6.18.21: Public Statement from TE

At Towards Employment, we know from our work in policy and advocacy around criminal justice reform that Black people are 2.7 times as likely to be killed by police as White people, and unarmed Black Americans are roughly 5 times as likely as unarmed White Americans to be shot and killed by a police officer. From policing to sentencing to reentry, people of color are most likely to be arrested, charged, incarcerated, and the least likely to receive parole.

We see from our work connecting people to careers, which includes coaching them through the many barriers that exist on the road to economic self-sufficiency, that this disparity flows through every system of our society from criminal justice to health care, to education, to housing and to employment.  Since COVID-19, fewer than 50% of Black adults have a job.  Black workers make less money than White workers even when comparing those with similar education levels.  As of 2016, you would need to combine the net worth of 11.5 black households to get the net worth of a typical white US households. Read more about that statistic here.

Towards Employment is committed to creating opportunities for our staff, board, and participants to personally examine what we can each do to be a part of the change, and to strategize what we can do as a TE family to strengthen our fight for racial justice.  We know the first step for any individual or organization in this journey for racial justice is education. We have made commitments in the past, and will continue to resource and carve out time for our staff and board to participate in the Third Space Action Lab racial equity trainings and will continue to tap into and take advantage of the resources like those provided by the YWCA 21 Day Racial Equity Challenge; we have conducted a Race Matters organizational assessment followed up by deeper consultation to develop action plans that will enhance our ability to promote an explicit anti-racist culture and agenda.

We are also committed to walking alongside TE participants and graduates on their journey to build careers and access skills so that their dreams can become reality. We will continue to reach out to elected officials and the wider community to raise up the voices and experiences of TE participants and graduates to inform policy and legislative change.  This is our mission and our passion, shaped by past racial injustice.  We are invigorated to move forward empowered by the change happening around us.