A production of the South Carolina Educational Television Network.

♪ Adrian Hayes> Today on the Job Man Caravan we'll talk with a young man who gets a firsthand look at how state government is run.

Bill Terrell> Also, South Carolinians will speak out on the importance of Black History Month.

In addition, we will discuss efforts being made statewide to help improve Affirmative Action programs within state government agencies.

Bill> And, our entertainment comes from Chaka Khan and Kool and the Gang.

Adrian Hayes> We're glad you could join us this week on the Job Man Caravan.

I'm Adrian Hayes.

Bill> And I'm Bill Terrell.

Over the years, there have been various observances of Black achievement and culture.

However, the most consistent events occurred during the month of February.

It is during this time a degree of official recognition of contributions, both past and present of Black man and women received praise through song, dance and drama.

Adrian> And, you know, Bill, these pieces of pottery that we see here are good examples of what the Black artist can do.

First up on the Job Man Caravan, we're going to talk with a group of South Carolinians who explain what Black History Month means to them.

>> I think a Black History Month is extremely significant because of the importance that it has on personal pride as being, you know, a Black America here, you know, to reflect on the accomplishments that we've had in the past and where we're at now.

Where are we going in the future?

>> Yes, it's very significant to myself because in emphasizing the positive outlook on Blacks in our society, and it reaffirms that commitment to Blacks in society, to our children, because they need a positive force in their lives to guide them in bettering America to a better future.

>> It makes me feel very important.

Very much so because of the fact that I'm able to go through and my brothers and sisters are able to go through college and all my friends, and we don't feel any less than anyone else now.

Black History Month just gives us a chance to reflect and to realize how how much we've got compared to our ancestors >> ...were like, give me the chance to know all the famous Black people, such as like James Weldon Johnson and, Martin Luther King and, so on and so on.

And how they helped on the Black race achieved through the hard struggle times.

>> It's significant to me because I believe that in our society we have celebrations for for different events and for Black people in this country to have made, the achievements that they have made.

I think there should be a time set aside to celebrate that and going along with our societal training.

I think this is all appropriate that we should celebrate during this month.

♪ (indiscernible conversations) Well, Ms. Understudy, a little later aren't we?

The girls in love.

(knocking) >> Come in.

(indiscernible conversations) Thank you, Stephen.

Nothing's too good for the star of a... Stevens musical.

Too much, too late last night, they had no idea why.

And it was...you can... little minx, too, See you later, doll face.

Break a leg.

Hi, Minnie.

I made some of those brownies that you liked.

So wicked.

I'm watching my waistline.

Tonight.

♪ Aggghhh!

Something's broken.

I know it is.

Something's broken.

♪ >> You have to go on, kid.

Think you can do it?

>> Of course she can do it (Chaka Khan: "This Is My Night") ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (applause) Adrian> Equal representation in South Carolina government positions has been a long sought after goal.

The state Human Affairs Commission and local civil rights groups has been concerned about inadequate representation, particularly among Black men and women.

>> The Job Man Caravan spoke with the commissioner of the State Human Affairs Commission, as well as a spokesman for the state NAACP.

He explains that affirmative action is a long, slow, yet necessary process.

>> The fact of the matter is, it ain't going to be easy, and it's not going to come overnight.

In fact, all that I work for today will not occur in my lifetime.

I suspect the real beneficiaries of what we're doing today are going to be our grandchildren.

Adrian> Despite that distinct possibility, every effort is being made now by supporters of South Carolina's affirmative action law to ensure a fair and equal representation of Blacks and women throughout state government.

The consensus is it will be a tough problem to correct, but that it can be accomplished.

Clyburn> I think, that, what is cause much of the problem in the past has been agencies just like mine, the Human Affairs Commission, attempting to solve this problem in a vacuum.

We have taken our legislative mandates as licenses for doing certain things.

And as a result, we have found ourselves sort of like lawn rangers out there trying to get this problem solved.

It came clear to me some 2 or 3 years ago that was not going to work.

And what I've been attempting to do at the Human Affairs Commission of late is enlisted, the help, of as many people, that I possibly can.

>> And as long as it's Blacks who have been working for the state of South Carolina, they are still not represented in the positions that pay money.

I mean, after all, and is money conscious as the society has become.

When you spend good money to send your kids to college, and while they spend their own good money to go to college when they come out, I think that they ought to reasonably expect to have the same opportunities to make some money from the state government that everybody else has for their kids in the state.

That's not the case in South Carolina's Information will show that people who make real money, I'm talking $65,000 a year, less than 2% are those of Black people that make $55,000 a year.

3% of those are black.

But then when you get down to the job category, those who make around $13,000 a year and you're talking 51%, being Black.

