Fox Business Network host Charles Payne hosted a fundraiser Thursday to benefit the Boys and Girls Club of Harlem, and shared his motivation on Fox News Friday.
During FOX & Friends, Charles Payne shared that while there are programs to help African American youth in the city, they don’t often start funneling students into workforce programs until later stages of their education.
“Well, I’ve got a lot of plans… right now, I think blacks are six — maybe six or seven black CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. Now, there’s a lot of programs out there, to get young black men and women and girls into the workforce,” Charles Payne said. “The problem is most of them start like at 12th grade and they’re really watered down and they don’t mean anything.
“But if you go to New York City public school and you’re in black kid, you probably will be reading at a ninth-grade level. So me trying to help you in 12th grade is ridiculous. I would like to find a way to nurture young talent at the very beginning. First of all, I’m pushing really hard for more rigorous education,” the host continued, “You know, the sort of the — this notion that liberals have that black people aren’t smart enough, so let’s give them a watered-down education has backfired miserably.”
He continued by sharing his dream and motivation for why he’s raising funds for the organization.
“It’s a competitive world. Any kid born in America today is going to be competing for a job with a kid born in New Delhi today. And so it’s a competitive world… so my goal, my dream, my hope is to nurture these kids, to find these kids at a young age. I want to develop CEOs, right? I don’t want to just get black people in the workforce. I want to develop leaders. I want to develop CEOs. I want to develop four-star generals. I want to develop future presidents. That’s what I would love to be able to do.”
