Part 2: New Hampshire Stories of Race and Culture

MONICA: WELCOME BACK. THERE ARE A NUMBER OF BLACK MEN AND WOMEN WHO HELPED MAKE NEW HAMPSHIRE WHAT IT IS TODAY. YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE HEARD OF PRINCE WHIPPLE BEFORE, BUT HE WAS ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BLACK LEADERS IN THE GRANITE STATE. HE WAS SOLD INTO SLAVERY AT 10 YEARS OLD. IN 1779, WHIPPLE WAS ONE OF 20 ENSLAVED MEN WHO PETITIONED NEW HAMPSHIRE TO ABOLISH SLAVERY. HE SERVED AT THE BATTLE OF SARATOGA IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. HISTORIANS DISPUTE WHETHER HE FOUGHT IN DELAWARE. HE WAS ONCE BELIEVED TO BE THE MAN DEPICTED NEAR GEORGE WASHINGTON’S KNEE IN THIS FAMOUS PAINTING. BUT THERE IS SOME DEBATE OVER WHETHER THAT IS THE CASE. MIKE: IN THIS SEGMENT, WE DISCUSS THE OBSTACLES FACING BLACK-OWNED BUSINESSES IN NEW HAMPSHIRE FROM THE ROLE BIAS PLAYS INTO STARTING A BUSINESS, TO UNIQUE CIRCUMSTANCES BROUGHT ON BY THE CALL FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AROUND THE COUNTRY. JOINING ME FROM THE SENIOR HELPERS OF SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE, MR. DWIGHT DAVIS. THE DIRECTOR AT THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE DIVISION OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPED, MR. WILL ARVELO, AND THE COFOUNDER AND CEO, HELPING SOFTWARE ENGINEERS FIND EMPLOYMENT, MR. GENO MILLER. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US TONIGHT. LET US START WITH THIS. IT IS WELL DOCUMENTED THAT THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT GAP IN OUR STATE’S DIVERSITY WHICH IS MORE THAN 90% CAUCASIAN. HOWEVER, THE LANDSCAPE IS CHANGING. MR. ARVELO, WHAT SORT OF EVOLUTION HAVE YOU SEEN ACROSS THE STATE AND HOW ARE THEY LOOKING TO CHANGE THE NARRATIVE ON WHAT IT CAN OFFER BLACK-OWNED BUSINESSES? >> IN MY 15 YEARS OR SO BEING IN THE STATE, I’VE SEEN A LOT OF CHANGE. A USED TO BE THAT IT WOULD BE RARE FOR ME TO SEE A STUDENT OF COLOR AT THE COLLEGE. YOU HAVE TO PUT ALL OF THAT INTO HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE. NEW HAMPSHIRE HAS BEEN PREDOMINANTLY WHITE. BUT AGAIN, THAT HAS STARTED TO CHANGE. WITH THAT WE ARE STARTING TO SEE MORE PEOPLE COME HERE TO BUILD BUSINESSES AND TO START CAREERS AND TO BECOME PART OF THE FABRIC OF OUR COMMUNITIES. IN THE END, THAT IS GOING TO MAKE NEW HAMPSHIRE RICHER GOING FORWARD. MIKE: CALLS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE REFORM HAVE ECHOED ACROSS THE COUNTRY. HOW HAS THAT HAD A POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE IMPACT ON BUSINESSES IN NEW HAMPSHIRE? >> MINORITY BUSINESS OWNERS HAVE FELT THE SAME. BUSINESS HAS NOT BEEN AFFECTED IN A NEGATIVE WAY. ON THE NONPROFIT SIDE, I AM A BOARD DIRECTOR WITH THE BLACK HERE TO TRAIL OF NEW HAMPSHIRE AND IT HAS GAINED TREMENDOUS SUPPORT. FINANCIAL SUPPORT AND OTHERWISE, OF PEOPLE BEING CURIOUS AND WONDERING, WHAT CAN I DO TO BE OF HELP, TO INCREASE INCLUSION, TO BE PART OF THIS DIVERSITY MOVEMENT? MIKE: YOU CONNECT NEW HAMPSHIRE EMPLOYERS WITH SOFTWARE ENGINEERS OF COLOR. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BENEFITS YOU HIGHLIGHT FOR YOUR CLIENTELE AND AS COMPANIES DIVERSIFY, ARE THERE ANY SORT OF INFRASTRUCTURE RECOMMENDATIONS YOU MAKE? >> PEOPLE KNOW THE BENEFITS OF A MORE DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE WORKFORCE. AGAIN, IT IS MORE REVENUE, MORE INNOVATION, EVEN CANDIDATES WHO ARE ALSO WHITE SAY -- WELL, THERE ARE STATISTICS SAYING THEY WOULD BE MUCH MORE LIKELY TO WORK FOR A DIVERSE COMPANY OVER A LESS DIVERSE COMPANY. ARE YOU WILLING TO COMMIT 100% FROM A FINANCIAL STANDPOINT? WHAT INTERNAL RESOURCES DO YOU HAVE TO SPECIFICALLY SUPPORT PEOPLE COMING FROM DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS? BLACK FOLKS MAY NOT BE THE SAME RESOURCES AS HISPANIC FOLKS. PEOPLE COMING FROM THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY MAY NOT NEED THE SAME RESOURCES AS WOMEN. MIKE: SOME PEOPLE TAKE OFFENSE TO CALLS FOR SUPPORTING BUSINESSES OWNED BY PEOPLE OF COLOR AS THOUGH IT EXCLUDES THOSE WHO DO NOT FIT THAT BILL. WHAT DO YOU SAY TO THOSE FOLKS? >> IT IS A FACT AND IT IS UNDISPUTED THAT THE COMMUNITY THAT IS DIVERSE AND RICH AND DRAWS FROM ALL OF ITS COMMUNITY IS A STRONGER COMMUNITY, ECONOMICALLY, SOCIALLY, EDUCATION WISE, IN GOVERNANCE. THAT IS A FACT. IT CANNOT BE DENIED. BUT YOU’RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT IN ASKING THAT QUESTION. SO MANY PEOPLE, THEY GET A LITTLE CONFUSED WHEN THEY HEAR A CALL TO SUPPORT A BLACK BUSINESS OR SUPPORT A BLACK COMMUNITY. THEY FEEL, WRONGLY, THAT PEOPLE OF COLOR IS ASKING THEM NOT TO SUPPORT OTHER COMMUNITIES, OTHER BUSINESSES, IN FAVOR OF THE BLACK BUSINESS. WE ARE JUST ASKING SUPPORT ALL THE BUSINESSES. >> NEW HAMPSHIRE HAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE A STATE THAT THE REST OF THE WORLD -- WE APPRECIATE DIVERSITY. IT ADDS TO OUR RICHNESS. COME HERE, BUILD A BUSINESS, BUILD THE FAMILY. IF WE HAVE THIS CONVERSATION IN 5, 10 YEARS, WE WILL BE IN A DIFFERENT PLACE DEMOGRAPHICALLY, WE WILL BE IN A DIFFERENT PLACE IN TERMS OF HOW WE SUPPORT BLACK-OWNED BUSINESSES, MINORITY OWNED BUSINESSES AND HOW WE ARE PERCEIVED EXTERNALLY AS A STATE THAT WELCOMES DIVERSITY. MIKE: GENTLEMEN, A LOT OF GREAT INSIGHT. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME. MONICA: THIS MEMORIAL IN PORTSMOUTH MIXTURE DIFFICULT HISTORY IS NOT FORGOTTEN. THIS IS WHERE PORTSMOUTH’S EARLIEST AFRICAN AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN RESIDENTS WERE BURIED. THE SEGREGATED CEMETERY WAS A FINAL RESTING PLACE FOR AS MANY AS 200 FREE AND ENSLAVED PEOPLE UNTIL THE EARLY 1800S. AS THE PRACTICE OF SLAVERY DECLINED THE BURIAL GROUND WAS PAVED OVER, MARKED ONLY BY A PLAQUE FROM THE BLACK HERITAGE TRAIL. 2003, CREWS ON A PROJECT FOUND COFFINS BENEATH THE SURFACE. THAT SPARK YEARS OF PLANNING WHICH GAVE BIRTH TO THE AFRICAN BURIAL GROUND MEMORIAL PARK. IT RUNS THE LENGTH OF CHESTNUT STREET AND INCLUDE SCULPTURES AND HISTORICAL INFORMATION. MIKE: VERNACE JACKSON WORKED CLOSELY WITH CITY OFFICIALS, ARCHAEOLOGISTS, AND RESIDENTS TO CREATE THE MEMORIAL. JACKSON IS ALSO KNOWN FOR FORMING THE SEACOAST AFRICAN-AMERICAN CULTURAL ASSOCIATION. MONICA: LOVES IT LIKE GROWING UP BLACK IN NEW HAMPSHIRE IN THE 1950’S? >> WE WERE ACCEPTED BY SOME AND NOT OTHERS. MONICA: THE STORY OF THE WARD FAMILY AND THE CHALLENGES THEY F