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A Post From An American CEO-Who happens to be Black.


Chairman and CEO of Kaiser Permanente

It’s Time to Revolutionize Race Relations

December 04, 2014

You would think my experience as a top executive would be different from a black man who is working in a retail or food service job to support his family. Yet, he and I both understand the commonality of the black male experience that remains consistent no matter what the economic status or job title.

This post is not to complain about what is, but instead offer hope that we can harness the positive energy from the demonstrations for change and start a new chapter in America based on better understanding of race relations.

As Americans, we must deal with behavior that is unacceptable in today’s global world. The first step in changing negative behavior is to understand the underlying imagery of the black male, which doesn’t represent reality. Whether it’s Michael Brown in Ferguson, Trayvon Martin with his Skittles®, Eric Garner who died after a chokehold, or the 12-year old killed because he was waving a toy gun, when you see a black man killed, the imagery is more complicated than one might think. For example, words used by the white police officer to describe Michael Brown included adjectives such as hulking and demonic — words that bring up images going back to the days of slavery.

If you’re not black, it’s hard to relate to situations as a black man might. So you know I’m speaking from a realistic rather than theoretical standpoint, here are a few personal examples I’ve experienced in the past couple of months:

  • Recently I was shopping in an upscale store and I was being watched and also followed by an overly anxious person. This was not someone trying to be helpful, but someone who was assessing why I was there. Other shoppers did not have “help” following them throughout the store.
  • I have gone to dinner at fine restaurants and had the food server explain the tipping program, since apparently black men don’t understand this concept.
  • Sometimes I observe two or three white customers ahead of me and after me pay by credit card — and I am the only one singled out to provide proof of who I am before I can make my purchase.
  • Most CEOs don’t leave their corporate offices, change clothes, and have car doors locked as they walk by or women move to the other side of the street hugging their purses as they see me out exercising. Even as a CEO, the black male experience is my reality.

Years ago, my father taught me explicitly how to behave myself if ever confronted by a police officer and I experienced being disrespected in my early twenties by someone who was supposed to protect my rights. I hold to this day that the biggest battle within me was the rage at how I was being treated while having to do what my father told me and respond appropriately. If I acted out how I was feeling at the time, I might not be here today.

So where do we go from here? In the Ferguson situation, we need to disregard the small percentage of criminals who are getting publicity for their destruction of property and instead pay attention to the sincere marchers and protestors who are voicing their demands for change. This is our opportunity to focus on improving race relations for the future, especially for young black men and also for those picked up to be deported based on their race. A few ideas have great potential to revolutionize race relations:

  • I endorse the idea that every police officer videotapes interactions as the first major step to protect both individuals and the police officers.
  • We must engage community activists to sit down with police, the government and local businesses to work together in different ways. Over time we will see the current environment of police officers going to white neighborhoods to “protect and resolve issues” and going into black neighborhoods to “combat and control” change to become a culture of police officers being in all neighborhoods to protect and participate.
  • We must collectively support local school and church leaders as they reach out to youth and adults to start a more positive dialogue to make all our neighborhoods safer.
  • We can ask businesses in our communities for their support as we build a greater sense of community, both locally and nationally.

The pursuit of life, liberty and happiness can become a reality for everyone if we eliminate issues standing in the way of improved race relations. I love this country and we’ve made so much progress, but we’re not there yet. With deeper understanding and thoughtful and positive participation, America — and Americans — can live up to our full potential in a country built on diversity of thought, spirit, race and experience.

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Martin Strikes Again


My friend Martin again makes a point that many of  us gat and Congress doesn’t.

Repeal hurts those we know who need healthcare

Abel Oldsworth, my reticent friend, cannot understand the repeated call for repeal of the Affordable Health Care Act.  He says most of us know someone who is out of work, works part time, is a college student, or has disabilities who now can afford a visit to a doctor or a clinic. They do not have to use costlier emergency rooms for their primary care or wait until they have multiple problems before seeking care.  Look at how Medicare and Medicaid coverages have aided the elderly and those going through disastrous accidents and illnesses.  In contrast, many objecting lawmakers have enrolled in premium plans under the Act while shouting their opposition.

Many lawmakers contend that affordable Health Care coverage is regretful

Although saving people’s money and lives might be beneficial.

But it’s those uninsured folks’ defects

Which outweigh the spending effects,

And thus warrant the repeal as providential.

