Maryam Bey Interviews Rasheed Goins, Vice President, NAACP, Bergen County

a [Music] good evening everyone good afternoon good morning wherever you are my name is Miriam Bay and I am the host of television and I always start my show with saying that I bring on the best guests so today is another best guest and I'm so excited to have him on his name is Rashid goings right and I want to say I want to say to you welcome and I want you to introduce yourself because you are an executive with the NAACP in Bergen County yes okay so I like having people who are on organizations like that um and the reason why is because I work in the criminal justice system and uh I have a lot of brothers particularly who have been accused of committing a crime and they served years for it only to find out that they were innocent and I know that the that the NAACP has been working on things like that you know so um so welcome and um introduce yourself to the audience well again my name is rashed goens I am the third vice president of the buron county NAACP uh that chapter um I also work for Nordstrom and I uh run their dips program so diversity Equity inclusion and belonging program there um there where we're just trying to make everybody feel welcome belong there have a sense of of uh you know just just you know we had stigma in Nordstrom for a while that they didn't hire certain people of our caliber is our caliber you're talking about color Yes black black people minorities in general um in higher positions um now they hired us to work but in those higher levels and I'm I'm proud to say on the last two years we've actually promoted the first black female president of nor a lot of people don't know that our company is now run by a black female oh nice um and so that was something that we've progressed to um she's right up there with the noran brothers um and making decisions that affect us daily in our in our in our work oh nice so you know it's it's something that we you know progression is a good thing um even in the work I do with the wacp um we always talk about the bad and we always uh discuss what um you know what is in the now but we never really talk about where we've come from and that's very important because history is always important yes um to see the trajectory to see where we've been and where we are now to see how we've improved how much have we improved and when you look at those and you kind of distinguish between the two you can actually see the progression have a little bit more of appreciation for those who you know beat the ground to get there you know okay um yeah that's that's kind of my life in a right now what okay so the progression that you're speaking of is that with Nordstrom or with us in general in in America both both um you know and not just with not just with America you know we've had a black president now uh we can we may have another one coming soon um you know there are some things that have changed there still like lot of things that need to be you know addressed um of course the the the generational the wealth the Gap in between um you know whites and blacks or any other um uh nationality or or race for that matter um and how do we close that how do we get people black kids to have the same opportunity a white kid has we're getting better at that but from the jump we're getting better than where we were from the jump though we are I'm get we're getting better than where we are because there a lot more and and I say that saying there's a lot more black ownership than it was Pride I know some people kind of uh refute that and say that maybe we had more black ownership in the past um but if you look at where we are right now and and I I like to pride myself on having like this um balance between the old folk older more mature and the young folk right so like I'm like right in between I kind of converge the Gap a little bit and um a lot of young folk will tell you and when you you know they are more eager to um and this is not necessarily a good thing but more eager to open up business be an entrepreneur do things and make their own money as opposed to going to work for somebody that mentality has Chang but that mentality has has has come from that progression that I'm talking about um in terms of being entrepreneur entrepreneur as well as going or going to somebody's job and working and and you know having that N9 to-5 and then you know working all these years just to really have nothing and die and still left with nothing you know so um kids nowaday through social media through all of these things that they have at their their fingertip have found outlets in different ways to generate um capital for them um maybe and most likely even better than what a job will uh ever provide for them so that's what I mean about more opport entrepreneurship um not necessarily what we wouldn't necessarily say like owning the business or or Fortune 500 but if you're able to provide for your family and still have some then to me that is progression um and so okay in that aspect of it okay um just in that aspect of it because there's still a lot of stuff that we have a long way to go to improve on yes and I think we have a long way to go in the educational system because here in here in New Jersey we have it mandated that um children all children are supposed to be taught black history mhm that's not happening yeah and then you have in in America especially down in Florida they are removing history MH you know from the curriculum and that's something that we have to continue to fight for because they're trying to remove our history MH and we cannot allow that to happen MH so my uh my Outlook on that is first of all well when we say black history we we we remove it from being what it really is cuz I believe in this country it's American history it's all history this country would not be able to thrive and be the country it is today without black folks absolutely and so with that being said yes you are correct there are people who are trying to take certain things out of curriculum to try to sugarcoat some things that have happened in the past um that our people have went through that's right um and so yes