The reconstruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore harbor, which collapsed when a container ship weighing thousands of tons hit a support, is a high priority for America now, as the commerce flowing through that location is huge.
But a professor emeritus of American studies at Emerson College is insisting that Joe Biden diverge from what could be the fastest track to restoration so that black workers benefit.
It is Roger House in a column at The Hill who is insisting that so far Biden’s comments about construction projects “only remind some black working-class men about their exclusion from the industry.”
So now there is the bridge that “will need to be rebuilt.”
“Biden can use the rebuilding process to champion black labor in the construction industry. If done right, he can incorporate the issue in his efforts to generate enthusiasm among black working-class men broadly. He can use it to demonstrate awareness of how the civil construction industry needs to address a history of excluding black labor,” House wrote.
He accused Biden so far of having “fumbled” opportunities to “crusade for racial reforms” and reform a construction industry that is “60 percent white, 30 percent Hispanic, and 5 percent black.”
He explains the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has uncovered “rampant racial discrimination in the industry” – in “recruitment, apprenticeships and hiring; unequal treatment in training, hours, pay, promotions and layoffs; and many instances of hostile work environments and retaliation for reporting problems such racist graffiti, nooses on job sites, racist slurs, discriminatory union practices and increased danger in assignments.”
He blames the problem right now on contractors who have been using immigrant labor, leaving “black labor … the odd man out.”
A report at Breitbart explained Biden already is calling on his administration to “move heaven and earth” to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge.
But the report said that work could be “complicated” by demands “that the project further leftwing ideas about racial justice, the treatment of immigrants, climate change, and wealth redistribution.”
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