^o rtla n d j0 b sa rva ^^h u rsd a j< JF a b ru a rjH 6 O 9 7 9 P a fls 3
Future bleak fo r aging minorities
Racism adds another dimension to
the problems o f the minority poor.
Direct results o f racism are early
death, poverty, and poor health.
In recent years the trend in fund­
ing social programs has been to
ignore racial and ethnic differences.
At one time Model Cities and “ War
on Poverty” programs targeted mi­
nority populations in an attempt to
deliver services to people who had
not been served by traditional social
service agencies and who have special
needs because o f c u ltu ra l and
historical backgrounds.
One example o f this trend is in the
field of aging. In Portland, a highly
successful senior adult service
program in the Model Cities was
nearly dismantled and funds that had
been targeted at the minority aged
were d istrib u te d th rougho ut the
county on a per-capita basis. Under
the per capita concept, the elderly in
middle income white areas receive
the same funding as areas serving the
poor and minority populations. In
the poor minority areas the funds go
toward basic needs, while in the
middle class white area the funds are
used for recreation.
The D epartm ent o f H ealth,
Education and Welfare is currently
planning to change the emphasis in
program funding from the elderly to
a category called “ frail elderly,” the
definition o f which w ill be persons
who are age 75 or older with no con­
sideration o f social or health factors.
In an era o f attention to “ reverse
discrim ination,” the use race and
ethnicity in planning for delivery o f
social services is suspect. The reality
is that m inority aged have lower in­
comes. poorer housing, poorer
health, and less access to services be­
cause o f racism.
M inority people have suffered a
lifetime o f discrimination and depri­
vation. Most were deprived o f the
opportunity to hold good jobs and to
gain an education, some were strip­
ped o f th e ir culture and their
language. They had no opportunity
to plan for retirement or to insure
that they would be financially secure
in their later years.
Most older people are dependent,
at least in part, on Social Security for
their incom e. Because m in o rity
people were barred from employ­
ment o p p o rtu n itie s and Social
Security is based on earnings, and
because many were in employment
not covered by Social Security —
maids, household workers, farm
workers, etc. — their average Social
Security payments are smaller than
those o f whites. Nearly 55 percent o f
the 1.8 m illion Blacks aged 65 and
older had incomes below $2,500 in
1975, compared to 29 percent o f the
elderly whites. Average Social
Security benefits were $210 fo r
whites but $168 for Blacks. Because
o f racial d is c rim in a tio n in em­
ploym ent, fewer m inorities have
been able to supplement their
retirement income with private pen­
sions, annuities, dividends and in­
terest payments. In 1976 only one-
sixth o f all Black elderly families had
incomes from dividends, interests or
rent while two-thirds o f the white
families did.
M inority persons do not live to
collect the fu ll benefits o f Social Se­
curity that they have earned. The
average life span for Black males is
64.1 years, compared to 69.7 years
for white males. The life expectancy
o f males o f the other m in o rity
groups is even lower — therefore the
average minority male does not live
to draw his retirement benefits.
M inority people are more likely to
have severe health problems, to be
debilitated at earlier ages than whites.
Poor nutrition, lack o f medical care,
and long hours o f hard work —
mining, stoop work, hard labor —
have taken their toll. Racism restricts
the a v a ila b ility o f medical care.
Non w hite elderly die from
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cerebrovoscalar disease, cancer, dia­
betes and kidney infections at a
higher rate than elderly whites. Many
hospitals — especially in the South
— do not take elderly Black patients
and many minorities cannot afford
to pay the fees doctors charge above
the medicare limits.
M edicare is financed through
Social Security, so those persons who
are not eligible for Social Security
cannot receive medicare. There is an
in e q u ity in medicare, w ith the
average expenditure on minorities in
1974 at $321 and for whites at $560.
Part o f the difference is because
many elderly persons receiving
medicare are in nursing homes, but
nursing homes are overwhelmingly
white.
Another critical problem is the
shortage o f minority physicians and
the inability o f white doctors to un­
derstand cultural attitudes, practices
and values o f m inority people.
A nother problem facing the
m inority elderly because o f racism is
housing. Black aged are less apt
to own their own homes than whites,
and the value o f their homes tends to
be lower. Over 55 percent o f the
Black aged live in central cities,
where housing is more likely to be
deteriorated, as compared to 29 per­
cent o f the white elderly.
