NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley may not be a fan of President Trump, but his plans to partner with a vocational school in Alabama to help young black millennials aligns well with Trump’s own vision for advancing America’s workforce.
Barkley, who co-hosts TNT’s “Inside the NBA,” has been outspoken about the issues affecting the black community and has tended to promote more conservative solutions. Unlike most commentators, however, Barkley is actually putting his money where his mouth is.
“I’m working on a new initiative in Alabama … I don’t know any black plumbers, any black electricians, any black car mechanics,” Barkley told ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith on Friday. “So I’m going back to Alabama over the summer and I’m going to partner with a vocational school to get more black plumbers, electricians.”
Barkley believes that millennials “think they are too good to do manual labor,” even though many blue-collar trades are “great professions” that can “sustain your family and your kids.”
Smith agreed and added that he tiled roofs for Con Edison before he “arrived.”
While Barkley doesn’t seem to have the highest view of millennials — even calling them “idiots” in the interview — he understands that hard work is the only sustainable path out of poverty and that college isn’t the only option that opens doors.
Trump has echoed the need for vocational schools and apprenticeships on several occasions, making it a key priority of his economic policy.
During his first State of the Union address, Trump told Congress and the American people, “We can lift our citizens from welfare to work, from dependence to independence, and from poverty to prosperity. Let us invest in workforce development and job training. Let us open great vocational schools so our future workers can learn a craft and realize their full potential.”
Last year, he signed an executive order aimed at increasing the number of U.S. apprenticeships by doubling the government’s investment in these programs. Fortune notes that the workers pursuing trades have job security and many are “out-earn[ing] their peers with four-year college degrees.”
Although Barkley doesn’t see eye-to-eye with the president on most issues, he realizes that the void in blue-collar workers presents a clear opportunity for black millennials to advance and thrive in Trump’s America.
Brendan Pringle (@BrendanPringle) is a freelance journalist in California. He is a National Journalism Center graduate and formerly served as a development officer for Young America’s Foundation at the Reagan Ranch.
