Business roundtable; 21 Of 26

The following program is made possible through a grant from nation's business. Business Roundtable a program of current comment from leading members of America's business community. Today John R. Thomas Jr. assistant director of employment practices for General Motors. Attorney with Vista volunteers in service to America. We'll explore the topic business and urban problems with the series host of The Graduate School of Business Administration at Michigan State University. Our topic for discussion on this session of the Business Roundtable business and urban problems is one of today's crucial questions. Not too many years ago people would have said business had no role to play in Urban Affairs. Government alone should handle the

situation. This attitude has drastically changed today. Businesses working cooperatively at all levels with government agencies. Business and business executives and many of our cities are deeply involved in bringing to bear their talents and business expertise on the major domestic problem of our time. The crisis in housing. High minority unemployment rate. Education Welfare. Public help. Police protection. And racial unrest in metropolitan areas. These are all problems that must be solved. If we are to remain a viable society. We have in the Business Roundtable today a business executive and a government official. Both of whom are deeply involved in seeking solutions to these problems in the city of Detroit. The problems that face Detroit

are typical of those found in many other large American cities. Success or failure in solving urban problems. Will have widespread ramifications throughout our society. Solutions must be found. The stakes are much too high for failure. The deterioration of the foundations of our economic and societal structure. Must be avoided. If we are to achieve our goals and aspirations for all citizens. Mr Patani what is being done in Detroit to get at some of these problems. Well as you know Dean last July 23rd Detroit had the worst riot in the United States after the riots Mehra Kavanagh along with Governor Romney asked Joseph Hudson. To put together a committee to try to help to rebuild

Detroit at the same time reach the causes of unrest in the city. The new Detroit committee was put together to help try to meet these ends. The Detroit committee is composed of the chairman of the large industrial concerns such as Ford and General Motors. Chrysler is also composed of labor leaders. It's also composed of a large segment of the community people working with the Archdiocese of Detroit and it's also composed of a number of black not ins. The purpose was to try to get the largest cross-section of people in the community to try to have a dialogue to try to find the solutions to these problems. The tri committee is composed of nine subcommittees working in the areas of education housing employment youth and Recreation community services law and

economic development. Along with these different subcommittees you have what is called the task force Task Forces your general working force is people composed of members of the different corporations involved these people are lent to the new Detroit committee their salaries are paid by their employer. I mean they're working full time for the new Droid committees people are working full time down in the Detroit offices but they're being paid by their corporations. Each of these men are working on particular task force assigned to a subcommittee. Now the each of the members of the committee is then assigned to a subcommittee. For example law. Now these members of the Law Subcommittee have weekly meetings during these meetings they decide particular issues and then they report to the committee the committee and its bi weekly are trying weekly meetings then decide as a body what action should be taken on the on the

particular matters that have been proposed. Thomas do you have anything you'd add to that. Well I think it's interesting that the individuals who make up the the staff of the Detroit that is the task force group or representatives of industry and usually are able to bring their own expertise or background to bear on the various problems that we face in the city. For example an individual who has in his own company a responsibility in the area employment would naturally find his niche on the employment task force. Well that's true in your own case isn't it. This is true. You're heading up the unemployment task force. We prefer to call it the employment task force times or look at it positively. I think as you know Detroit does most of the issues. Let's take one of these kinds of committees. What are the principal committees that we have here. We've got there you said one on

employment. You mentioned one on education one in housing. Are these the principal subcommittee one on law on and so forth. Let's take the one you're heading up here Mr. Thomas. Let's take this one unemployment. What have you been doing. Well I'm sure many of the ghetto residents and in the city of Detroit would get the impression that we're not doing much. But I think to answer this question Dean Seeley we have we have to go back to the original concept of new Detroit. This being that the committee was formed initially to identify some of the problems in the community and then act as a catalyst or a motivator in order to get the existing private and public agencies to step up to their responsibilities and discharge these responsibilities. In the employment task force an employment subcommittee we've been doing just this. We've got a great deal of cooperation on the

part of many of the larger employers in the city of Detroit. We've attempted to encourage them. I say we need Detroit in conjunction with the greater Detroit Detroit board of Commerce and the Michigan Employment Security Commission. We have attempted to induce the various companies to take a close look at their hiring practices. What's been accomplished in this regard have been have any of these companies changed basically their hiring practices. Yes many have. In what respect whereas in the past many of them were prone to give tests as a condition of employment tests which many times were really irrelevant to the requirements of the job. Many of the committee or many of the larger companies at least have done away with these tests. They have considered favorably people who have criminal

