Black men discuss struggles getting good jobs in Richland County

CLOSE

The protest, similar to others being held across the country, was held to call attention to and denounce the recent killings of black Americans.

Wochit

Stereotypes, attitudes and opportunities cited as obstacles

MANSFIELD – For Sidney Bonham, the choice was simple.

If he stayed in Mansfield, there was a good chance he’d start to deal drugs again.

Bonham had just been released from prison, and had no intention of going back.

More: Mansfield 911 operator H. Lee Robinson retiring

More: Mansfield City Council votes to transfer 10 parks to county land bank

More: ‘The Savannah Sipping Society’ brings laughter, friendship to Playhouse stage

So, nearing his 30th birthday, he left everything behind and began working for a temp service in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

“No one knew me for being the drug dealer that I thought I was,” he said. “No one knew me for the stuff that I had — nice cars and clothes.”

Ninety days later, Bonham came back north to fetch a few things, with every intention of staying in the deep South. 

But, inspiration struck. 

Noticing his uncle’s stockpile of lawn-care equipment, Bonham quickly began to accumulate his own, and started a business — A1 Yard & Lawn.

Five years later, Bonham has a food truck and a cleaning service. One of his biggest clients for lawn care is Mansfield Catholic Cemetery. 

Buy Photo

Sidney Bonham poses for a photo with his fleet of lawn care equipment and his A1 Entrees truck. (Photo: Jason J. Molyet/News Journal)

Before he left drug-dealing behind, Bonham, now 35, was not included as part of Richland County’s workforce.

And he wasn’t unemployed, as he hadn’t sought a job in four weeks.

Instead, Bonham was considered a “discouraged worker” by the Bureau of Labor Statistics — someone who’s not looking for work because they believe a job in their line of work isn’t available; they hadn’t been able to find work; employers thought they were were too young or old; they lacked the necessary schooling, training, skills or experience, or they faced some type of discrimination. 

Nearly 70% — 67.8%, to be exact — of Black men between the ages of 16 and 64 were not in Richland County’s labor force between 2013 and 2017, according to “The Richland County State of the African American Community,” released earlier this year by North End Community Improvement Collaborative (NECIC).

Compare that to 33% of Black women, 26.1% of white men and 29.3% of white women. 

More: Report: Richland County Black residents ‘struggling significantly’

Why are so many Black men not in or entering the workforce?

In interviews with local Black and biracial men, the answer varies, and it’s difficult pointing to one thing. 

“A lot of us grow up in broken homes and we don’t have that positive mentor,” said Donald Reese. “So, a lot of times they get wrapped up in the wrong environment and end up going down the wrong road.”

Bonham, who is biracial, had a rough childhood. 

He went to a foster home when he was 12 and never lived with his mother again. His dad, who he said abused his mother, wasn’t in the picture.

Bonham began dealing marijuana in high school and continued to do so after graduating. 

“I never really had nobody tell me no,” he said. “Or tell me how to do it. So, I kind of made my own path.

“It was working. I was buying cars, paying bills, taking trips and having fun. So, to me, I was doing right. It took having kids and going to prison to wake up.”

A father of seven, Bonham’s first son was 2 years old when he first went to prison, and 8 years old the second time. 

An article detailing his arrest along I-71 in Delaware County is one of the first results that comes up on Google after searching Bonham’s name. 

He hates that. It’s not the legacy he wants.

When Bonham sees teenagers who are beginning to go down the same road he did, he intervenes, offering advice on how to start a business.

The racist stereotype of Black men as lazy, underscored by their negative portrayal in the media, is difficult to shrug aside, he said.

“Black men aren’t supposed to work,” Bonham said, referring to the stereotype. “I feel like people accept that. It’s so much easier to sell drugs. We run with that. It takes a different type of breed or person to step outside of that and say, ‘You know what, I’m going to get a job. I don’t care who laughs at me or who looks at me differently. I’ve got responsibilities and I’m not going to cheat through life.’ I think it’s a stereotype that Black men just need to get up out of.”

But casting aside a stereotype is often half the battle. 

Felonies and the workplace

Some of the men the News Journal spoke to, including Bonham, have a felony on their record, making it hard to find a job — or at least one that pays well. 

Caleb Johnson, 34, has two felonies, though he has never been to prison.

Before a friend got him an interview with RatematicsUSA (then called Transport Worldwide), a logistics company in Ashland — despite not knowing anything about logistics — he juggled multiple jobs, toggling between retail and food service. 

None paid well enough, offered enough hours, or his past would eventually surface and he’d have to move on.

