MANSFIELD: Will Anyone Benefit From Community Benefits?

By Mansfield Frazier

Nothing is more irksome to black folks than to drive past a construction project in our own (and downtown) neighborhoods and see virtually nothing but whites working while black men can be seen standing on street corners idling. This is “in-your-face” racism at its absolute worse, and it’s been going on so long hereabouts some folks think these exclusionary practices are the way things are supposed to be.

A recent “Sketchbook” feature in the Plain Dealer showed a drawing of six or seven steelworkers completing the I-90 Bridge; all of them were white, albeit one was a woman. I complained to the folks at the PD about the lack of diversity in the imagery but got no response.

That’s why the community benefits agreement Mayor Jackson’s administration negotiated with “ten of the region’s largest corporations and public agencies” — which, if properly and effectively implemented, would finally bring a halt to the exclusion of minorities and women and would increase the percentage of homegrown workers on area construction projects — is such welcome news.

But the “if” in the previous sentence is humungous. The devil is always in the details, and if history is any indicator, putting fair training and hiring initiatives into practice could prove challenging at best … and an empty, cruel chimera at worst.

The problem of course is that fair hiring policies implemented at the top by CEOs (who obviously see the benefit of such inclusion) might not always be carried out by lower-level managers nor accepted by the rank-and-file union members. Indeed such efforts might be subverted at every turn by those still bent on preserving white privilege. Simply putting ink to paper at a signing ceremony will not change the mindset of those who sincerely believe these good paying jobs should only go to white males. Assuring compliance will prove challenging. And assuring accountability is where the best of intentions often fall apart … but that doesn’t have to happen.

Numerous past efforts — there seemingly is one launched with much fanfare every decade — at bringing racially exclusionary practices in the construction industry in Cuyahoga County to an end have all failed … most of them miserably. That’s the reason and necessity of this new pact that was recently negotiated … to once again make “good faith” efforts work. However, we need to be mindful of the fact “trust us to do the right thing” has not worked in the past.

I know whereof I speak. Back in 1970 I was one of the first minorities hired to work as a union pipefitter under the auspices of civil rights initiative. I didn’t go in as an apprentice; I was a seasoned journeyman with eight years experience working for the Illuminating Co. as a certified pipe welder. The crews I learned my craft with handled the big stuff, the 16-inch steam mains that run under downtown Cleveland. The union pipefitters, on the other hand, tied into the steam main system with smaller, six to eight inch pipes that carried steam to the buildings under construction. That was the easy stuff.

So the union workers could not come up with the bullshit excuse that I wasn’t qualified to do the work — so instead they attempted to run me off the job … or kill me. No, I’m not joking.

When a 20-pound, eight-inch steel elbow is dropped at your head from ten stories up on a construction site it makes a whizzing noise as it passes your ears. Instead of hearing the customary “WATCH OUT BELOW!” yelled, I heard anonymous laughter from where the deadly steel missile had been dropped. If it had hit my head (believe me, a hardhat would offer scant protection from an object of that weight) instead of landing less than six inches away, I would not be sitting here writing this.

When the third piece of steel in as many days was “accidentally” dropped at my head, I approached the foreman and raised the issue. Turning on his heels he said, “You knew this was dangerous work when you signed on Frazier, quit complaining.” When it happened yet a fourth time the next week I went to the safetyman and the construction superintendent. Their attitude was, “What are you, some kind of shit disturber? This is the second time you’ve complained about this. What do you want us to do?”

These racist bastards were attempting to run me off the job … or kill me if I wouldn’t quit, but in their minds I was the one at fault for being a whiner and complainer. I stuck it out for two weeks, and, while I believed in fighting the good fight for an integrated workforce … I wasn’t willing to become some kind of accident statistic … a martyr for the cause. Yes, I quit; they won, and over 40 years later I’m still pissed about it. It would be over 30 years before I ever worked at a legitimate job again. Taking up the craft of counterfeiting credit cards seemed a lot less dangerous to me.

But the point is, even if the bosses on the job would have stood up for me and said attempted murder was wrong, would it have done any good? Would the racist union members have said, “OK, we’ll stop trying to kill the black dude?” No, they would not have ceased unless there was some penalty for their behavior. Fairness oftentimes has to be rigidly enforced.

Certainly things have changed somewhat since 1970, but driving past construction sites today prove they haven’t really changed all that much. And as previously stated, the fact that a new work-force pact was recently signed to address the ongoing inequalities is proof such conditions still exist today.

A black and Hispanic contractor’s group have been fighting these issues for years, and the powers that be around the region have marginalized their organizations as being run by a couple of crazies … which, to some extent, may be true: Facing untrammeled racism on a day-in-and-day-out basis when you’re simply attempting to earn an honest living can drive the most otherwise civil and mild-mannered folk stark-raving mad. Totally, frothing at the mouth ziggity-boo.

The Center for Economic Equality has come up with a list of suggestions that would help to ameliorate the problems, and they should be given serious consideration. But, they won’t be; instead, those in power most likely will elect to simply continue to shoot the messenger because his name is Norm Edwards.

If this new effort falters (and I sincerely pray that it doesn’t), the real solution should then rest with City Hall. When Maynard Jackson was mayor of Atlanta and was faced with a similar situation (although the unions down there were not as intractable, nor, surprisingly, not as racist), he called the major contractors into his office and said that if the exclusionary practices didn’t come to an end, the city simply would not sign-off on any new construction … no building permits would be issued. If everyone couldn’t have a fair shot at working, then no one would work. Period.

And guess what? His tactic worked, and so too did black folks finally get their fair share of the work … and this was down in the Deep South.

Dan Gilbert, when building his Horseshoe Casino, proved that he could insist on fair hiring practices during construction and still turn out a great project. The ten signers of the community benefits agreement can accomplish an identical outcome … the question is, will they? Or, more succinctly, do they have the same amount of courage that Gilbert possesses? Will they lay down the law to the unions and contractors by firmly saying “no more of this bullshit”?

All black construction workers want to do is to feed their families, just like the white workers are feeding theirs.

From Cool Cleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available again in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author by visiting http://NeighborhoodSolutionsInc.com.

 

 

 

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