records who may may not have considered in the past. They have been able to hire more realistically for the job they're there and they get it where is are the hard core unemployed these are the these primarily young people. I wouldn't say primarily young people I would say that the age group is a broad spectrum from 20 to 45 or 50 years of the greatest unemployment among the colored people yours is really among the teenagers isn't it. Highest rates of unemployment the highest rates of unemployment are actually in the in the 20 to 45 you're 45 age group at least out of the ghetto residents and I think this is of course another big problem another large sector large section of the unemployed is women and this is a difficult problem to look especially in an industrial community like Detroit.

I just don't know you're working on the Law Committee. What what functions are you doing here. Well we have a number of projects right now one of which is the open housing help. A lot has been sad a lot has been talked about as far as the open housing the open housing bill was proposed at a special a special session of the legislature last fall. This particular legislation was defeated by a vote of 55 47. New choice was in the state legislature. That's correct. New Detroit at that time felt that this pending legislation was extremely important not only for Detroit but for the entire state. It. Pushed as hard as it could to get this legislation passed. But it wasn't passed. The legislation is coming up again this this particular session of the legislature again new Detroit feels that the open housing legislation is extremely important but open above open housing I think that there are many other projects that the new Detroit

has been working on as we said before we have the nine task force of which they're working on a process in a six or seven areas which adds up to about 56 particular projects that we're working on. So that we don't want to have the open housing debate overshadow the work of a new Detroit. Are you doing anything in terms of the legal aspects of the low income people. Exactly. I personally I'm working on a proselyte and nine projects right now for the law task force one of which is the legal problems of the poor. What are the particular problems that the poor face and their struggle. What are some of the solutions to these problems and what can you Detroit do about them. Another area that we have too is pushing which is call the land the tenants rights bill. I think probably Morse more important than open housing is the tenants rights. Again it doesn't involve simply the people in Detroit but people both rich

men for both in Detroit and outside Detroit especially today with the growing number of apartments being built tenants don't realize exactly what their rights are until they have a confrontation with their landlord and then they realize that they really don't have as many rights as they would think they should have at this tenants rights bill does it it gives the tenant more rights than he really does have right now other than those who are working on private and you work through some existing organizations with many of those types. Yes we do right in the project that I'm working on as legal aid to the poor. There are a number of Community Legal Services available. There is the Community Legal Council. There is legal aid Defender Association. There's a neighborhood legal services. In other words then you are in a sense helping to coordinate some of these legal activities for the lower income people. A set of existing agencies is one of the problems that a poor person faces is the fact that he really enjoyed doesn't know what his

legal rights are. It's just the simple ignorance and I think that very often what happens is that we can come along and possibly provide them with the information that they need provide them with the information what their rights are and what they try and what their rights are where they can go to get a remedy. And that's what these neighborhood legal services provide. Let's look at another aspect of the urban problem we've frequently been said that there are major metropolitan areas of the country today that you've got some of the real serious problems are in housing and education employment. Some extent in public help. Well let's let's turn to the education one if we might for a few minutes. What's being done by the new Detroit committee here Mr. Thomas in the area of education. Well once again do you know I think it's a matter of attempting to cause an awareness on the part of the community itself and the

officials of the school system by making available to them studies done by school people as well as combined Actually it's a combined group of school people and local citizenry to take a look at some of the problems we have in our city schools which we fully open. Many people feel stem from the fact that the inner city schools don't always get their share of the best teachers. There is some overcrowding I think perhaps this is a bit overrated. I think another matter here is that many of the school systems are put perhaps more and more emphasis on the academic background or academic training. College preparatory training than they do on and occasional education. Therefore if a student graduates from an inner city high school and doesn't go on to college he is in need of additional training to make him qualified to

do many of the jobs that are available what are you doing to correct this. Own folly. A dialogue has been created with the school board. The school administration and I think to another important aspect of this is that there's an attempt now to develop or get get going the community college in the downtown area of Detroit which is accessible to the beer is really going to college and not notice a resident out of such. I would also like to mention something here too that a recent program has been developed with Bell Telephone and also with Chrysler Corporation of adopting particular high schools. I think the cities are high schools in the inner cities and these are high schools and it's that Northwestern High School for example. We just adopted by Chrysler Corporation. I think that possibly with this lead other corporations will adopt other high school. What do you mean by adopting a high school corporation adopting a high school Guess what does this mean for you.

