Roy S. Roberts is an American business executive who had a long career at

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

before retiring as group vice president, North American Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing in 2000. He is also a former managing director at Reliant Equity Investors."Roy Roberts Biography," Detroit Public Schools
detroitk12.org From 2011 - 2013 he was the Detroit Public Schools' Emergency Financial Manager and board chairman of the Education Achievement Authority of Michigan.Polston, Mike. "Roy Roberts (1939-)"
''Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture'', 14 June 2017 He is considered a pioneer for African Americans in the auto industry. He once told Forbes magazine, "I've been the first black everywhere I went. One of my jobs is to see I'm not the last." An August 1988 article published in '' The New York Times'' stated Roberts was the second African-American vice-president at GM, after Otis Smith. For much of his career he was the highest-ranking African American in the automobile industry. Roberts began his professional career working on an assembly line at Lear Siegler while attending Western Michigan University. Roberts has also served in numerous volunteer and civic organizations. He is a member of the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America (the organization's governing body) a former president of the Boy Scouts of America and an officer in the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

Early life

Roberts was born in 1939, the ninth of ten children, in Magnolia, Arkansas.Johnson, Anne. Contemporary Black Biography: Roy S. Roberts, Automobile Industry Executive
encyclopedia.com, 1997 His mother died when he was two years old and later his father moved the family to Muskegon, Michigan. He describes his upbringing as "dirt-poor." His father worked two jobs (as a foundry employee and as a barber) to support the family. Roberts credits his father with instilling in him the value of education. Roberts worked full-time while attending Western Michigan University at night, where he graduated with honors, with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration.

Bloomfield Hills Country Club controversy

Roberts unwillingly found himself at the center of a controversial event at the Bloomfield Hills Country Club in 1994 when the club refused to admit him after he had applied for membership. Though the club claimed its actions were not based on Roberts' race, G.M.'s president,

John F. Smith Jr. John Francis "Jack" Smith Jr. (born April 6, 1938) is an American businessman and executive who formerly served as COO in 1992, CEO from 1992 to 2000 and then chairman of the board of directors of General Motors from 1996 to 2000. He later ser ...

, and its chief financial officer, J. Michael Losh, chose to resign their memberships with the club because Roberts had been barred from joining. Roberts was later accepted as a member.

Autobiography

Roberts' autobiography, ''My American Success Story: Always the First, Never the Last'', was published in 2015.

References

External links

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BUSINESS PEOPLE
Profile in ''The New York Times'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Roy 1939 births Living people African-American business executives American business executives General Motors executives National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America members Presidents of the Boy Scouts of America 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people