it makes it seems like it's kind of like uh what did he say um especially in Florida it's like um the governor of Florida Ronda Santi said that that that we benefited from slavery right yes they did okay America the America benefited from slavy from it we didn't benefit from slavery right but so the teaching I I understand it but I also think that it's not just the educ ational system right when you look at um let's just say Jews let's look at the Jews right everything in their culture and everything is embedded in their whole life right everything they do right from going to church or or or synagogue or or or going to um play basketball or going to anything that you do is all centered around their culture right the problem that we have here is that forget about school take out school for a second we have to find different ways through church through different organizations like the NAACP like um uh like Nan um all these different organizations we have to get our kids excited to be involved in it we have to make them get involved in that so that way we can teach them the correct history we have to be able to combat that because they're not going to stop right they're not going to stop trying to um they're not going to stop trying to I guess put a a t a blind eye to what the truth really is right they're going to continue to to to to hide the history the truth of the history so in order to combat that we as Community leaders um church leaders um organization leaders uh anything that's outside of the school we have got to instill that in a strategic way in our kids we have to do better in educating our kids um and making sure that they understand their history and culture there's so much that even if you have black history in the curriculum there's so much that I learned not through um going to school not going to college but just from the history of but my grandfather I would say my grand grandfather was sort of like a historian and he used to always tell me about he came from Jamaica and you know he was in Europe he went to Brooklyn so he was all over and he got a kind of a culture back in those days where um a lot of the stuff that we are claimed to be no longer uh having this country he was right in the in the mix of it and so I learned a lot from him and I thank God for him May so rest in peace but he had taught me a lot about um history that they wern't talking about in school know what it really was like um and some of the things that um he even had to endure trying to get to this country um and bringing his family over from Jamaica into this country so it's we have to do a lot better in educating our kids on what the real is um I don't think you know and of course we need to have that in school because that's when they teach American history teach social studies they teach language or anything all that is embedded in our culture is it's it's African-Americans it's blacks it's they have to teach it correctly but we can't stop there we can't just allow them to regurgitate whatever they want to in our kids mind because even if they decide to bring it back there's always going to be some type of watered down nonsense that they're going to try to pull right so we like I said we just got to do better in educating our our kids on what our history is because who is in the classroom makes a big difference M so if you have people in the classroom that's teaching our children and they don't like our children MH they're not going to teach them exactly the way that they should be taught exactly and and the reality is is that this is an ongoing issue mhm and if the parent as you just mentioned earlier if we don't know our his history then we can't teach it right or demand it you know um because I remember I I was a a New York school board member and president for New York public schools and one of the things that we fought for was to get was to get our history back into the curriculum it took a while but we got it you know and um but the key thing is who is standing in front of them doesn't matter what color they are mhm what matters is what their intentions are are they going are they going to teach the real history and what they're doing in this country now as you mentioned earlier is that they're watering down are hiding the things that they actually did to us when when our um parents came to America and they used the term that we came to America as slaves we were not slaves when we came to America absolutely okay because when we came to America the the slave uh uh uh our uh kidnappers mhm brought in the best of us mhm you know so that's how they were able to build this country and to this day we are the only ones who have not received our reparation for building this country Y and I and that's one thing I I I highly agree with I do believe that there should be uh some type of former reparations um to All Blacks or all descendants of slavery because that would give a lift and what I'm talking about that that Equity right that lift where we should be at um in comparison to where our uh White counterparts are um and so I do believe that they should do that in California they're trying to do it it's very difficult it is a difficult situation right because you got IM ation which is a big Hot Topic right now it's the craziest thing in the world that immigration would be a hot topic for a country that's built on um um diverse group of people right came here from wherever they came from but um to to to want to now limit and I get I get it I understand that you can't have everybody come here right because then what will you have you right there' be just overpopulation be a chaos and I understand that but there's a way to do things and and I believe that specifically for like immigration um that we got to do better we got to treat people humanely but we also got to be a we also got to be a country of laws right we got we got to make sure that people are doing what they actually need to do to get here and we also have to vet people we have to vet people make sure that they're not coming here for the wrong reasons those little things those little things are easy to do we can't call somebody because they coming from