That's not fair.

Adrian> Many factors can be attributed to the unbalanced ratios representing the Black, White and male, female workforce of South Carolina.

But according to one of the oldest civil rights organizations, skin color is the major culprit.

Rivers> Primarily it's the result and the net effect of racism.

South Carolina has been as committed in some cases, more committed to maintaining the system of separation of the races and active racism than most states in this country.

History begins that I'll be the last day to, allow Blacks in the Deep South to allow Blacks in the Senate in this century.

We have been the state who has led the fight.

We were the first state to secede from the Union on the question of slavery, to start the Civil War.

We attempted to secede from the Union before.

So the blame is in the White majority, but also among those of us in the Black minority.

Adrian> Racism may be the root of the problem when it comes to the small percentage of Blacks holding key decision making positions in South Carolina government.

However, through education, communication and negotiation, that kind of thinking can be changed.

Clyburn> We have a lot of the debates surrounding affirmative action to stay out on the streets too long.

And that debate has, reached very emotional levels.

And when people get too emotional about anything, they stop thinking and just act.

But we are tempted to now start people to thinking.

The recent 90 minutes that ETV gave to the Human Affairs Commission to discuss their annual report on affirmative action, has done more than anything I can think of since maybe the two hour debate that we had two years earlier.

I think that that's how this whole question surrounding affirmative action is going to get resolved.

I don't think it's going to resolve any other way.

>> So first thing we're doing now is educating our people and the citizens of South Carolina for both races all over the state as to how bad this problem is.

The success of our civil rights movement, the sense of where we've come, has a lot to do with the fact that we've been able to articulate to both Blacks and Whites, well-meaning whites who are committed to fairness, that this is not right.

This is a situation that cries out for attention and correction Adrian> To those individuals and agencies which say qualified Blacks and other minorities are difficult to find... >> Qualified is like beauty is in eyes of the beholder.

For too long, Black folk have been qualified and were passed over for jobs.

I like to tell young people that don't get hung up about you're qualified and you got a good now job because you are qualified, because if you do so, John Thompson said about becoming the first Black coach to win the national championship.

You were inferring that there were no qualified Blacks before you.

That's not true, as most Blacks know.

That's a lot of mumbo jumbo.

That's not reality.

But what we anticipated, we anticipated that response.

And what we've done is we have these cards.

You that, if somebody wants to work for the state, we asked them to fill out one of these cards and get it back to NAACP.

And we sit down to talk to the people who say they can't find anybody qualified who wants to work.

And we pull out our stack of cards and say, we got loads of them.

If somebody says, and nobody wants to be promoted or there's nobody available to be advanced to another job category to pay is the more money we have promotion and advancement card, we whip this up and say, we got him here by the stack load.

Adrian> Those of you who say affirmative action is a poor way to ensure job equality among the races and sexes, remember, it is the law of the state.

For those of you who think it's a good law but not being adequately enforced, the ballot box is one way to make your voice heard.

♪ Bill> February is Black History Month and official annual recognition of contributions of Black men and women, both past and present.

South Carolinians continue to speak out on the merits of this important observance.

♪ I think it's important because it we it gives Black people something to look back on.

And so to look forward to.

I think that we should all remember our roots and remember those who came before us and who paved the way for this generation, my generation, and should be thankful for them.

Because without all the people who with the marches, who marched the 60s, who are there in the 50s, and who saw everything that you know, for us, we wouldn't have we wouldn't be where we are today.

>> Yes.

I think Black History Month is very significant.

It's a period set aside for Black people to reflect on their accomplishments, their achievements, their heritage, their blackness.

I think I think more could be done.

You know, more people can participate in it.

>> Should be more than just one month out of the year?

>> Maybe it should.

It should always be.

But I mean, a month, I think is enough time for you to set aside to reflect on it.

>> Since, I attend a predominantly White institution, it's quite, it's real easy for us Black students to forget, where they've, where they have been, to forget their ancestors and their roots like that.

And I believe that Black History Month helps, reminds, reminds us, and just helps us reflect upon that.

And I believe that's very important on those aspects.

>> Yes, I think is, very significant to me because we as Blacks need to be reminded of the many things that have taken place throughout our history.

And we need to recognize that month and think about, you know, famous men like Martin Luther King and all the other Black leaders who have helped us throughout our struggle to become, you know, a free people.

So I feel that we should celebrate it more than just one month, but other months, and it's very, very important.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> ...the resolution be placed on the camera with that record where you get a great opportunity to see state government and I at its best, because you're right here where they make another laws, you can learn parliamentary procedure, which is finally real helpful if you're active in organizations and whatnot.