Martin Egelston

Battle Creek Enquirer

November 26, 2014

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Solution


We have a political system that is separated into two major parties (this is also the case in many other countries as well) with several smaller factions without and within those parties. We all have joint and separate beliefs in the political spectrum yet we cannot seem to meet somewhere in the middle without espousing some of the “core” ideals (ideas?) of one of the major parties. It is within our power as voters to reject or accept the premises and doctrines of any political group, PAC or biased media output. With just a little extra reading and listening we can peel back the layers of subterfuge, innuendo and often lies that we are subjected to by these factions and groups. Once the obvious  disingenuousness of their words and actions is out there, we can then begin to vote on a more intelligent level. There will always be the die hard biases we have inherited or been exposed to for so long but even those can be mitigated with education on the real issues. Keep in mind that our politics is more about power and influence than actually doing what’s right for the country as a whole. We will never be in total agreement with our legislators but we did elect them and we can un elect them (term limits). It is in our best interest to understand that politicians are not as honorable as we think they are (or as they would like us to believe they are) they are people like us who have failings and flaws. To really have a democracy that works we need to spend some time in analyzing the campaign rhetoric and campaign slogans that occur each election cycle. Why is it that these campaigns are designed to demean  the opponents, is the opponent so good or bad that they need to be castigated publicly in order to retain or win an office? It is this type of action that has caused the Federal government issues we have now with healthcare, the IRS and other agencies. At no point has the major or minor party factions proposed anything to help the average American, it has always been doing for their “core Constituency”. The main body of American citizens only want good government and we have not had that for the past 20-25 years but we have had the same Congress, WHAT DOES THAT TELL YOU?

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The Collar and Cuffs


Remember when “Blue Collar” meant people who worked in jobs or professions that involved the various trades and factory positions? Most of these workers wore blue shirts of some sort. I observed that many national chain stores require as a dress code Blue tops (shirts of some sort) and either Black or Khaki pants with black or blue shoes. This combination will sometime vary according to the company and or industry. My thought on this was: Blue Collar-has it returned or did it never leave? IBM was one of the most well known companies to have Blue shirts as a standard and TV personalities wear blue shirts since white appears off-color (imagine that) on-screen. This may not be the same now with the higher quality broadcast equipment. Now This:

“Wal-Mart is introducing a new dress code for its employees, but they’re not calling it a uniform. And that’s got some Wal-Mart employees riled up.

The retailer says customers are having a hard time figuring out who works at the store, so it’s put in place a dress code. Employees have to wear black or khaki pants and a blue or white collared shirt.

Judith Conti of the National Employment Law Project, a nonprofit that advocates for low-wage workers, says employees are upset about this because they have to pay for the clothes.

“Wal-Mart employees are among the lowest paid in the entire country,” Conti says. “And Wal-Mart is asking them to buy new clothes to wear at work.”

Wal-Mart didn’t respond to an interview request, but it has said that most of the feedback about the dress code has been positive.

Reuel Schiller, a professor at UC Hastings Law School, said it’s significant that Wal-Mart isn’t calling this a uniform.

“There’s a legal difference between a uniform and a dress code,” says Schiller. If the cost of the uniform will actually pull your wages below minimum wage for the week that you bought it, then under federal law that’s illegal.

Schiller said Wal-Mart skirts the issue — and passes on costs — by going with a dress code.”

Many companies have dress codes and some of these codes have more to do with a professional look rather than an identification of employees. In a very large store (super store if you will) it is hard to identify employees from shoppers but having to pay for uniforms in a low wage situation is ludicrous. The tax laws of the U.S. allow for tax relief if you itemize and have to buy your work garb. Years ago there was case where Liberace was taken to task by the Government because his costumes were deducted as “work wear”. That case excerpted below : In the sixties, the performer Liberace convinced a court that buying rhinestone-studded suits for his act was a legitimate tax deduction. Even if you don’t spend thousands of dollars on your stage outfits, even small career-related deductions can lower your tax bill. Many people do not know what they can deduct items like clothing, union dues and other expenses to reduce their tax bills. One valuable source is the IRS itself, even if you hate them or fear them , they are the best source of information on tax issues. Good and easily understood answers depends on who you talk at the IRS as some are better at explaining in plain language than others. Just a little aside: If you have a tax issue that “suddenly pops up” That pop up may have occurred several years before but the IRS will and has held that back to allow the penalties and interest to build the amount up. The
blue Collar” worker has expanded beyond the factory as many  suit and Tie folks also wear blue Oxford shirts on a daily basis.

Blue collar only means you work for a living somehow! For instance these posts require capital see button below, Thank you.

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The Point is!


