My friend in Atlanta sent me a text one morning about the lack of jobs and money-generating opportunities for Black people in America because of technology and lack of needed workforce training. I think Black women will fair a little better in the changing economy, as the aging population will require job skills many of them already have: nursing assistance and home health aide skills. But I agree that there will be difficulty, as historically we have been last to have access and the first to be ignored and dismissed.
Unfortunately, it is probably the majority of humans in the United States—regardless of race, color and creed—who will feel the effects of a changing economy. The low-end labor will likely be in other countries, in the assembly lines at Alibaba, Amazon and other online retailers. Those workers definitely won’t be here in the USA.
Of course, Black people and poor people are affected socioeconomically in the severest ways! Technology is a tool—we have to look around and identify where it is used, how it is used, and what jobs and educational opportunities it can bring to young people, adults and seniors alike.
I’m worried though that Black people and the poor will be excluded from labor-intensive jobs—like teachers, doctors, farmers, and policemen. In order to get and keep housing, money is definitely needed! Now let us do something to insure housing and the end of homelessness, before we are erased from being employable.
Angie Whitehurst is a vendor and artist for Street Sense Media.