And if you are thinking about going into law, I think right here is just about the yes and stuff, because some probably some of the best lawyers in the state, you know, operate right in here, Adrian> Working as a page for the South Carolina Senate or the House for that matter, is an honor that only a few selected young people can take advantage of.

Each perspective page, after filling out an application, must be chosen in part by the Senate member.

They like to work for.

College students, and a few high school students are usually considered.

>> To be one area, such as... we get coffee, we get copies of bills and amendments, and basically anything from the newspaper to a copy of the law books of South Carolina.

You know, anything that will help the senators, keep their position as far as items on a bill without having to always leave.

And I guess it's almost impossible to say every senator could have a research group right in the chamber.

So we kind of the go betweens, they tell us what they need, and we go to the various offices and whatnot to get the information for them, and they can always be here listening to what's going on the floor, why they have information to support them coming in.

Sometimes we try to second guess, such as when we're sitting along the back row if a senator turns to us then what I like to see is people getting up, you know, to see if the senator needs anything.

But usually we want to be as prompt as we can because of the fact that a lot of the stuff that they need, as far as maybe copies of bills, and sometimes they just need general, information as far as a Senate and certain piece of legislation is concerned.

And we want to get that to them as fast as possible, because the time that that is involved, they may, lose the floor or someone that's with them may lose the floor and they lose the chance to talk.

Adrian> Being a chief page of the state Senate in and of itself, is a responsibility.

But has being a Black senior page caused any problems?

>> From what I can tell, everyone just treats me as another person.

I guess I've been around here and I try to have an attitude where I take the time to get to know people and at least let them know where I'm coming from.

So I haven't felt any real negative, vibrations from anyone I think are the pages.

I think I work well with them, they get along well with me, and as far as the staff go, I've known him for a couple of years now, and I think everything is just probably smoother than I even expected I was a little nervous when I was told that I was going to be the chief page, but within the first couple of days, there was just so much to do with it.

You really don't have a chance to reflect on how people feel.

I just try to concentrate on getting everything done as quickly as possible.

Adrian> Well, if being a Senate page sounds like nothing more than a messenger, you're wrong.

It's much more.

It's an education that demands 100% of your energies.

Pringle> I have learned a lot as far as parliamentary procedures, and I recognize the amount of work that it would take to be a good politician and just go from being the chief page.

I'm getting the advantage of being in charge of a group of people, which is where this is going to even help me in the more immediate future.

When I go into the service I already have had, the experience is more or less trying to control a group of people and in the service there going to be a lot of strict the guidelines, but I think that this will probably be the best advancement that I could get.

Sometimes people talk to me, you know, ask me what goes on be.

I try to tell them basically what they do from my viewpoint.

I say, you know, sometimes it looks like they're just sitting back doing nothing.

But, you know, they do so much that just, you know, they never recognize they.

For instance, I think cameramen could probably come in here every day and film and without sound, they would just the way the senators get around and stuff, it looks like they're just having a party behind their desk.

But from being up here and, they get a lot done, I think.

And that's basically what I try to tell people, that they do a whole lot more than we'll ever recognize.

Adrian> Apparently, the job of a page, which is part time work, brings out the best in a person.

Pringle says it helps develop a solid foundation on which to build a sound career, whatever it may be.

(indiscernible conversations) Frederick Douglass, Mary McLeod Bethune, Martin Luther King Jr, and the 1954 school desegregation decision, among others, represent the struggle for equality that has gone on for decades in Black America.

Bill>...according to young people we spoke to on the Job Man Caravan, Black History Month is a small yet significant tribute to Black achievements, >> I think that we need to pause to pay tribute to Black Americans and to their contributions to our society, because it has had a great impact in our lives and in all Black institutions the world over.

Adrian> Do you think that maybe that observation should be made, every month of the year, not just February, >> If possible.

Yes, I would say so, because so many of us, of so many Black Americans, have made so many contributions, and we were not given a given a credit for what we have done.

And I feel that the time has come in which we should be giving our due respect.

>> If I was forced to pick somebody, I'd pick somebody like Martin Luther King, who's been in the forefront of things, who's never been afraid to accept the challenge and believe in himself, believed in an idea and fought for it.

And I think that as young people that that's what we need to do.

We need to find a goal, believe in it and fight for it.

Bill> Well, we've just about come to the end of another program, and we'd like to remind you that our heritage is rich and our contributions to the rest of mankind unsurpassed.

Adrian> That's right.

And this quilt behind us is indicative of Black artistry at work circa 1930 by a Mrs. Anna Bird.

Until next week, I'm Adrian Hayes >> and I'm Bill Terrell.

And we all thank you for joining us.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