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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 15, 1979)
Misguided programs for the elderly miss minorities Programs directed to the elderly are failing to meet the needs o f the older minortiy people. According to Osly J. Gates, Chairman o f the National Coun cil on Aging’s Committee on Minorities, programs for the elderly do not con sider the political, social and economic factors which put elderly minority people under triple jeopardy -- racism, agism and poverty. •’ Minorities are not counted adequately in the Census,” Gates explains, “ There is at least a ten per cent under-count o f Blacks, so when programs are planned on a per capita basis, minorities are left o u t.” Also, minorities are not spread evenly among the population so when funds are distributed according to numbers, the special needs o f minority people are not considered. A local example o f funds being withdrawn from a targeted minority group and spread among the general population is the destruction o f the Senior Adult Service Center for the Model Cities area. A well functioning program, designed and directed by the elderly, was all but destroyed in order to spread funds throughout the county on a per capita basis. Racism has insured that the minority elderly do not receive the benefits to which they are entitled. Penisons, based on past employment, are smaller or non-existent because employment was denied. Social Security benefits, in cluding Medicare, are lower and many never receive the benefits bccuase minority people die at an earlier age. Housing is a problem for minorites, with only three percent o f the Blacks living in federally subsidised, privately operated housing. “ Only three percent o f Blacks are living in nursing homes and two-thirds o f those are in Black operated homes. In these 95 per cent o f the patients are cared for by Welfare or Medicare. That indicates that the level o f payment and the quality o f care is less than that for people who can afford to pay for their care.” The new Department o f H ealth, Education and W elfare regulations will direct the major efforts at those over 75 years - called the “ fra il” . Most federal programs are age/income based and do not differentiate on the basis o f life expectancies or other factors that are distinctive to minority groups. Programs also focus on the numbers o f clients served, or the numbers o f specific services provided, without assessing the quality o f the services or the response to the services. Gates believes the target group should not be based on age alone, but should be based on the level o f functioning. The fact that minorities die earlier, have dibilitating conditions at earlier ages, and have more severe problems resulting from racism, should be factors. The National Council on Aging will make a number o f recommendations to the government’s Federal Council on Aging. Among them is that a difinitive study o f the numbers and conditions o f m inority aged be made, and that social and cultural factors be assessed and programs designed to conserve and enhance those factors. Programs often do not consider cultural traditions, with the result that either the tradition is destroyed or the program is not effective. An example is denying housing allowances to elderly persons who live with relatives. RathcT than strengthening the fam ily ties and allowing the individual to receive the support o f his fam ily, this requirement breaks up the extended family. Another important problem is that few minorities are included in admin istering programs or in planning. For services to be accessible to minorities, there is a need for bilingual, bicultural services, with use o f indigenous person nel and involvement o f target populations in planning. (M ore on page 3) PORTLAND OBSERVER Volume 9 No. 9 Thursday. February 15.1979109 Tw o Sections CETA reorganization progresses The City o f Portland is in the pro cess o f reo rg an izing its C E T A delivery system, and that reorganiza tion appears to eliminate one o f its subcontractors, P O IC . For the past 4 M years P O IC had contracted training and counseling, but that contract will not be renewed when it ends, March 30th. Janice Wilson, executive director o f the C it y ’ s H u m a n Resources Bureau, and Joseph P. Gonzales, D i rector o f Manpower and Training, told the Observer Monday that the re o rg a n iza tio n is expected to produce more accountability — both to the governm ent and to the enrollees — and to save money. M s . W ilso n said the current organization does not provide an o p p o rtu n ity to trace enrollees’ progress to determine whether they satisfactorily get through the system. It