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Black elderly still lack mental health treatment
"F e w e r than 50 per cent o f the
Black elderly who are eligible ac
tually participate in social services
primarily because o f faulty program
design, poor administration and less
than effective c o o rd in a tio n ," ac
cording to Dr. Delores A . Davis-
Wang, president o f the N ational
Caucus and Center on the Black
Aged, Inc.
M in o rity group members are a
vulnerable popula tion. They fre-
qucntly bear the ills o f a lifetime o f
poverty, illness, stress and indignity.
Their vu lnerability is statistically
evident in their greater susceptibility
to mental and physical illness and
their shorter life expectancy.
- There are more than 2 m illion
Blacks age 65 and older, or 8 4 per
cent of all senior citizens in the US.
More than 55 per cent o f all Black
aged live in central cities.
- Elderly Blacks are more likely
than whites to be widowed and less
likely to be married.
- Blacks’ neighborhood and
housing choices are more restricted
than whites’ .
- In 1978 the median educational
level fo r Blacks 60 to 65 was just
above the 8th grade level. For
Blacks 75 and older, the median
educational level was slightly above
"fu n ctio n a lly illerate” (fifth grade
level).
T h irty -tw o per cent o f the
Blacks over 60 live in poverty.
- Seventy-eight per cent o f Black
women are poor or near poor.
- Forty percent o f Blacks over 60
were employed as service workers.
- In 1977 the life expectancy for
Black males was 64.6 years.
M ental health is a serious
problem fo r older Americans, es
pecially for Blacks. Persons 85 and
older have the highest suicide rates
and depression, the most serious
mental illness, rises markedly after
age 65.
Mental health care for the elderly
is largely lacking partially do to a
bias against mental illness in
medicare and m edicaid policy.
Although some experts estimate that
from 20 to 25 per cent o f all persons
over 65 have some mental health
problem, they are only 2 per cent of
the private patients and 4 per cent o f
patients treated at mental health
clinics. Psychologists and others o f
ten dagnose the elderly as "senile**
and fail to offer treatment.
Older Blacks and other minorities
receive comparatively little service
in comparison to their needs. Quite
often practicioners do not under
stand their special needs and there
(ends to be a widespread resistance
to mental health services by the
Black aged because o f negative con
notations and stigma.
PORTLAND OBSERMER
55
USPS 959-680-855
Legislators invited to to speak
The P ortland Observer w ill
sponsor a series o f legislative break
fasts to enable citizens to meet their
elected representatives and discuss
the issues before the legislature.
Legislators w ill make short
presentations on legislation assigned
to their com m ittees, o f special
significance to this com m unity, or
o f interest to the legislator. A
discussion period will follow.
The guests for February 7th are
Senator B ill M cCoy, D istrict 8;
Representative How ard C herry,
House D istrict 14; and Represen
tative Jim Chrest, House D istrict
15.
Senator M cCoy is chairman o f
the Senate Committee on Human
Resources and Aging and is a mem
ber o f the Elections and the In
surance/ Banking/Retirement com
mittees. He has been in the
legislature since 1973.
Representative Howard Cherry,
M .D. serves on the Ways and Means
Com m ittee. He has represented
District 14 since 1971.
Representative Jim Chrest is
chairman o f the House Committee
on Labor and is a member o f the
Education Com m ittee. He has
represented District 15 since 1975.
Senators and Representatives o f
the northeast Portland districts will
be invited to attend future meetings,
as well as the leadership, chairmen
o f committees hearing bills o f
special im portance to the Black
com m unity, and proponents/op-
ponents o f controversial legislation
such as the death penalty and the
racial harassment bill.
The no-host breakfast meetings
w ill be held every other Saturday,
beginning February 7th, at 9:30
a.m. at Bourbon Street Restaurant,
Grand and Wiedler.
Ex-offenders seek programs
Jam es D eP rlest talks w ith p artic ip a n ts in the
N A A C P A C T SO c o m p e titio n . D eP rlest told the
te e n a g e rs . " T h e re are a lw a y s goin g to be h u r
dles...th e surest w ay to ba strong Is to overcom e
them ."
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
DePriest launches ACT-SO
Grassroot News, N .W . - Last
Saturday the N A A C P ACT-SO
competitions took place at the Matt
Dishman Community Center. ACT-
SO is an acronym fo r A fro -
Academic C ultural Technological
and S cientific O lym pics. It is
designed to discover, develop, and
reward academic achievement
among Black high school students.
There ar6 two areas o f competition:
Arts and Humanities which range
from dance to sculpture, and the
Sciences,
which
include
mathematics and architecture. The
guest speaker fo r c o m p e titio n ’ s
orientation
was M r.
James
DePriest, Conductor o f the Oregon
Symphony Orchestra.
In his address, Mr. DePriest cited
that this generation o f youths fails
to have a sense o f history. "W e
forgot about the people who were
there when it was incredibly d if
fic u lt. 1 think o f my grandmother
who used to take in washing, scrub
steps and floors so that her daughter
could pay fo r her singing lessons.
She had no idea that her daughter
would be Marian Anderson.
"T o d a y, there are scholarships;
today i t ’ s much easier to that
anyone over the age o f 50 who hears
anyone young complaining from the
vantage point o f h istory, can
laugh...because those who came
before you had it much harder,
therefore, given the responsibility
that is put on us, it is inescapable
that we have to perform.
"T h e re is no doubt the Black ex
cellence in the area o f popular per
form ing arts and in the area o f
sports is unquestionable. The main
thing to remember is that there are
no doors between you and anything
you want to do, but everything has
its price.
"T o d a y , i t ’ s very d iffic u lt fo r
anyone to tell you that you can’ t
and get away w ith it. This
generation has a golden o p p o r
tunity, and for you to realize how
golden it is, talk with your parents
and your grandparents.
