Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 30, 1984)
Page 4 Portland Observer, May 30, 1984 EDITORIAL/OPINION Sub-wage no solution President Reagan has come up w ith a proposal to chop the m in im u m wage fo r teenagers this summer fro m $3.35 to $2.50 per h ou r. Supposedly, this re d u ctio n w o u ld en courage employers to hire more o f those under 20 and create additional jobs at the same time. We doubt this w ill occur. Black unemployment, as everyone knows, is high and getting higher. Black teenage unem ployment is astronomical; current estimates put it at 45%. In March, 1984, (hat figure translated into at least 500,000 Black teenagers looking for either part-time or summer work. Reagan says lowering the minimum wage will create 400,000 new jobs, yet we fear the incen tive fo r em ployers w ill be to “ trade in ” their minimum-wage adult employees (who are now getting $3.35 per hour) fo r those under 20 who could legally be paid less. C u rre n tly , at least 5 m illio n A m erican workers are getting the m inim um wage. Adults make up 70% o f this group and the m ajority are women. O ften, these workers are supporting a fam ily on the minimum-wage pay check. They need the job to survive. This is not to say teenagers shouldn’ t have these jobs because they don’t need the income as much. But it doesn’t take a mathematician to see that paying $2.50 per hour is more attractive to most employers than paying $3.35. W ho needs the job the most isn’t likely to be an employer’ s prime consideration. Reagan’s proposal addresses this problem by penalizing employers who fire older workers in order to hire younger, less expensive, help, but significant loopholes exist. So much so that the proposal is called the “ M cD o n a ld 's B ill” in government circles. We suspect that multinational fast food chain and others like it would benefit much more from a su b-m in im u m wage than unem ployed teenagers. " They said I have an acute case of Reaganitis. ” lack victory discounted The recent a tte n tio n paid to Ed Lee k’ s political defeat by political writer, foster Church, discounts the ro le the Black co m m u n ity played in M a rg a ret C a rte r’ s v ic to ry and the organization it took to get her elected. The tone and attention o f C hurch’ s opinion puts a p o litic a l halo over L e e k’ s head and surrounds him with an aura o f innocence. Cer tain facts, w h ich the P o rtla n d O bserver disseminated during our pre-election coverage, need to be considered when assessing Leek’ s loss. This defeat in District 18 was orchestrated by a co m b ina tio n o f the u n ity in the Black com m unity, his abrasive and arrogant personality, and the issues he supported which were not in the best interest o f a ll residents in District 18. His arrogance was displayed throughout the campaign. On the morning o f the last day to file for political office, Leek called Ronnie Herndon and asked fo r support if he decided to run for M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty C le rk . H erndon said “ N o ,” and Leek filed fo r re-election as State Representative for District 18. Representative Jim H ill sent us a “ letter to the e d ito r” May 9th, disassociating himself from Leek who used a picture o f H ill in his campaign literature without H ill’s permission. The unethical use o f title by Leek’ s form er legislative assistant (May 10, Portland Observer) resulted in an official reprimand by the chair o f the Democratic party o f Oregon. Leek raised eyebrows in the community when he campaigned in New Hampshire fo r George McGovern. He was representing a district where the rainbow co a litio n o f Jesse Jackson’ s can didacy drew its colors. In the W illa m e tte Week newspaper’ s legislative ra tin gs, Leek was scored “ below average’ ’ by 24 in d iv id u a ls in c lu d in g lo b byists, newsreporters, legislative staffers and legislators. Leek was also part o f the legislative process that signed the “ Juvenile D etention” b ill into law. The effect was the release o f a teenaged rapist, to the dismay o f our Woodlawn neigh bors. Too much credit is given to the Alliance for Economic Development’ s endorsement o f and donation to ($1,500) Margaret Carter’s campaign, coupled w ith her recent victory. We doubt if any o f its members voted in District 18. There is not enough attention being paid to the support o f Black Oregonians fo r Business—a p olitical action committee which funds Black politicians who can balance business concerns w ith progressive change fo r A lro -A m c ric a n s in Oregon. Also, let’s not forget the money Carter’s cam paign raised in teas, coffees and fro m neighborhood contributions which far exceeded the money from the Alliance. Ed Leek’s concern for progressive reform in the state need not keep him awake at n ig h t. Margaret is accessible and answerable to all For someone who bears no grudges, a con g ra tu la to ry phone call or letter to C arter re mains to be written or heard. Miskito problem misunderstood by America (Continuedfrom page 2. column 4) lacks and the technology involved took