also has high administration costs, poor communication and fragment ed services. R e c ru itm e n t, assessment and orientation has been contracted to Portland Community College, coun seling and training to P O IC . job placement to the Oregon State Em ployment Service. N ow the C ity staff will do the orientation, assessment, counseling, job placement and will contract fo r recruitm ent, training and pre-vocational training. Community people are organizing to oppose the reorganization on three bases: there has been no oppor tunity for citizen input in the plan ning; the reorganization will remove a substantial training contract from P O IC with no guarantee o f other contracts; the change will mean lay offs for P O IC and PCC staff. Gonzales admitted that the reorga nization planning has been totally in house; with no opportunity for citi zens to p articipate u ntil it comes before the C ity Council for formal action. He said there has been some deficiency in the P O IC operation, without adequate enrollees getting through the training and into jobs. That inform ation will be discussed when M a y o r G o ld sch m id t meets with the P O IC board. C om m unity members also com plain that they have not been able to obtain a copy o f the C E T A plan, and P O IC representatives state that they have been told no plan exists. As o f Tuesday noon, there is no written plan, only a series o f organizational charts. The reorganization will divide the C it y ’ s C E T A s ta ff in to tw o divisions: A d m in is tra tio n and Evaluation, and Program. The A d ministrative and Evaluation unit will handle administration, financial ac counting, coordination and plan ning. * The Program section will oversee Intake, Assessment and Orientation; program developm ent; tra in in g ; cases management and support ser vices: em p lo ym en t fo r in-schobl youth. The case management unit w ill assign a counselor for each enrollee, who will provide counseling, support services, tra in in g placem ent, jo b placement. According to Ms. W il son, this w ill insure th a t each enrollee receives necessary service and will provide a means to assess the success o f the program. Each case manager will supervise approxi mately 125 enrollees. According to Ms. Wilson the reor ganization will reduce the staff by 18 (12 percent) and will save $600,000 (22 percent). Following a presentation by Ms. Wilson and Gonzales on the Tuesday inform al council session, Com m is sioner Charles Jordan questioned the case load o f the case m anagers, stating that he felt it unrealistic for one case manager to supervise 125 enrollees. “ I hope we aren’t going to take the cream and put them in jobs, then when the hard core people come there will be no jo b s ." Jordan also said he found that in order to supply employees for “ first source contracts” the C E T A staff might overlook per sons who aren’t suitable fo r those jobs but who still need training. According to Gonzales there is still a possibility that P O IC could con tract to do pre-vocational training, which consists o f two or three weeks job-readiness training. The C ity will also contract recruitment to a com munity organization. Jordan also expressed concern that the City taking over all the functions o f the C E T A process might destroy the com m unity organizations that held the sub-contracts. M ayor Neil Goldschmidt said pjaa purpose o f reorganization 1s to gain more control. “ You can’t sign 90'»- tracts if you can’t deliver the people. Businesses are saying ‘put up or shut u p.’ W e have been reluctant to sign contracts w ith o u t kn ow in g m ore about the people we are to tra in .” Jordan said he also fears a City staff will become insensitive and that the unemployed will be reluctant to deal directly with the C ity . “ The hard core h aven ’ t had a good relationship with the City. There is em pathy and understanding in a com m unity agency — i t ’ s not as frightening.” H e also questioned the goal o f ef ficiency, “ You can carry efficiency to a point o f diminishing returns.” Japanese Americans remember confinement by Linda F. Calvin By custom and tra d itio n any American who has been injured by false accusation, arrest, or imprison ment is expected to bring the respon sible parties into court and obtain a judgement clearing his or her name and collecting damages as redress. Freedom is considered so precious by Americans that even a few days of false imprisonment have been com pensated with large monetary sums. Japanese Americans have exper ienced the agonies o f being incar cerated unjustly and have suffered the indignity o f being imprisoned by their own government. Redress for the injustices o f the 1942-I946 period should not be just an isolated Japanese American issue; it is an issue o f concern for all Americans. D u rin g the years 1942-46 some 7 7 ,0 0 0 A m erican citizens o f Japanese ancestry and 4 3 ,0 0 0 Japanese nationals, most o f whom were permanent U.S. residents, were summarily deprived o f liberty and property without criminal charges, and without trial o f any kind. The governmental authority for this mass incarceration was based on Executive O rder 9066, signed by President Franklin D . Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. Executive Order 9066 broadly authorized any m ili tary commander to exlude any per son from any area. The Presidential Order did not mention any specific group, nor did it provide for deten tion. However, there was an under standing among high officials that the authorization was to be used for the purpose o f removing and incar cerating Japanese Americans. T here were fifte e n te m p o ra ry co n cen tratio n camps scattered th ro u g h o u t A riz o n a , C a lifo r n ia , Oregon and Washington. They were m ostly county fa irg ro u n d s , race tracks, and livestock exhibition halls hastily converted into concentration camps with high barbed wire fences, some o f which were electrified. With search lights and guard towers com pleting the scene, each camp held nearly 5,000 detainees. In several in stances, living quarters consisted o f horse stalls, even with manure still inside. The incarceration o f Japanese Americans was accomplished district by district over a five month period. T h e G o v e rn m e n t’ s actions en couraged private harassment. For example, in one town outside the o f fic ia l expulsion area, th e entire lapanese American community was boycotted and forced to leave town. W h ile the Japanese A m ericans were incarcerated, and unknown to them at the time, some members o f Congress and the State Department proposed th ro u gh le g is la tio n or executive action to strip all native- born A m ericans o f Japanese an cestry o f their citizenship and deport them to Japan after the war. One member o f Congress even proposed a mandatory sterilization program. Fortunately neither o f these extreme (Please turn to Page 6 Column 1) Atiyeh, Goldschmidt proclaim College Fund Day M a y o r N eil G o ldsch m id t and G overnor V ictor A tiyeh proclaim T h u rs d a y , F ebruary 22, 1979 as United Negro College Fund day and urge the citizens o f Oregon and Port land to recall, remember, and act upon the Fund's creed o f “ A Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste.” This is the Third Annual Patron’s Dinner held to raise money to estab lish a Scholarship Fund for Oregon students attending U N C F schools. During its five years o f existance, the Oregon Fund has raised $69,000. The week’s activities were kicked o ff on Sunday, February 11th with co-sponsored by U N C F , U n io n Fellowship o f Ministers, and the A l bina Ministerial Alliance. Music was provided by Allen Temple and Van couver A venue B aptist C hurch Youth Choirs. The keynote speaker was Herb Cawthorne. This year’s dinner is being held at U N C F Sunday held at Allen Temple C .M .E . Church. The program was the Red Lion Inn, Jantzen Beach on Thursday, February 22, 1979 at 7:30 p.m. Dr. M ary Frances Berry, Assis tant Secretary o f Education, Depart ment o f Health, Education and W el fare is the keynote speaker. Commis- sioner Charles Jordan will be Master o f Ceremonies. Other program par ticipants include M rs. Brenda J. Green, Dinner Chairwoman, D r. Er nest Hartzog, Oregon Campaign Co- C h a irm a n and the H o n o ra b le W illiam McCoy. Tickets are $25 each or $150 for a table o f eight. They can be purchased from members o f the U N C F Dinner Committee, the U N C F office at 718 W . Burnside, Suite 404 — 223-8890, L ip m a n 's — d ow n to w n , and the Talking Drum Book Store — 1634 N .E . Alberta. Z 7 Artist J. C. Brandon puts the finishing touches on ''Luther' 'Luther' strip joins Observer L U T H E R joins the Observer with this issue. L U T H E R is a different type o f comic strip because it deals with life as seen through the inno cent, honest and appealing eyes o f Black children. Luther, a Black youngster, is now appearing in 35 U .S . newspapers. His experiences and his wonderment at events around him reveal a world seen from the Black core o f a large U .S . city. Ask Luther where he lives, and he gives an inside-looking-out view. “ M an, they call this place a lot o f namesl” says Luther’s friend, Hard Core. “ Slum! Ghetto! Inner C ity !” “ W hat do you call this neighbor hood, Luther?” Luther, from his perch on top o f a garbage can, replies, “ H om e.” The comic strip is drawn by Brum- sic Brandon, Jr., a43-year-old