The turmoil in the near mid and far East is al bout power. The average person  who would philosophically (religion has nothing to do with it) align with the average American is essentially no different than us in that all they want is good government and the right to work, live and raise their children properly. The  media prominent factions are all about controlling those people based on religious ideologies which are archaic and demeaning. The cutting off of heads , raping of women and killing of anyone in an opposing position or with an opposite view is not the “modern” way. Consider that these radicals are in the business of destruction and chaos now matter what the cost in human lives and dignity. Then we have Russia, China and other outsiders using these pockets of imbalance to get in and take over or take what ever they can under the guise of assistance.  Tha allied Governments (NATO) have just now began to put forth the effort that Troops and aid are required to put down the marauders who operate under a “religious calling” but who are no more than bandits who have kidnapped their way to a position of wealth  allowing them to purchase sophisticated weapons to attack anyone. These other powers who have always been on the fringes are covertly supplying these “rebels” with the fire power they need while overtly espousing no interest or connection to these actions. The point is: No one member of Nato should  be on the frontlines alone in this issue and we (USA) can but should not  take the lead in this. We are already stretched too thin in man power to get solely involved in another skirmish with an enemy who hides in plain sight. The radicals are using the people we  want to protect as shields against retaliatory strikes and support by hiding their operating stations and material in the villages of the average people we are trying to help. My personal opinion is :Nato should be massing forces to deal with these insidious  bandits, if Russia and China are not willing to assist then their lessons will come later. Remember neither Russia or China want a war so they may rhetorically object, complain or object but when the smoke clears they want to be the “good guys”. No one wants any more wars yet these radicals have spent the millions they have garnered from kidnapping , piracy and outright theft to bolster their ability to continue to wage war on anyone they deem an enemy (including their own countrymen). It is  the purpose of the UN to unite in an effort to stop the spread of these madmen. This is no different than the Drug cartels. Against the will of many. there needs to be a reckoning day for these criminals.

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The Middle East


The Middle East is in turmoil again, still and possibly forever. The prime driver of this turmoil appears to religion first and ethnicity (?) second. Looking at the region as a whole: Arabs, Turks, Persians, Balochs, Pashtuns, Lurs, Mandaeans, Tats, Jews, Kurds, Somalis, Assyrians, Egyptian Copts, Armenians, Azeris, Maltese, Circassians, Greeks, Turcomans, Shabaks, Yazidis, Georgians, Roma, Gagauz, Mhallami and Samaritans are all residents of the middle east and the middle east sits right on top of the African Continent and just west of the Eastern Europe (Russia, Ukraine, etc.) Along with these Middle Eastern residents you have influxes of Northern Africa, Coastal Africa and from the South. With all of this confluence of cultures and regional differences and religious sub sects, you might wonder how they manage to live near one another-well they do not do very well. What has occurred over the past 20 to 40 years is the poorest of all of these countries have been exploited by many better off members of their same country but often of another religious sub sect. These variations have allowed the rise of the religious zealots (kind of Hitler like) whose adherents to the older  religious fight  as to whose Islam is it? Is it the Original espoused by the Prophet Mohammed or the one espoused by the followers who split after his death? To really understand  in a short way, these zealots are no more than criminals who as Hitler did incited people to riot, kill and loot in the name of religion (Hitler was just plain Bat Crap Crazy) but do nothing to improve the lives of the people they purport to help. To add fuel to the fire we have the Russians who are essentially a missiles throw from the area and seemingly are on that track, their actions further destabilize the area as they have interest in the area. When you add the Chinese incursion or buying into Africa and a little fingering in the Mid East, its a recipe for a regional war which will surely involve the world in a way that may leave nothing but devastation for years to come. We have here in America a Congress and other pundits who are castigating the President for inaction , poor leadership and waffling but not looking at the big picture and long range implications of jumping in without looking. The volatile mix of people, religions and crazies in the mid east is not a recipe for peace without some group effort at eradicating the “crazy” in the Mideast.

Traditional definition of the Middle East

The following countries are included within the Middle East, which is corresponding to Western Asia, excluding the Caucasus, Greek Cyprus, and the inclusion of Egypt:

The Rich- Bitch!!


Three of the worlds richest men have issued an OP Ed stating the failure of Congress to get any work done. These very wealthy men have differing opinions on politics and probably several other  issues but they all agree we have do nothing Congress that is doing more harm than good to the American people whom they are fond of  issuing edicts in our names without our consent. The Congress is more concerned with staying in office than doing the work required by being in the office. It is of no importance whether you like the President or his party , the issue to be considered and remembered is that he (The President) has acted alone in more cases than possibly any other  in quite some time and it has been an action to keep us out of  wars, better our living standards with minimum wage  increases and insuring we do not keep fighting pointless wars that only drain our resources (human and monetary). The only thing we have to remember is our Congress  is not taking  our needs seriously and is assuming  we will still vote them in  again Lets do something different ! Change Congress!!

