A booming Latino population in North Carolina has employment specialists scurrying to come to grips with the issue of jobs for Latinos, including people with disabilities who are working or looking for work. David Clegg, deputy chairman and acting chief counsel of the Employment Security Commission, said that presently there are 530,000 Latinos in North Carolina. Of that number, at least 50,000 are disabled.

"The question is not how many Hispanic/Latino workers arrive in the U.S. disabled," Clegg said. "The issue is how many become disabled once they get here? That's something that we all must contend with, because each of us has a 20 percent chance of becoming a person with a disability."

Clegg, who has received the Governor's Award for Business Excellence, was one of the speakers at a workshop titled: "Finding Employment: Solutions and Suggestions to Beat Common Barriers." Georgia Steele, who retired as assistant director of employment programs for the North Carolina Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, also addressed the group.

New efforts to lobby and educate

"The Latino population has exploded in North Carolina," Clegg said. "There are over 1,500 bills currently being considered by the North Carolina Legislature regarding employment and other issues for the Latino community. For the first time, Latino lobbyists are pushing their issues. Why? Because people care."

"And, what can we do to make sure people care?" Clegg continued. "We need to educate, educate, educate. That's what it's really all about. In North Carolina, there are still people in decision-making positions who don't feel comfortable talking about the Latino phenomenon. They are not talking about being legal and being illegal, they are not talking about access to education and higher education. If they are not comfortable talking about Latinos in general, they certainly are not comfortable talking about Latinos with disabilities."

Separating Myths from Truth

Steele agreed with Clegg and took it one step further. "It's not the disability that's a barrier to employment, it's the attitude toward people with disabilities. Of course, it can also be a combination of both," Steele said. "There are myths about people with disability. Our job is to separate the myth from the truth."

Steele said that one of the biggest myths among employers is that support in the workplace is too costly. "It's relatively inexpensive to make a workplace accessible, depending on the disability. Another myth is that co-workers will be uncomfortable which may affect productivity. Again, this is not true. Sometimes these myths are used by employers to keep people with disabilities from being hired."

Clegg said that Latinos in North Carolina are just beginning to flex their political muscle. "With 530,000 Latinos in the state, there is the potential for a huge political force that has been totally untapped and ignored. Of that 530,000 Latinos in North Carolina, not everybody works, but the great number of newcomers to our State makes it a powerful force.

"The problem is that we are not educating policy makers," Clegg said. If people are getting injured here on the job we need to provide for them.

"Another issue is that many Latinos take multiple jobs. They are working, and working, and working and they become injured. At the same time, North Carolina must do something more for Latinos - we must educate them. It's the only way. If we don't take care of elderly White people now, when are we ever going to take care of Latinos? And, if you're an aging Latino, there are even fewer supports available now!"

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