During a three-hour job interview, Johnson didn’t mention his record. 

David Allen, the CEO, called afterward, asking him why. The felonies had come up on a background check.

After telling Allen everything, Johnson was given a shot. He worked his tail off and learned all there was to learn about logistics. 

“It took one man, one person, to give me an opportunity. I shot myself in the foot so many times,” Johnson said.

Fast forward a few years, and Johnson recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of his company, ARJ Holdings, and works as a freight agent for Medallion Transport & Logistics. 

“I think Black men are some of the most hardworking and under-looked people in the workforce,” Johnson said. “I think a lot of stuff comes down to just giving them an opportunity. You have these people who are so discouraged because they haven’t had somebody throw them a bone yet. Throw them a bone and see what they do with it.”

Re-entering society

Toris Phinnessee, 28, works for The RIDGE Project, a Christian-based re-entry program that’s worked with ex-offenders from Mansfield’s prisons.

Ninety-five percent of the program’s participants are Black, Phinnessee said.

While the number of Black adults in prison has fallen by a third since 2006, Black Americans still represented 33% of the sentenced prison population in 2018, nearly triple their 12% of the U.S. adult population, according to Pew Research Center.

Ex-offenders typically face difficulty in getting a license, lack or have little access to reliable transportation, lack of stable housing, and have poor credit. 

Phinnessee said there are many companies in Mansfield that offer second chances or employ those with “compromised” backgrounds, but their pay needs to be higher.

“The issue is, they start them off with very low pay,” Phinnessee said. “And $8 an hour is just not going to cut it, when you have a drug dealer who was making $1,000 a day. So, to him it’s like, ‘Man, I’m wasting my time.’ If that employer would give them $15 to $17 (an hour) then he’ll say, ‘Hey, I’ll give this a chance.'”

Shane Smith-Utt is a retention specialist at North Central State College.

A felon himself, he advocates for those with spotty records. 

Eligibility for federal financial aid can be limited for those with drug-related convictions, even after incarceration. 

Instead of fixating on the crime committed, employers should focus on what felons have done since their release from prison while on probation, said Smith-Utt.

“Being honest about it, being truthful about it, letting people know what you’ve done since then is important,” he said. “A lot of them just give up. So they work a mediocre job, if they can find one. Or, you know what they do? They go back to what they know best — the streets.”

Getting ahead

Smith-Utt, 46, said he used to hate being biracial, until he turned 40. Growing up, he faced discrimination from white and black kids, who called him things like “Oreo” and “pretty boy.”

“It was hard being biracial back in my days knowing white was supreme,” Smith-Utt said. “There were times I wished I was one color.”

In logistics, Johnson is often the only man of color at equipment auctions.

He used to feel out of place, but he’s grown accustomed to stray looks, looks that seem to say he doesn’t belong in the profession.

“It hurts my feelings,” Johnson said. “It’s like, I can’t progress? I’m supposed to just be stuck in this spot?” 

Johnson, echoing Bonham’s comments, agreed that Black men often face a stereotype.

“Being a man of color, a Black man that is, you’re very prideful. We’re very prideful,” he said.

“I think people get caught up in an image. African-American men get caught up in an image that if they’re not a big logistics guy or working a certain type of job, that they’re not at a certain stature.”

Reese, before hauling trash for Rumpke in Mifflin, worked for Mansfield Roofing for 18 years.

Reese doesn’t feel that racism is as prevalent in Mansfield as others believe, citing the diversity of Mansfield Senior High and the number of interracial relationships.

While he’s never faced overt discrimination, Reese recalled “numerous times” where he’d knock on a door, trying to sell a roof, and a homeowner would barely open it a crack.

Reese usually shrugged that off, saying homeowners would warm to him later on.

“Unfortunately, that’s the world we live in,” Reese said. “I mean, I’m not happy about it. But if I can change one person at a time, the way they act toward you, or toward a race of people, I’m doing my job.”

He vividly remembers knocking on a door to sell a roof to a man that had a giant Confederate flag flying near a koi pond.

The Confederate flag served as a curtain to get to the pond, and Reese had to move it aside. 

Reese said he and the man talked about more than roofs that day, and he made a sale.

Soon after work started on the new roof, the flag came down. 

He took that as a sign of progress.

mtrombly@gannett.com

419-521-7205

Twitter: @monroetrombly

Read or Share this story: https://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/story/news/2020/10/23/black-men-discuss-struggles-getting-jobs-richland-county/5818529002/

Credit: Source link

Next Post

Recent News