THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 28, 1995 TAG: 9504260112
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Ida Kay's Portsmouth
SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan
LENGTH: Long : 154 lines
I'm writing this column to get Janet McDaniel out of hot water.
A Portsmouth firefighter who gives her own time to help recruit for the department, McDaniel has been subjected to hate and criticism since she spoke up a couple weeks ago about young people's attitudes toward public jobs.
More than a few young people have asked her why they should take a job paying $20,000 or $22,000 a year, she said. They want more money.
``I'm talking about all minorities,'' McDaniel told me Monday.
Coincidentally, on the same night she spoke to City Council about the need for better recruiting materials, members of the NAACP also spoke to urge the city to hire more black people.
The juxtaposition of the comments prompted me to write a column saying that the NAACP needs to do more than talk. Its members need to help young people understand that everybody has to start somewhere. Even with college degrees, most of us start somewhere in jobs that pay only $20,000 or even less. Occasionally, when one is in a field of work where workers are in short supply, one can demand and get more than the starting salary. Smart ones rise quickly to bring home bigger pay checks.
Fire and police jobs do not require college degrees. In fact, a person can apply with a GED certificate. The firefighters' schedule, which requires 10 or 11 days a month, will enable a high school graduate to continue going to school or to start a business on the side.
McDaniel said she tries to emphasize ``positive points'' about the jobs, including the health benefits as well as time to go to school.
As one of two women in the Portsmouth Fire Department, McDaniel said she also would like to recruit more women.
In addition, she said, all other minorities are under-represented in departments traditionally dominated by white males.
In Portsmouth, the Fire Department has one Hispanic and one Asian, McDaniel said.
``There are no Native Americans in the department,'' she added.
McDaniel's concern goes beyond Afro-Americans, although she very much would like to see more black men and women in the jobs.
``This is a community problem, not a black problem,'' she said. However, in Portsmouth the public emphasis frequently falls on black youth and the NAACP made its plea on their behalf.
Regardless of who thinks what, the fact is that we have to raise up young people to respect work and solid jobs. That's the backbone of Portsmouth life. Over the years, police and fire employees have been extremely valuable and respected members of this community. They have led good lives, owned homes and generally retired in good shape, financially and physically, at a relatively young age.
By and large, the police and fire jobs are some of the most secure jobs available anywhere. Unless a person breaks the law or fails to abide by requirements for the service jobs, chances are a person can make a career of the job.
Now I'm sure many people will disagree with me. They will say the pay is not high enough or the retirement is too low. They will say the risk is too great or the requirements too high.
But people who work for newspapers say that. People who work in shipyards and automobile service departments say that. All of us think the grass is greener somewhere else.
That generally is not true, certainly not in the crazy times of 1995.
More often than we like to think, people without specialized graduate degrees or without some really unusual skills find themselves taking temporary or part-time jobs to survive. People who work in personnel departments often mention with amazement the numbers of qualified applicants they have for a single job.
Yet, Portsmouth does not seem to have great numbers of qualified minorities applying for police and fire jobs. They have to send people like McDaniel out to the schools to recruit.
I agree with McDaniel, it's time women and minorities took advantage of the jobs that are available - thanks to the efforts of groups such as the NAACP over the years.
I was absolutely shocked at the negative mail and comments McDaniel received after a story and my column in the newspaper. That hate stuff doesn't do anybody any good. Most of all it doesn't encourage young people to do anything constructive when they hear adults tearing down whatever comes along.
McDaniel spoke honestly and fairly to City Council. I hope that by enlarging here on her comments, I have taken some heat off.
I'm writing this column to get Janet McDaniel out of hot water.
A Portsmouth firefighter who gives her own time to help recruit for the department, McDaniel has been subjected to hate and criticism since she spoke up a couple of weeks ago about young people's attitudes toward public jobs.
More than a few young people have asked her why they should take a job paying $20,000 or $22,000 a year, she said. They want more money.
``I'm talking about all minorities,'' McDaniel told me Monday.
Coincidentally, on the same night she spoke to City Council about the need for better recruiting materials, members of the NAACP also spoke to urge the city to hire more black people.
The juxtaposition of the comments prompted me to write a column saying that the NAACP needs to do more than talk. Its members need to help young people understand that everybody has to start somewhere. Even with college degrees, most of us start somewhere in jobs that pay only $20,000 or even less. Occasionally, when one is in a field of work where workers are in short supply, one can demand and get more than the starting salary. Smart ones rise quickly to bring home bigger pay checks.
Fire and police jobs do not require college degrees. In fact, a person can apply with a GED certificate. The firefighters' schedule, which requires 10 or 11 days a month, will enable a high school graduate to continue going to school or to start a business on the side.
McDaniel said she tries to emphasize ``positive points'' about the jobs, including the health benefits as well as time to go to school.
As one of two women in the Portsmouth Fire Department, McDaniel said she also would like to recruit more women.
In addition, she said, all other minorities are under-represented in departments traditionally dominated by white males.
In Portsmouth, the Fire Department has one Hispanic and one Asian, McDaniel said.
``There are no Native Americans in the department,'' she added.
McDaniel's concern goes beyond African Americans, although she very much would like to see more black men and women in the jobs.
``This is a community problem, not a black problem,'' she said. However, in Portsmouth the public emphasis frequently falls on black youth and the NAACP made its plea on their behalf.
Regardless of who thinks what, the fact is that we have to raise up young people to respect work and solid jobs. That's the backbone of Portsmouth life. Over the years, police and fire employees have been extremely valuable and respected members of this community. They have led good lives, owned homes and generally retired in good shape, financially and physically, at a relatively young age.
By and large, the police and fire jobs are some of the most secure jobs available anywhere. Unless a person breaks the law or fails to abide by requirements for the service jobs, chances are a person can make a career of the job.
Now I'm sure many people will disagree with me. They will say the pay is not high enough or the retirement is too low. They will say the risk is too great or the requirements too high.
But people who work for newspapers say that. People who work in shipyards and automobile service departments say that. All of us think the grass is greener somewhere else.
That generally is not true, certainly not in the crazy times of 1995.
More often than we like to think, people without specialized graduate degrees or without some really unusual skills find themselves taking temporary or part-time jobs to survive. People who work in personnel departments often mention with amazement the numbers of qualified applicants they have for a single job.
Yet, Portsmouth does not seem to have great numbers of qualified minorities applying for police and fire jobs. They have to send people like McDaniel out to the schools to recruit.
I agree with McDaniel, it's time women and minorities took advantage of the jobs that are available - thanks to the efforts of groups such as the NAACP over the years.
I was absolutely shocked at the negative mail and comments McDaniel received after a story and my column in the newspaper. That hate stuff doesn't do anybody any good. Most of all it doesn't encourage young people to do anything constructive when they hear adults tearing down whatever comes along.
McDaniel spoke honestly and fairly to City Council. I hope that by enlarging here on her comments, I have taken some heat off. by CNB