ReMARCs: Getting Down to Business

By Marc Morial

President & CEO, National Urban League

As I’ve been making the rounds discussing the findings of our 2014 State of Black America – One Nation Underemployed: Jobs Rebuild America report, many people have asked me about solutions to the challenge that we have identified as the “Great Divide.”

In the areas of income inequality, living wages and job creation, I consistently point to immediate actions that can be taken including an increase in the minimum wage with an index to inflation, as well as the need for Congress to pass a transportation infrastructure bill.  In 2010, the National Urban League established as one of our four strategic goals that we would work to ensure that “Every American has access to jobs with a living wage and good benefits.”  We believed then, as we do now, that earning a living wage should not be a luxury in America.  Congress can act, and so can you.

During our State of Black America release event at the National Press Club last week, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx delivered remarks and spoke about the importance of rebuilding America’s infrastructure as one of the fastest and best ways to create good jobs.  It’s what keeps our nation moving – our roads and rails, ports and airports, our bridges and power grids.  We must do what we can to remain attractive to business, and we have competition.  For example, as a percentage of GDP, China and Germany are spending about twice what we’re spending in order to build infrastructure.  Repairing bridges and highways, building new transit systems and creating smarter transportation systems would support millions of jobs nationwide, keep us competitive and is something we can act on now.

Lastly, I continue to emphasize the critical need for partnership to make any significant impact on the problems our nation faces.  That means partnerships across the public-private-nonprofit sectors, such as our Jobs Rebuild America initiative; across federal, state and local government to address the local dynamics beneath the national trends; and between organizations and leaders who share the common goals of equity, equality and empowerment in America, such as our 21st Century Agenda for Jobs and Freedom developed and signed by a coalition of almost 60 civil rights, social justice, business and community leaders.

We know the magnitude of the issues that threaten our nation’s future, growth and sustained economic recovery.  We also know what needs to be done.  Let’s get down to business.