the Sandinistas by surprise '* The government’s response to the contra activity was to clear a free- fire zone along the Rio Coco (a river along the Nicaragua-Honduras bor der). This displaced 40-some Indian villages, according to W ilde, and though some Indians were glad to move away from the contra attacks, some were not happy with the relocation. “ They took the Indians to a set tlement camp they called ‘Tasba P ri’—it means ‘ free land’ in the In dian language—-about SO miles south of the river. There were about 8-9,000 people. They had to walk overland because there are no roads in the area. These are the 'forced marches’ Jeanne Kirkpatrick (U S . Ambassador to the U .N .) talked about.” Adding to the propaganda value of (he resettlement was the fact that an additional 8-9,000 Indians went north into Honduras instead. Wilde said, during I9R2, these refugees I were massed into one camp in Hon duras, overseen by the U .N . High Commission on Refugees. “ Con dirions were bad. The contras used it as a recruiting ground.” The Honduran Government has since allowed some of the Indians to settle villages further up the river M eanw hile, contra attacks into Nicaragua continued; Miskito still in Nicaragua would provide in fo r mation to the contras and the San dinistas would then come in, arrest the Indians for “ com plicity" and jail them. This set up a vicious cycle that further deteriorated the relationship between the Indians and the San- dinista government, she said. “ By November, I9R Î, there were about 400 Miskito prisoners in the Managua area," Wilde said. "There were trials, some under rather questionable circumstances, but there were no executions,” she stressed. M ediation began between the churches and the Sandinistas. "They were receptive. On December P ortland‘s largest black-ownednewspaper ! ! News fo r and about you. ■ a Mail to a a a i (Continued next week) Support our advertisers Say You Saw It in The PO R TLAN D ORSER VER Subscribe today! PORTLAND OBSERVER I I I- I, 198J, they let everybody out of prison They declared a general am nesty for the Indians There are about 13-20,000 in Honduras now; only a few have returned ” Wilde emphasized the situation now is one o f “ slow building o f dialogue" between the churches and the government. "T h e government has just remarkably realized their mistake with the Indians, ’’ she said “ They seem to have stopped the sweep arrests. This indicaies a change in policy.” Nature o f Black families debated by Dr. Manning Marable “From The Grassroots" By John E. Jacob, President National Urban league. Inc. Congress will shortly consider a bill proposing to allow employers to pay young people under the age of 22 a 52 50 hourly wage during the summer months— 25% below the current m inimum wage. The National Urban League has long opposed a youth subminimum wage, based on careful study of the issue. O ur position reflects the evidence that employers do not currently make use of legal exemp tions to the m inimum wage laws, the danger o f displacing adult workers, and the refusal o f em ployers to hire disadvantaged youth, among others. When considering this bill. Congress should ask why a subminimum wage would create S ta te , V ■ y .■t-ìSti. 1 , • z .*■' 'glkßCfe' xa8«SP aP «8 r N L * Tha Portland Observer wax estabhxhert m 1970 Subecriptiona *16 00 per year in tha Tri-County arsa Poat m a tte r Sand addreaa changea to tha Portland Observer. P 0 Box 3137, Portland, dragon 97208 Alfred L. Henderson, Editor/Publisher A l Williams, Advertising Manager Attociatien - founded 1885 I z i ,. o - “ Tha P ortlan d Observe/ fU S P S 969 6801 la published every Thursday by f il e Publishing Company. Inc . 2201 North Killings worth, Portland. dragon 97217, Poal Office Box 3137. Portland, dragon 97208 Second claaa postage paid at Portland, dragon Address C ity___ unreasonable to expect 22-year olds, many with family responsibilities, to be denied even a m inimum wage that produces below-poverty-level income for year-round workers. W orker protection must also be built in to such an ex p e rim e n t-h e a lth and safety laws must be complied with by em ployers, and the young workers in the experiment should be exempted from taxes, including (he social security tax, to restore some of the income lost by the differential wage rates. The subminimum wage never was a good idea. It still isn’t. It would be tragic for Congress to enact sweeping legislation o f this sort without first testing it in a carefully designed pilot research program of temporary duration. Portland Observer M» MT» I ♦ member N a r w ________ jobs for disadvantaged youth when an array o f tax credits and other generous incentives to employers has not? A subm inim um wage would weaken the wage base of all workers without creating many new jobs for disadvantaged youth. It would simply stigmatize them as second-rate workers earning second- rate wages. I f Congress is determined to go ahead with some form o f sub minimum wage legislation, it should be lim ited to a carefully targeted pilot project, involving no more than a handful of cities