Posted on 05/15/2011 7:46:45 AM PDT by Second Amendment First
Lorenzo had a hard time concealing his nervousness. Standing in front of a large room packed with Boeing employees in late March, the tall, lanky African American gang member described the arc of his life. At 22, he had spent nearly a third of his life incarcerated.
Peering out of his round, black-rimmed glasses, he talked about his seven months at Homeboy Industries (the largest gang reentry program in the country), and about how he had moved quickly from the janitorial team to become an assistant in the accounting department. "I used to steal money," he said. "Now I'm counting it."
I had the honor of witnessing Lorenzo's seven-month journey from convict to accounting assistant, watching as he became the young man God had in mind when he made him. But despite his remarkable turnaround and the many things he had to offer an employer, Lorenzo's prospects for finding a job outside our program were dim.
Opportunities for second chances are few for people like Lorenzo. Homeboy Industries is about the only game in town. Most employers just aren't willing to look beyond the dumbest or worst thing someone has done.
Another "homie" recently came to me for help after, for the third time, he was let go from a job because his employer had discovered he'd done five years in prison. He told me the boss said, "You're one of our best workers, but we have to let you go." Then, with a desperate sadness, the young man added: "Damn, G. No one told me I'd be getting a life sentence of no work."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
None, zero, zip.
The bar is higher for ex-cons, I must be convinced they have truly seen the light.
That, and there is a huge difference between making a single mistake in a fit of passion or moment of stupidity and making a conscious ongoing decision to be a career bad boy or bad girl.
So far no gang-banger has made my cut. Still, I'm open to the possibility...
“Real Front Office material there. “
That was hilarious!
On the contrary, I do believe in redemption, and have seen it numerous times. However, it is not usually successful when the bangers still hang in the same hood and same clubs with the same associates. Vetvetdoug in post #15 had a good suggestion.
Having a rap sheet and wanting to turn your life around is a noble idea. I believe in second chances in life, but expecting that you’ll be able to retain a secure, good-paying position when you have a laundry list of felonious arrests and incarcerations, is like expecting to purchase a home or get a loan after declaring bankruptcy. After a sordid past, a person must proove themselves, little by little. They must truly work themselves up from the mailroom, or from sweeping floors. Those are the consequences for making bad choices in life.
“Then, with a desperate sadness, the young man added: “Damn, G. No one told me I’d be getting a life sentence of no work.””
That’s what your daddy should have been telling you. Was there a daddy?
I actually do sort of cry a river over young men like this. Their futures are bleak.
They are the product, generally, of a very weak to nonexistent family structure.
Exactly, the bar is higher. Employment applications usually ask about arrests and convictions, and related details if applicable. Every case is different. I’m not going to hire someone convicted of rape to supervise a mostly female night shift. And certainly not someone at all who has committed a violent crime over some petty incident. Let alone repeat offenders.
They were told by the gang that they would be “gangstas” for life. They got what they bargained for. Let them turn their life around by turning their “homies” around. They can open their own businesses and work for their own kind. I have no use for them in my world.
What a load of liberal bovine excrement.
Looking beyond a person's past doesn't mean it is prudent to disregard their personal history, both good and bad.
If you are in a position to hire employees for a large company or a small enterprise, just ask yourself one question before making that final decision.
"If I was hiring someone to work for me, someone I could trust working with my own family at my own small, struggling business, someone to trust with my own products, money, reputation, and chance to succeed, would I hire this person?"
It doesn’t necessarily mean someone doesn’t believe in redemption.
A business owner or manager has an obligation to his customers and the other employees.
Recidivism is high in ex-cons.
Particularly if they have violent tendencies, would you want a customer or a law abiding employee hurt or killed because you ‘believe in redemption?’
Would you like your business robbed blind?
It’s not a guarantee that an ex-con will take part in the above; but it is a lot more likely that he will than your average college grad with a clean record.
There is a man on my block who had one felony (don’t know what for) at age 18. He is in his 30s now, married, kids. He’s been looking for work for almost two years. If I had work, I’d hire him. But I have gotten to know him and his family fairly well over the last few years.
To just hire an ex-violent offender in the hope of ‘redeeming’ him without knowing him at all, exposing my customers and other employees to that? I don’t think I would. Only if it’s a position where somehow he can’t do harm.
Oh, I almost forgot. This is "Obama's America" and "Holder's People"...
Self sufficiency? American ingenuity? Self reliance?
"Homey don' play dat..."
That being said, the guy can start a net-based business or something. That is, if the regime wouldn't instantly put him on the "destroy" list for escaping the democrat plantation.
At some point we decided that we would tolerate the existence of gangs, it has come to the point where we must decide not to tolerate them anymore.
Maybe accounts receivable?
The first step would be to no longer associate with your old gang clique, move out of the city, and work far away from your old life.
The kind of jobs that ex-cons would be suited for, are currently done by illegal aliens. Our first step as a country needs to be to expel the illegals. The second step should be to abolish the minimum wage for felons. The reason that employers hire illegals is that they're willing to hard and cheaply. An employer who is willing to not ask about an employee's immigration status should also not care about felon status, if the employee is willing to work cheaply.
After ten years of no further trouble, the ex-felon should be allowed to petition for sealing their records from employer inquiries.
Not to change the subject, but this is the reason I would never have supported Huckabee. His belief in redemption of violent criminals cost a handful of people their lives.
We shouldn’t tolerate the existence of gangs. The general intent was that by allowing gangs to form, it would be controllable.
However, though we shouldn’t tolerate gangs, we need to bring ex-members back into society and help them lead a normal life, or you are not going to solve this.
No need to cry you a river. If a person that wants to work finds no job, eventually he will do what it takes to survive. A former felon already knows what to do.
So once they get out they need to be re-integrated or else...
An anecdotal example, I admit. There are likely anecdotes that show an ex-con can live a peaceful and productive life after release. But those that murder again exact a heavy toll, for those they kill and their families, and it gives you pause.
So are you saying that, in a time of high unemployment, those convicted of violent crimes should get preference because if they don’t they will act violently?
I agree with you totally!!! Best to be upfront.
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