The Column

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Throwing race bait to Boeing: Will company bite?

OK. Boeing recently announced they were going to build a plant here in North Charleston. Probably the biggest economic news since ... well, since I've been here.

Now, state Sen. Robert Ford is playing the race card, making sure Boeing is an equal opportunity employer and all that. From the Post & Courier:

COLUMBIA -- The South Carolina Legislative Black Caucus won't push for unions at Boeing's planned 787 Dreamliner facility in North Charleston, but the state legislators will do all they can to make sure the state's minorities have a fair shot at the new jobs the aeronautics giant will create, Sen. Robert Ford said Monday.

Ford, on behalf of the caucus' 39 legislative members, wrote a letter to Boeing's president Jim McNerney on Oct. 30 to ask for information about the company's hiring practices and its race and gender breakdown ...

Got that?

Now, Boeing is a big company, a highly specialized company. I don't think they really give a rip about what the job applicant looks like. The question is, can this guy do the job? Will he be an asset or liability to the company?

Boeing exercised faith in this area, throwing the dice that the folks here are not just a bunch of backward country boys. I hope McNerney doesn't think everyone else here is as big an idiot as Sen. Ford.




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