a certain country I just throw it out there like Haiti or anything just or Mexico or wherever the case they coming from and say oh yeah he's coming here and he's going to be a thug he's going to come here and and bring drugs they GNA you can't tell that because generally speaking if I if I and I put myself in N shoes I'm coming from a different country and I'm I'm making that track and I'm going to risk my life to do it nine times often I think people are looking for a better way of life uh quality of life um not necessarily always to do things illegally but again we got to Fig out they got to we got to figure out a good uh fine line between doing that because again we also don't want to take from the resources of our country because and that's another part of it too um CU sometimes I'm kind of like I'm like on the border with immigration because I want I want people to be able to get in this country legally but I also want I don't want it to wear it's a hindrance to the people who are already here and what I mean by that is and I want to say it like because you know people have these quote of oh taking black jobs and doing all stuff it has nothing to do with that it has something to do with but that has been happening it it has been happening if in my in my for first of all I the verbiage to me doesn't sound right because what is a black job right you don't I'm not talking about black job I'm just talking about job coming yeah so I don't want for the person who was born here to have to compete with somebody who's not born here and they get uh first dibs off of whatever job or whatever um uh service that they are looking for right we don't want I want people who actually are born here to benefit from all the services of this country and I think that the the monies that go into certain things need to be reallocated it has to be reallocated so that those people who we are talking about that live here or born here can benefit more we have to reallocate resources from that and from immigration to these communities in need and help now they're not going to do that because for a couple of reasons one is because the the the government thrives on um quite frankly um how do I say this without being to they Thrive off um when things are not going well in certain communities right um it is a business for them for things not to go well because if everything was going well everybody had health care everybody had a job and everything was going it'd be well yeah but you have to remember this country was built on crime mhm you know it was founded by criminals yeah you know but to get back to what you were speaking of as far as being fair this is not a fair country no okay so they can find money to pay everybody and uh and um send money to all these countries all over the world but they can't find the money to give to to the descendants of slaves yeah which is richest crazy in itself um because they don't want to that's the bottom line because if they wanted to they would they would be able to to find it as they've done for other um nationalities of course it's all about when they give this money they don't give give money a lot of people don't understand oh they giv money to this country and there's a reason behind giving money there's a reason there's something that the United States is is getting or this country is getting and giving money and giving arms to a country and giving whatever um whatever other countries may need there the United States is getting something out of that and um that's the things that they really don't talk about but where's the quit proor what's you know why you know what is that they don't talk about that they just oh we're going to give this P this this country you know all these arms are we going to give this country $400 billion do to defend themselves our tax dollars that's going to them our tax dollars yeah to and but there's a there's a reason for it and we don't know what that that is um they will never talk about that they'll only talk about that this what is what is happening what they're doing but not what's in return which why they're really doing it um we got to do better we got to do better as a country um and I don't know I to be honest with you the answer would be to a start off with reparation and B to try to um try to give people the real dream of why you're in this country right um I know KLA Harris talks about this are you talking about those who are coming or those of us have been here here because those who here don't see the dream right so those are are here don't see the dream we're talking about the dream we're talking about Martin Luther King dream we ain't talking about the Jews that want to come over here we're talking about being able to wake up and live born in this country and actually to prosper um if you do what you need to do and be wealthy and then create General wealth for your family because I think that's where um our community lacks in you know we can create wealth but we don't create the generational wealth for it's a flip back and forth to different Generations um and we got to do better than that too we got to we got to not just think about our kids our kids kids their kids that's what our mindset needs to be not well okay I'm going to get this one and two two of them through college and that's it no it doesn't stop there you know we have to do things uh we have to do things smart we have to and it doesn't require um a whole bunch of money it just require the education on how to um invest and how to do things you know I was listen I forgot what program I was listening to and they're talking about some of the wealthiest families in the country white all right how they maintain wealth and how they continue to maintain wealth and I looked at it and I was looking at how did they do it by using I'm not going to say it a group or anything but by using the life insurance policy and being life insurance policies right so they were taking life insurance policies having these big open policies so when somebody died they would take that money and they'll flip it over and then they'll also reinvest in certain things take loans from that life insurance policy