"W h e n we talk about paying
dues, it’s not only important to ap
preciate what other people have
done, but fo r you to understand
where you’ re at in a whole line o f
people. You’ re not the first teen
agers.”
M r. DePriest concluded: “ There
are always going to be hurdles,
problems and d iffic u ltie s . The
surest way to be weak is to talk
about the problems and the surest
way to be strong is to overcome
them.”
Members o f the Northwest Ex
offenders Association demonstrated
at C ity H all, Friday, January 23,
protesting the bu ild in g o f a new
prison and the lack of other needed
projects.
Nathaniel Scott, Frank Turney,
and W illiam (Peter) Potter, demon
strated because o f the Governor and
Mayor’ s recent statements regarding
a new prison and the crime rate in
crease.
The hostages, who wre greeted
with a flyer, point to the necessity
for programs within Oregon’s penal
system and for others for the transi
tion and re-entry phase.
Transition, as some psychologists
and sociologists are saying, is a long
and turbulent process that requires
many hours o f dedicated work.
A paragraph in the flie r passed
out said: " B u ild in g a new prison
that will cost between $85 and $100
m illio n to be follow ed by others
when those are over crowed, is to
ved by The Albina Action Agency.
The organizations — A lbina
Ministerial Alliance, Black United
Front, N ational Business League,
C rib , A lb in a W om en’ s League,
Portland O IC , A lbina Fair Share
and Project Return -- complained
that they had not been involved in
he planning for the new Community
Action Agency. The agency -- which
w ill replace PMSC -- will serve as a
conduit for federal CSA funds. The
Urban League represented the old
T A A C area on the planning com
mittee.
"T h e turbulence o f re-entry is
suffered by all who have been con
fined. The transition and re-entry
in to society is just as crucial fo r
Oregon’ s inmates as it is for the 52
ex-hostages.”
Prisoners released from Oregon’ s
prisons must have the same decom
pression chamber and transitional
help i f they are to integrate in to
society and become w orthw hile
citizens.
I f prisons were the answer to
crime and recidivism there would be
no need for them.
Re-direction through self-worth,
not bitterness and hatred, w ill rid
the need fo r many and begin the
task o f rehabilitation.
The Northwest Ex-offenders
Association is designed to help the
individual reintegrate into society
through programs o f self-w orth,
different types o f positive assertion
techniques and the ability to interact
with others.
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Organizations protest CSA planning grant awards
Several organizations have
protested to Region X o f the Com
munity Service Agency that the CSA
Planning Grant fo r the proposed
Portland Community Action Agen
cy was awarded to PACT and that a
planning grant was awarded to the
Urban League fo r developing
programs for the area formerly ser
continue to build upon an ideology
that has failed for over 120 years.”
Said Frank Turney, “ The crime
increase rate should not be blamed
on the release o f inmates alone,
because crime, the same as other
aspects o f government, reflects the
inflation rale.”
The state owes the taxpayers a
debt o f workable programs that will
rehabilitate and stop releasing into
society people who are more bitter
than when they were sent to prison.
"Blacks should be seriously con
cerned about O regon’ s prison
system because of the safety and the
well being o f the community, as well
as the disproportionate number o f
Blacks sent to prison,” Scott said.
Programs are needed within all of
the state’ s institutions; programs
designed to build self-w orth, jo b
search techniques, budget planning,
how to interact w ith others, and
other programs that w ill eliminate
hostile feelings.
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The grant received by the Urban
League is for development o f plans
to serve the poor in the greater
northeast.
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Employer dues to discriminatory clubs barred
The U.S. Labor Department has
issued final rules setting guidelines
for federal contractors who pay em
ployee dues to private clubs with
discriminatory membership policies,
the department announced.
In finalizing the regulations, the
departm ent’ s O ffic e o f Federal
Contract Compliance Programs
(OFCCP) contends that those
barred from club membership
because o f their race, color, sex,
religion, or national origin are often
restricted in job opportunities as a
result.
Futhcrmore, those who belong to
such clubs have access to valuable
business connections and promotion
potential, among other advantages.
OFCCP’ s rules make membership
fee payment to discriminatory clubs
a v io la tio n o f Executive order
11246, which protects the job rights
o f women and racial, ethnic and
relgious m inorities employed by
government contractors.
Under the new rules, employers
will have the opportunity to present
evidence that the payment o f mem
bership fees on biased clubs does
not result in business to professional
advantages to subsidized employees
whose fees have been paid.
Subsidized membership shown to
have no impact on job promotions
and other benefits will be permitted.
The regulations w ill not prevent
contractors from dire ctly con
trib u tin g to biased charitable,
service or other organizations where
no jo b advantage results to par
ticipating employees, nor will it bar
employees from maintaining mem
bership at their own expense.
N ath an iel S co tt, Frank Turney and W illiam
(Pata) Potter demonetrete In front of City Hall on
behalf of the atate’e prleonera coming out of "eap-
•"
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
Lincoln High School students study abroad
Four Lincoln H igh School
students have been selected to study
abroad.Marla McLeod, daughter o f
Mrs. Gail N. McLeod w ill study in
Brazil and Suzanne LaGrande,
daughter o f M r. and M rs. Dan
LaGrand, w ill study in The P hilip
pines. The sophomores are spon
sored by Rotary International.
M arry Wood, a ju n io r, daughter
o f M r. and M rs. Richard W ood,
w ill study in B o livia in the AFS
program . Angela Eddy, a ju n io r,
daughter o f M r. and Mrs. Rodger
Eddy was awarded a year n Chile by
the Experim ent in In ternation al
Living.
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