Beyond preparing our children individually, we must also learn the art of positioning on the various jobs and in the various positions we hold. Some months ago, Gibbs conducted an interview with Police Chief Joseph Samuels of the Oakland Police Department. In that interview, we asked him about a female Chief of Police. His response was insightful. He said that maybe within 10 years there may be an Oakland Chief of Police who is female, but not within the immediate future because the pool of suitable candidates is too small. Furthermore, he stated that he was doing what he could to broaden that pool. The concept of grooming candidates for such positions is the notion of Positioning.

It is not enough for any Black person to move to the top of his game--whether that is the presidency of a university, the chief of Police, the City Manager, Mayor, or whatever the position--and assume that since he/she has made it to the top that his obligation is over. The conditions of America demand that a Black person sees his/herself moving on to another chair, and others following. And since others will follow and the conditions are as they have been for years, he/she has an obligation to prepare other young Black people to be in the pool of competitors so that the pool is wide enough that their numbers will reach the ranks of consideration, and there they can shine.

For many years, ample quality Black candidates have been available, but they have not been allowed, in great numbers, to reached the consideration stages. But as their numbers become so voluminous that there are no other choices, the sparse pool syndrome will be an argument of the past. And as those Blacks who have reached the top of their game move on to positions that determine who the players are, the pool will be broad enough that the young, gifted Blacks will exploit their preparedness; they will know that they can fairly compete, and they will, in spite of the continual American malady. Then the cycle will repeat itself, and they will move to the seats that were once occupied by others and others will replace them. And there won't be the notion of the first Black this or that, as if that were a badge of honor rather than a distinction of America's shame.

Some years ago, a number of Black teachers and administers and I were sitting to select an Adjunct English Professor for a local community college. We had one Black applicant in that pool of applicants . He was delighted to see black faces on the hiring panel, but he didn't compete for the position. Of course, we had to turn his application back. He simply was unqualified for the position. Wanting to hire a Black does not mean hiring someone unqualified for the position.

We would not hire an unqualified for the position--white or black. The Black teachers of that hiring committee talked about the poverty of the small pool and agreed to invest more time in grooming for a better pool. Our obligation is never to hire unqualified people, that has occurred among whites too long, we need not engage similar destructive and discriminatory processes. If one looks at the staff of BET Holdings and other major Black corporations, one sees the best possible staff available, and they are Black and seriously qualified. There is an obligation to assist in enabling an expanded qualified pool of Blacks to get to the selection stage, and if one does not shine sufficiently, then the expanded pool will be ample enough to allow for another to shine.

The example of professional positioning, or grooming, is clearly seen in Chief Samuels's actions; when he was the Chief of Police in Oakland he groomed many Black police officers to rise to the top. He advanced many good officers to positions they were qualified for, and when Jerry Brown determined that he had to make his political mark, the pool of Black candidates was large enough that the Mayor picked one that Samuels had helped groom.

Samuels's actions were professional positioning. It is an act that others have engaged in for years; now it must be engaged in by African Americans in the light of our present complaint and that complaint's continuity.[]
Frank A. Jones
5.16.05 Republished

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