there are different ways that people have rigged the system for them and I'm not saying we need to rig the system I'm just saying we need to be as smart as them to make sure that our families and our families families are taken care of and so we have to start doing things uh investing we have to start um um being more proactive in um the financial work you know exactly so we get up here and a lot of us we think about saving money and all that and I know growing up my grandfather said there's one thing I disagree with my grandfather I'll tell you right now he said you got to put your money in the savings you got to you got to save up money this and that I don't believe in that I do believe in saving money but I do believe in having your money work for you um put it in some type of stocks put it in some type of investment so that way you can gain more than you would had you just left it in the savings or well here's the what you um what you're saying I didn't mean to interrupt you I don't I don't want to forget the thought because that that uh is not taught in the schools absolutely not and uh our children need to be taught y financial literacy yes MH absolutely and I do agree absolutely um do you could you imagine if we started with financial literacy in grade school and had our kids trained so when they got out of high school and they went to college they were already set on a path for success and they wouldn't even they would go through their four years of college and wouldn't even be in debt do you know how that would be awesome that be awesome but you know what will happen with that America's going to find a way to get paid yeah they'll figure out another way they're always going to find a way to get their to get their little exact but again it's always it's always about us being ahead of the game it's also us being a step ahead of everybody and making sure that our families are taken care of that's where it really starts um making sure that our kids are taking care of making sure that their kids are taken care of that's the mindset that we have to that we have to be in we can't just worry about oh and then we have a lot of people say hey well I did my time and and that's it you know they got to F for themselves we got to stop with the fin for themselves thing that's that's a lot that comes in our community too where um you know I got mine y'all better get yours you know we got to stop that we got to we got to we are so much powerful when we're together and doing things that people don't realize the type of power that we have um and and I think that this is why they have so many groups that try to split us apart so many things that try to split us apart because they know if we come together it's going to be a problem it's going to be a real problem for not this country but also the world right so they need to look they they need to go back to our history during the Civil Rights Movement yeah and what actually happened there and how so many so many people came together cuz I grew up you know seeing that and I'm and and I'm thinking about two institutions that's all about making the money and one is the educational system and the other is the criminal justice system because as long as they keep imprisoning you know our brothers particularly they're going to keep on making money because the bottom line is about making the money and so there's this thing about uh uh preventing education for through the the prison pipeline yeah pipeline you know because when I worked inside the system mhm the many of the brother s that I worked with did not have a high school diploma or they were either they either dropped out or they were pushed out by the system and it was done on purpose yep you know and that is still happening today MH and today I work with Brothers particularly brothers who have been incarcerated for more than 30 years coming home Y and and as opposed to them preparing them to reenter back in society the bottom line is that they are being prepared to go back into the system because of how the system is set up yeah and it's all about making the money it's always about the money I'll leave it with this though we got to go I'll leave you with this um as a group we have really just as a as a people we really have just have to offend and be together there's a reason why people want to stop us from voting um we everybody should be everybody should start what saying they're tried to roll back yes voting rights right there's a reason for that oh absolutely there's a reason why people some political parties want to eliminate the education system yes they want to El eliminate the Department of Education why there's always a reason behind certain things you would think but why would somebody want to eliminate the partment of education but if you're if you're actually listening and looking you'll understand why yeah um to build up the prison system exactly that's my opinion build up the prison system but also to to not to have to be um not to have to be forced to educate the way they should be the way they need to be educ and if they don't educate they incarcerate there you go so it's all all one thing and I just think you know we got to open our eyes especially with this election I don't like to tell people who or why they should vote but you should be registered to vote there's too many people that died especially black people they was like you know hey you know you got to also think about I don't believe you can't you can't have one candidate that you 115 you know agree with there's not one candidate like that but you have to go with somebody who has more of your values than somebody here's the thing regardless of who you vote for cuz to me it's all in God's hand this is he's the ultimate right but you need to vote because if you don't vote do not complain exactly that's the bottom line exactly so I want to thank you for coming on this evening appreciate brother I don't cuz I don't want to misspell I mean mispronounce your name brother Rashid yes right from the uh Bergen County in wacp thank you so much I appreciate that thank you for having me thank you and thank you and have a great day [Music] a [Music]