O f the 31 percent o f elderly Black
families living in rental units, six per-
(Please turn to Page 6 Column 1)
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N.E. 15th A FREMONT
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LLOYD CENTER
□□□□□ L L
Luther joins Observer
(Continued from Page 1 Column 6)
readers who take exception to a
single strip. Brandon finds most have
been stung by barbs aimed at their
own occupation. When a s trip
critical o f education for Blacks ap­
pears, he is likely to get angry re­
sponses from teachers.
The need fo r L u ther sprouted
early. Brandon cannot remember a
time, even before he started school,
when he has not drawn pictures.
When he was fourteen years old and
taking ar, at an all-Negro high school
in Washington, he decided to make
art his profession. After graduation
he enrolled as an art education major
at New York University.
He discovered in his first year at
the university, however, that his
professors were unwilling to criticize
the “ gag” cartoons he occasionally
sold to large circulation magazines
on the grounds that i f they sold they
were good and did not require criticism.
Brandon, who was supported by his
parents and not by his art, looked at
the matter somewhat differently. He
wanted professional advice so he
could increase his sales and reduce
parental subsidy. When this advice
was not forthcom ing, he dropped
out o f school.
It was not until his Army hitch end­
ed in 1952 that he sought and land­
ed a job as an artist. He was hired as
a beginning technical illustrator by a
Washington, D.C. firm .
“ An employment counselor re­
ferred me to the opening,” Brandon
says. “ He was Black, too, and aware
that we were both bucking the tide in
employment because o f our race. He
was so zealous about helping me get
the job as an illustrator that he called
me at home to remind me to comb
my hair before 1 went for an inter­
view. This annoyed me at the time,
but I now understand how dedicated
he was and how much he was trying
to help me.”
After a couple o f years Brandon
became the company’s assistant art
d ire c to r, and then moved on to
various aspects o f film work. Mean­
while, he nurtured an idea for a car­
toon strip with Black and white cha­
racters. It was not u n til 1968,
however, while spending a month in
the hospital to mend an ailing back,
that he realized that he was ready to
give birth — to Luther. Brandon’s
cartoon child first appeared in a New
York weekly newspaper and is now
syndicated daily.
Nowadays, three projects take up
most o f Brandon’ s tim e: A New
Y ork television program beamed
prim arily at inner-city children, lec­
tures to high school Black studies
classes, and Luther. Known on tele­
vision as “ M r. B .B .,” Brandon
shows youngsters how to make paper
puppets and other toys with simple
materials, teaches drawing, and illu­
strates stories as they are told.
In his school lectures, Brandon
promotes positive attitudes toward
being Black. He helps students ex­
plore areas where they can draw on
Black experiences and get positive
results. “ We can write stories, draw
comic strips, compose songs and
operas. There is great economic po­
tential in this Black resource o f
ours,” he says. As he talks, he does
chalk drawings o f Luther.
To students who assert that if they
were white they would have no prob­
lems, his response is: “ Just being
alive is a problem, no matter who
you are. Being Black only adds
another dimension. I f we fa il to
evaluate carefully things that happen
to us, the result may be disastrous.
We may blame race when something
else causes our difficulties.”
Brandon is not certain that during
the past year he has earned a living
with his enterprises. (His wife brings
home a regular salary as a school
teacher.) “ This is an experimental
year,” he says. “ I ’m still not sure
how well I ’ m doing, but I want to
find out i f it is economically feasible
for me to keep going with the kind o f
projects I now have.”
One project that brings him great
satisfaction — but no money — is
membership on the Emergence o f
Identify Forum, a part o f the prepa­
rations for the White House Con­
ference on Children and Youth this
month. Along with his fellow mem­
bers — a broadly representative
group including child psychologists,
church representatives, mothers,
pediatricians, early education
specialists, and the like — Brandon is
helping to d ra ft recommendations
for action by the Conference. The re­
commendations are aimed at helping
all children develop healthy and func­
tional self-identification during the
years before they reach the teens.
Whatever changes in his work
Brandon decides upon after this
year, giving up Luther is not likely to
be one o f them.
“ The Luther strip is me,” Bran­
don says.
Much o f Brandon’ s life experience
is packed into lines like these:
Luther — “ My Daddy was telling
me how im portant it is to set a
goal! He said a lot o f people don’ t do
that and they never get ahead!”
Have you set a goal, Hard Core?”
Hard Core — “ Sure . . . I want to
make it till tom orrow !”
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