Learn to Earn: Job Corps, Educational Training, and the Racialization of the 1960s War on Poverty

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Abstract

Drawing from government records and periodicals, this paper demonstrates how the Job Corps appealed to 1960s policymakers and Black activists alike. However, while both groups worked to uplift Black youth, the Job Corps represented a compromise that ultimately benefited political/business elites more than poor Black communities. Beyond the education/training offered to Black youths, the Job Corps operated within a culture of poverty framework that racially exceptionalized Black poverty while promoting corporate interests through tax-breaks, privatizing anti-poverty programs, and promoting issues that ultimately benefited corporations over poor Black communities. This finding is significant as the Job Corps’ origins highlight how education-based policies often channels unrest towards individual and cultural reforms, rather than addressing how un/under-employment is fundamentally structured by racial capitalism.

Author

• Kenzo K. Sung, Loyola Marymount University