All the concept is basically that one of the corporations will come and sort of check over this high school try to improve this particular high school lend some possibly personnel to try to improve it and also put in possible movement right ways. For example while for example supplying machinery for their shops I think very often we hear the cry that the school needs money and I think this is a perfect example of where they can come in and do something concrete providing them the students with the tools of learning a trade so that the corporations are lending their time their money and their personnel to improving the educational system that we have here in the Senate. Are any of the business exact as Mr. Thomas under this plan taking any part in the teaching or training of these people. Yes Dane in the aspect that an individual from one of the corporations would go into a high school if he was invited of course this is strictly on an approval

basis approval by the principal and the administrators of a school obviously. There is an attempt made by ice by the companies to help prepare these youngsters for the world of work in terms of learning how to dress too. When they go to apply for a job learning how to fill out an application. Speaking a little bit more clearly and in general we're making a good first impression which most employers of course like to see and the businessmen are actually going into the high schools and doing some of this now they are doing this here. Yes special classes are being going to go back a minute to something you said earlier. Mr. Thomas when you were talking about some of the attempts that are being made to find employment for what we have come to call the hard core unemployed people really without any of the modern skills that are needed in much of industry today and people that may not have worked for 10 years or sometimes longer regular work over a period of time.

Are these people who are employable. I read considerable on this subject at different places there seems to be different opinions about can these people if they have been really unemployed 5 10 years get used to working regular hours in a modern factory for example even if it's on a relatively unskilled kind of a job if you come into the come up to some of these kinds of problems. Yes definitely we feel that most of these people are able and willing to work. They need to be given an opportunity and I think this is one of the things that's been denied them for a for a good many years for various reasons. They need some help and they need coaching. They need to be. Given the systems in orienting themselves to the industrial atmosphere or simply to a regular schedule as you mention getting up in the morning what's in that area or any other organization in the Detroit area doing in this regard.

Well I think I'd like to answer that question possibly a proposal has been made that we sort of modify the Dale Carnegie course to go into the ghetto to take a number of say approximately 30 to 40 of these employed people and give them a modified personality development training program. Very often the problem is that we have are that people who lack an inner motivation that you can you can have them hired by one of the corporations. But after a number of weeks or months they decided they don't really care to work on it any longer and they just go back to their old old ways. What I think this discourse could develop into is something when I get an inner motivation that I really truly want to work and I think with the program actually develops as we hope it will. I think it could provide a great stimulus to helping these people get permanent jobs. Yana fire Mr Tony if I may add something here I think it's important. This kind of thing be be done and I think we certainly

intend to push forward on this I think there are some things that are being done. In one respect to for example one of the General Motors plants in town has been working closely with the Urban League to identify hardcore unemployed folks in the area of the plant bring them in. Give them special attention coaches in the community as well as in the Urban League have been identified to help these people be sure they get up in the morning be sure they pay their bills be sure they come to work every day. Little lady really had kind of a pattern this was right and this worked out very well to ours. I didn't realize just a difficult question could you give us any estimate of approximately how many people do you think been employed as a result of these various activities of the different organizations cooperating with the new Detroit committee I've seen different figure different places on this. But sir just a rough estimate of the number of what we call the hard core unemployed that have been now have work.

This is a very difficult question to answer but I think we can pretty safely say that somewhere between eight and ten thousand hard core unemployed have been hired in the city of Detroit since August of 1066 it seems to me like a very significant figure. It's a large number of people but we still have a long way to go. Well let's look at another facet of this problem. Housing has been an urban problem. That's been developing over quite a period of time this isn't new because of the developments of our great metropolitan areas we've had the outflow of many of the upper middle class and middle income classes moving out to the suburbs and many cities it's been a pattern throughout the United States in the inner cities in some cases somewhat decaying going downhill as this is happening the housing and to please the minority groups have moved in this case. Large numbers of colored people from the south. The housing bubble has become quite acute.

