New Orleans' African American
Community Shouders Too Much of the Burden
"I feel like we
really need a fairer system for bidding on jobs by senority.
People of color deserve a real chance to move into management jobs."
Alfred Gray Jr.
Banquet Waiter
New Orleans
is more African American than most cities-almost two out of every three
residents are black. Few people of color, however have prospered from
the hospitality industry's success. New Orleans' black population is
poorer than in other cities- even other suburban cities. Forty-two percent
of New Orleans' African American population lives in poverty, compared
with 35 percent in Atlanta, 34 percent in Memphis, and 22 percent in
Charlotte.
The hospitality
industry has done little to pull up living standards for African Americans.
A recent study of the U.S. lodging industry by the national NAACP showed
that while many African Americans work in low-paying service occupations,
they are decidedly under-represented among professional, managerial
and supervisory personnel. The study also found that few hotels are
black-owned or even have programs to attract African American franchises
or to do business with black-owned suppliers.
The NAACP's
Hotel Industry Report Card concludes that "the economic reciprocity
relationship between the hotel industry and the African American community
is rated as poor." It's a troubled relationship, which is reflected
in New Orleans. While the vast majority of those cleaning and servicing
the hotels are black, not a single major hotel in New Orleans os black-owned.
This inequality
goes deep into the industry. Although a formal poll has yet to be done,
many workers in the hotel industry point to a pattern of discromination.
Many of the high-paying, visible jobs such as cocktail waitress and
reservations clerk, are held principally by whites. low-paying service
jobs, like housekeeper and kitchen staff, are held mostly by blacks.
One national
food service company, Aramark Corporation, which serves the Convention
Center, actually has gone backwards in terms of equal opportunity
for people of color in the past years. In 1995, the company reported
that 33 percent of its managers at teh Convention Center were minorities;
by 1997 the percentage had fallen to just 14 percent. over the same
period, the percentage of unskilled service positions held by minorities
climbed from 88 percent to 94 percent.
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