Jobless yesterday, today, but not tomorrow!

By Nancy Quarles

“I Have A Dream” is probably one of the most famous phrases in today’s society. Everyone from the very young to the very old can tell you where this phrase commenced. 

However, not everyone who knows where this phrase originated can tell you what the speech or the March on Washington was drawing to its attention. The big issues were protecting the right to vote, unemployment and employment discrimination. A few of the issues discussed at the 50th Anniversary March, today, August 28, 2013, are voting rights, inequality and injustice relating to jobs.  Fifty years later, our nation grapples with the same issues that are almost identical. The national unemployment rate was 5.6% when the march took place in 1963. Fifty years later, in 2013, the unemployment rate is 7.8%—2.2% higher!  Although, the labor force, the recession and the economy play a role in the lack of employment; we as individuals can do something to help.

How? We can offer to start an employment training program at local community centers or churches. The people who are of the Baby Boomer generation that are capable and more experienced can help the younger generations by mentoring them.  Most of all, we can encourage the unemployed and underemployed not to give up which is very important.  I salute how far we’ve come and so many great victories for economic justice and civil rights have been won in the decades since the March on Washington. Of course, there is still much work to be done. In 2013, the economic gap between the haves and have nots still persist.  As I reflect on this historic event, I know that if we remember and believe that everyone plays a part, then the decline in unemployment and struggle over voting rights will be more immediate and that part of the dream can be realized.
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Nancy Quarles is an Oakland County commission who represents the communities of Lathrup Village, Oak Park, and Southfield in District #17.