Black artist who says he earned his creden tials to do Luther in a childhood much like his cartoon hero’ s. The Brandon family was poor and lived in a Black neighborhood in Washing to n , J .C . B ran do n , S r., was a railway station redcap; Mrs. Bran don was a stock clerk in a downtown department store. There were also five Brandon children, with Brumsic, Jr., the second born. Once, when he was small, a rat bit his face, but he says o f this well-remembered event, “ I ’m neither proud nor ashamed.” Many o f the comic sequences in Brandon’s Luther are reminders that not all is as it should be in a Black child’s world. Pee Wee is reading a history book, and Luther wants to know if it’s relevant: “ Does it have any Black faces in it?” Pee W ee, his nose deep in the book says: “ Only m ine!” Other Luther sequences are what Brandon calls "comment on the total Black experience” : Pee Wee asks Luther what a live chicken looks like — he doesn’t see how anything can live w ith nothin g but backs and wings; Luther plays house with his friends, but during the game he stays a block away from them and out o f sight because he’s the landlord. In the Luther strip, children sleep five to a bed, are cold at night, hungry in the daytime, and take it for granted that this is life. The effect is often wistful — like seeing youngsters as they press their noses against a candy store window — but even when the strip is hard-hitting it is not bitter. One o f Brandon’s favorite topics in the strip — he says he uses it more often than any other — is the dual standard both Blacks and whites o f ten use to judge each other. Jobs, housing, education, integra tion, poverty programs — few areas are too sacred for Brandon’s probing pen. H ard Core — a character Bran don describes as som ew hat m i litant and able to survive through his knowledge o f street life — says his apartment building is integrated “ when the cops move in .” Job training? H ard Core also has a few piercing words about that. His uncle finished a training program but didn’t get work, he tells Luther. “ By the time the training was over, they had a M A C H IN E to do the jo b !” Brandon is aware that his pen hits some sensitive nerves among comic page readers. H e is surprised that mail response to Luther is largely en thusiastic and cheers him on. Almost a ll his m a il comes fro m w h ite readers. “ Black people have not yet become aware o f the importance o f letter w riting,” he says. “ Those who do write to me are young.” Critical mail comes mostly from (Please turn to Page 3 Colum n 1) Black Educational Center educates children by H erb L. Cawthorne A t a time when integration and busing are controversial issues in P o rtla n d , the Black E ducational Center represents an outstanding service to the Black community. Located at 4919 N .E . 17th, the Black Educational Center symbo lizes much that the Black community has been trying to say to the Port land Board o f Education. Here in this facility Black children learn w ith Black ch ildren. Black teachers teach Black children. The myth that Black children can only get a good education i f they are sitting next to white children — no matter what type o f family and personal dis ruptions they must suffer to do so — is dispelled forever. A look at the purpose o f the Black Educational Center reveals the per spective which has brought it suc cess. Sound Academ ic Program. The aim o f the BEC is to “ make students highly competent in the basic skills o f mathematics, reading and lan guage, history, science, geography, and political understanding.” It is proven, by test scores and personal testimony, that BEC students learn to read ahead o f their grade levels. Charlotte Williams, a parent at the school, says, “ I would recommend this school, first, because o f its ex cellent academic program.” In cen tives f o r S e lf-D is c ip lin e . Every day each child sets goals for achievements and at the end o f the day their progress is evaluated. This "self-evaluation” is a means to help students take responsibility for their learning. It is regular and consistent. T h e re is no le a rn in g w ith o u t discipline. Positive S elf-Im ag e. The Black Educational Center is committed to develo p in g p ositive self-im ages among Black children. The impor tance o f this cannot be overstated. As Black children are bused to white schools when they are very young, their appreciation o f themselves may not develop p ro p erly. They may become confused — especially if they are not involved in Black churches, clubs and organizations. A positive image among Black children w ill strengthen them, and their relations with white children will probably be (Please turn to page 2 col. 4)
