond to such a sensitive situation. I then realized that, like so many American business owners, I was thinking like a man. Once I came to my senses, I let go of my personal concerns and focused solely on supporting her in this important step. I then realized that this interaction happens in workplaces across America, and the results are not always so amicable.

The United States is among the worst of industrialized nations when it comes to comes to making allowances for the professional challenges that women face relative to men. A woman who stops working in order to have children and/or raise a family may find that when she returns to the workforce, her opportunity set has diminished significantly. This doesn't even consider typical gender-based discrimination, sexual harassment and other daunting barriers to advancement.


You may already know that according to the US Department of Labor, women now outnumber men in the workplace (64.2 million to 63.4 million). This takes us a long way from the days when women weren't allowed to vote, or female attorneys couldn't be more than legal secretaries. Given that we have grown so much as a society, our nation has to step into the 21st century when it comes to equalizing the employment landscape.

 

Click to read.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Jack Johnson, DC County Exec and Wife Arrested for Corruption: What Can We Learn from This?

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse UniversityScholarship in Action 

I was saddened to hear about the recent arrest of Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson and his wife Leslie. Both Jack and his wife are well-respected in the DC area. Both have served their communities for decades, and both of them represent the essence of Prince George's County, the most affluent county in the United States with an African-American majority population.
Johnson was once an important ethical and legal protector of the county, serving as its lead Prosecutor. His wife has served the community for over 30 years in numerous capacities. He was also the first African American to become County Executive in the DC area. So, why are Johnson and his wife facing up to 20 years in prison for evidence tampering and destruction of evidence, among other charges? In fact, the story is quite bizarre, with reports of the FBI allegedly recording Johnson telling his wife to put nearly $80,000 in her underwear.

 

Click to read.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Former NFL Player Married to Two Women at Once

Bigamist spurs NFL pension battle between spouses

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse UniversityScholarship in Action 

A judge in Pennsylvania recently ruled that former NFL running back Tom Sullivan's death benefits should not go to the wife he was allegedly married to after his death. Instead, the benefits should go to a woman he married years earlier, but never divorced.
Tom Sullivan's ex-wife Barbara Sullivan has two daughters with the player from their 16-year marriage. Since Tom's death in 2002, Barbara and their two daughters were receiving $2,700 per month under the NFL's spousal benefit policy. Under South Carolina's bigamy law, the benefits do not legally belong to her and were stopped immediately.

Click to read.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Cutting Taxes for the Rich? Yes, that’s Bad for the Economy

kudlow

 

Watch Dr. Boyce Watkins explain on CNBC that extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy is bad for America.   Click here to watch

Black Men See Biggest Dip in Unemployment

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse UniversityScholarship in Action 

How one analyzes the black unemployment numbers for the month of October really comes down to whether you see the glass as being half empty or half full. On one hand, most of the indicators of black unemployment went down, but they still remain remarkably high relative to the numbers for white Americans.
According to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, black unemployment dropped by .4 percentage points, from 16.1 percent to 15.7 percent. The number is still nearly double that of white unemployment, which lies at 8.8 percent.
Black male unemployment actually saw the steepest decline among all race/gender groups, dropping from 17.6 percent to 16.3 percent. The number is still 83 percent higher than white male unemployment (which is 8.9 percent).
Black women saw a slight increase in their unemployment rate, which went from 12.6 percent to 12.7 percent. The unemployment numbers for black women are 74 percent higher than those for white females (at 7.3 percent, lower than any other group in America).

Click to read.