baltimore. persistent opportunity gaps we need to address. again, we have to bottom out to get action? what s the action? well, there are a number of things that i think need to be done. first of all, the overincarceration that you ve talked about on this show so compellingly, you see it in baltimore city. in 1950 two out of three young black men were in the workforce. today it s one out of three black men are in the workforce. the incarceration challenges there are so many people who lack a roll model and a bread earner in their family. and so we spend a lot of time talking about how do we help people who are coming out of prisons to get those skills and jobs to compete. we spoke a lot about how do we address the need for access to education. both in the middle schools and
we have used it at the department of justice very successfully over the years to change culture in los angeles, to address issues in portland, oregon, involving use of force against people with mental health issues, seattle, new orleans. a number of other cities. it can be a very effective tool. when you have cooperation from a city and from a department, it makes it that much more easy to do and i met with the mayor today on the issues that we re working on at the department of labor involving the opportunity gaps and the need to provide access to better job opportunities and educationalle opportunities. she has been nothing but cooperative. she, to my understanding, has certainly been working closely with the department of justice, because, you know, communities
change culture in los angeles, to address issues in portland, oregon, involving use of force against people with mental health issues, seattle, new orleans. a number of other cities. it can be a very effective tool. when you have cooperation from a city and from a department, it makes it that much more easy to do. and i met with the mayor today on the issues that we re working on at the department of labor involving the opportunity gaps and the need to provide access to better job opportunity and educational opportunities. she has been nothing but cooperative. she, to my understanding, has certainly been working closely with the department of justice, because, you know, communities work best when you have effective law enforcement agencies and when you have access to opportunities. zip code should never determine
baltimore unmuch deeper than simply the challenges involving policing. there are persistent opportunity gaps. i think government is at its best when it s a good listener. government is at its best when we take federal resources but then leverage them with philanthropy, with business resources and then go into communities and find solutions that work for baltimore. and what i learned yesterday is that children young people there, they want a good job. they want access to opportunity. i met a young woman who she is late for school a lot in the morning because there is a shooting in her neighborhood so she doesn t sleep well. met another student who he wants more challenge in his school. other people who smpgly want lysimply want the skills to compete for today s jobs. i have a lot of optimism. i worked in baltimore for ten years. i know the communities there. we need a new normal in
out, president obama today stated the problem but totally avoid the solution. the opportunity gaps begin early often at birth and then compound over time becoming harder and harder to bridge making too many young men and women figure how hard they try they may never achieve their dreams. then give them a road map to dream achievement mr. president which you have done to your credit with the my brother s keeper s program. what you have not done is spotlighted the total failure of money politics. it is the the behavior of individual human beings not big daddy government that leads to success and touting that message is free of charge i mean, this is just brutal. poor americans trapped in the ghetto have a right to be furious. but their anger should be