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Eric Cantor’s loss is a defeat of a reasonable but able to disagree lawmakers. His loss has put more stress on an already distressed and malfunctioning Congress. We have observed and heard from and about many fringe voting blocs whose interests do not coincide with the majority of Americans yet they have an undue influence on our electorate. We unfortunately, the everyday voter complain about our Congress and all other elected officials but we tend to turn a selective deaf ear to the events that affect us for years down the road. We have largely ignored the role of a Congress that has done little to fix our fiscal and other problems while castigating every President since Eisenhower. We need to ignore the media coverage as much of it is hype, erroneous and particularly biased. Where we need to put our focus is on the lack of real information coming from the Congress. Recently the speaker was overjoyed over a supreme court decision on the President’s appointment during a bogus recess which was applied to keep the President from making appointments. The problem is that this court case which cost taxpayer dollars is just another wasted effort by our Congress as this court decision which was so loudly touted has no effect on the issue that was brought before the court. If we continue to let these 535 want to be kings and queens run this country any way the see fit in our names, we will continue to go downhill at the pace of a landslide. The whole idea of  modern Congress is merely one of control over special and pet projects that only slightly are for the public good. This is food for thought.

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Prisoner Release- More Electioneering.


The recent release of Sgt. Bergdahl for 5 prisoners to the government of Qatar has raised  a rash of statements from many elected officials and the Congress has initiated yet another investigation (as if we did not enough diversions). The Taliban has used the release as a means to get into the news by stating we will capture more Americans for trade. The underlying truth is that the Taliban is not as welcome in the middle east as they would like the world to believe. Many Middle East countries would just as soon not have them. Bear in mind that the negotiations to release Sgt. Bergdahl were done quietly and efficiently by rational people with no political agenda (imagine if it were up to our Congress). The Middle Eastern countries have the responsibility for these former prisoners and it is in their interest to perform this responsibility well. Many of us fail to realize that the punishments in these countries are direct and concise with little debate.  Our Congress is in total election mode at this time and every opportunity will be used to that end rather than doing the work they have been elected to do.

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Assigning Tasks


 

I receive  these missives from the Whitehouse on subjects in the news, most are interesting enough alone but this one gave me a thought about some of the rhetoric that has been put forth for several years. The Dupublicans (especially the representatives of “Coal country” have stated that Mr. Obama will kill jobs in coal country with new standards on carbon pollution. It is possible that carbon pollution control may affect jobs and by extension living conditions and after reading this statement I realized that Coal producers have been eliminating jobs by closing mines and the job itself (mining) has taken many lives due to “Black Lung” disease, cave ins and the explosions that have occurred. It is understood that mining is the lifeblood of many communities but the ability to survive a life of mining and after is sometimes not much of a  life at all. There are programs to retrain mine workers but the Congressional representatives are not making any efforts create alternative means of earning for their constituents. The letter below talks about the EPA position on Carbon pollution.

 

Hi, everyone —

This past Monday, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed national limits on carbon pollution from existing power plants for the first time.

Since then, folks across the country — on editorial boards, in classrooms, on front porches — have been weighing in on why this is so important. And with that in mind, here’s something I want to make clear:

We’re already experiencing the effects of climate change today — but don’t just think about this proposed rule in terms of the country we’re living in right now. Think about the one we and our children are going to be living in by 2030.

Thanks to these limits, that country will have a 30 percent reduction in carbon pollution from the power sector. It will also have 25 percent less smog and soot, meaning children will have an estimated 150,000 fewer asthma attacks each year — and they’ll miss an estimated 180,000 fewer days of school. Americans across the board will have up to 3,300 fewer heart attacks a year.

And now that the rule has been proposed, you can participate in the process.

Right now, we’re accepting comments from the public about the proposed power plant rule.

So if you’ve got something to say, you can submit a public comment here.

And if you want to get some more details about why this is good for the environment and public health — or spread the word about why it’s a big deal — you can take a look at this infographic, and then pass it on.

Right now, we’re in the process of developing the policies that will keep our planet clean and our kids healthy for years to come.

You can participate in that process right now. So if you’ve got a comment, you can make it here.

Thanks,

Administrator Gina McCarthy
Environmental Protection Agency

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