What's been happening in the housing areas. Well first of all I'd like to point out that I I share your concern and I think that most fair the members of the committee do in that housing itself is probably one of the most critical areas that we face today in the inner city. We have the problem of the city the buildings themselves the caning that the people are making an exodus to other areas and so on. What the Detroit community is trying to do is to rebuild or in some areas to sort of refurnish some of these homes in an area where the home is good enough to redo that they keep the basic shell and really modernize it and then how are they doing this who's doing this. Well there are a number of organizations in Detroit is working with one of them and the CDA which is the metropolitan the tri Community Development Association this group is working to

in an area called Elmwood 2 which is down on. Toward the inner city of Detroit they're building a low cost housing project down there. They are clearing the land and at the same time rebuilding not only low income but also moderate income and one of the points I think is extremely important with this particular project is that the community in which it's being built in Elmwood has been consulted that they have worked along with NBC day and planning these structures and finding out exactly what the people in this particular area want. It's called the Ralph Bunche Association which has worked very very well with with the new Detroit committee and they're going into these areas and asking the people living there like they would like kind of housing they would like and what I would like. Exactly and also one of the biggest problems I think today in any type of urban renewal proben project is the area of relocation and very often you know urban renewal means negro removal people are

removed from a particular area and that nothing is done to relocate them. While the housing is going on. Exactly and now this is one of the problems I think that has been met squarely by new Detroit because they really what they have done has given the people in this particular area. And I'm with to their priority of moving into this new projects when the project is done the people who were who were moved out because of it have the right to come in and choose the first housing which I think is extremely poor housing of course is a pretty long range problem isn't it. This is going to probably be one of your most difficult problems and it was Thomas. It certainly is I think it's estimated now deemed silly that there are about 100000 substandard dwellings in the city of Detroit. The cost to bring many of these dwellings up to standard or demolished and build new ones would be estimated anywhere from well probably upwards of a quarter of a billion dollars over the next 10 years.

Is this economic building or is this got to be subsidized someplace. There's no doubt that it has to be subsidized to some extent. Whenever you attempt to build a housing unit which can be. Had by an individual for somewhere about near or near $80 a month. This doesn't mean of course that it has to be substandard housing but at least it means it has to be subsidized or. Or the mortgage has to be extended over a very long period of time and there are various various aspects of financing being worked on right now. I take it from what you said that you think that all of the hard core unemployment is a difficult problem you've made considerable progress on this and that you recognize that education is also a long range problem but things are moving in this thing they are moving slowly and in education. But that housing is one that's even going to be a longer range problem and getting the modern minimum kind of housing in the inner city that's needed for many also we also have a number of programs trying to

hit just one more recent thing. Youth recreation and cultural activity Committee this is working on programs to try to reach the younger people. I think this is extremely important. I think that they are setting up a series of programs for the summer for the late spring to close up different streets for block parties for shows to bring culture and into the somewhat deprived areas and different amusements different exactly. I think that very often any of the problem programs that have been developed. I think the younger adult The teenager has often been neglected I think this is one area that I think that new Detroit has recognized I think one area where they're really moving forward and that's what might add one thing. Dana I think Mr. Tony's point is well taken. I think too that it's been our experience in dealing with the young people that they think recreation and cultural development is great and they want more of this but they also want jobs. And we're working on this also for the summer in

cooperation with the vice president of program looking at the future. What do you think needs to be done now for the new dry Committee. You made certain progress since the riots last summer. Your community is awakened to the needs I think the preps that wasn't really awakened to the farther you are getting cooperation of many groups. What do you see as the next programmer in what you're going to do is going to be more of the same. It'll be more of the same Dean and I think in addition to this there is there is a great degree of awareness. You're right about this. However there needs to be more. We feel that a communications effort to educate the suburban community dwellers is one of the aspects that we have to spend a lot of time on during the coming months in a course in addition to doing more of the same. Mr. Thomasson Mr. Doni thank you very much for being on the Business Roundtable. I think we've got a most interesting discussion. The

problem is of a large metropolitan city faced with different kinds of urban problems today and one possible approach to this of awakening the civic leaders to the problems. Thank you. Dissipating in today's business roundtable where John R. Thomas Jr. assistant director of employment practices for General Motors and M John Patel any attorney with Vista volunteers in service to America. Almost by the program was Alfred L. Seeley of the Graduate School of Business Administration at Michigan State University. This program was produced by the Graduate School of Business Administration and the Broadcasting Services of Michigan State University under a grant from nation's business a

publication of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. Business Roundtable is distributed through the facilities of national educational radio. This is an E.R. the national educational radio network.