for a sharply limited time period, and it should have as its purpose research into the direct and indirect effects o f a sub minimum wage. The experiment should be restric ted to teenagers o nly— it is Yea, I would lika a aubacription to tha Portland Observer. I have enclosed my check or money order for $15, for a one year subscription. during slavery has continued into the twentieth century. The Black community itself is an institutional extension o f fam ily life. These in ternal structures develop for Black children “ a sense of mastery,” a set of interpersonal skills, and acquire social and technical a b ility . The ultim ate socioeconomic and p olitical function o f the Black family, Billingsley asserts, is to per petuate the continued existence of Black people, to provide the necessary c u ltu ra l, social and in tellectual foundations to preserve the com m unity’ s integrity, and to help to promote the improvement in the immediate material environment in which Blacks must exist. In The Strengths o f black Families, Robert H ill observes that Black fam ilies manifest stronger kinship bonds than white families, a social tra it illustrated “ in the higher frequency to which Black fam ilies take relatives into their households." H ill argues that this tight kinship network provides crucial em otional and economic strength which is missing in a middle class, nuclear fam ily unit. M oreover, the extended fam ily creates great fle x ib ility in fam ily roles, in part dictated by economic necessity. Children learn to assume key responsibilities at an earlier state of development than white suburban youth. And surveys of low-income Black families also in dicate a "high achievement orien ta tio n ,” according to H ill. A majority of Black working class and poor parents provide support for the children to succeed in school, contrary to Moynihan’s thesis. Sub-minimum wage cheats teens PLEASE PRINT Portland Observât Box 3137 Portland Oregon 97208 largely to resolve the basic con tra d ic tio n — what is happening to Black families, and why? The current debate concerning the Black fam ily is curiously a repetition of a two-decade old con troversy surrounding the “ Moynihan R epo rt” o f M arch, 1965 Daniel Patrick M o yn ih an , then Assistant Secretary o f Labor (now Democratic U.S. Senator from New Y o rk) drafted mem o, " T h e Negro Fam ily: The Case for N ational A c tio n ,” which argued that "at the height of deterioration of the fabric of Negro society is the deterioration of the family. It is the fundamental source of weakness of the Negro community at the present tim e .” In a ream o f statistics, Moynihan noted darkly that one- fourth o f “ Negro births are ille g itim a te '*; one-quarter o f all Black households were then “ headed by wom en'*; and that Black youths "consistently perform p oo rer" on intelligence tests than while children. For Moynihan, the statistics'declared that the Black family's pathological development since slavery had created a generation o f Blacks who were “ inadequately prepared for life" in capitalist America. In the past decade, a new generation o f liberal and radical sociologists— Andrew Billingsley, Robert B. H ill, Joyce Ladner, Frank Reissman, and many others— have attempted to correct the myths about Black fam ilies. Billingsley has observed that the sense of cooperation, the importance o f community and a commitment to the common good which were part o f early Black fam ily life Last m o nth’s “ Black Fam ily Summit Conference" held in Nash ville, sponsored jo in tly by the N A A C P and N atio n al Urban League highlighted perhaps the major social controversy discussed within the national Black com m unity. As outlined in their con ference announcement, N A A C P executive director Benjamin L. Hooks and League president John E. Jacob noted that the sessions would endeavor to set “ priorities and strategies to preserve the strengths of Black families.” Behind the conference call was a series of disturbing social statistics on the current plight o f Black families. Since 1964, the percentage of two-parent families has dropped from 75 percent to 53 percent. The Black divorce rale is double that of whiles, and about half of all Black males over age 18 have never been m arried, separated, divorced or widowed. More than h alf o f all Black children are now born out of wedlock, compared to only 21.6 percent of all Black children in I960. Since I9 6 0 , the number of Black families headed by women has increased by over 300 percent, and over 60 percent of these families live in poverty. In the past eight years, the number of Black families without fathers has increased by 700,(MX). Even Black middle class fam ilies, once touted as nearly a “ majority” of all Black households, have declined according to Urban I eague statistics to only 16 percent of all Black families. The conference generated a number of papers on a variety of themes, from "Patterns o f C hild R earing” to "Jobs and Economic S e c u rity ," but failed r M i i- r •» " 283-2486 N a tio n a l A d v e rtis in g R e p re s e n ta tiv e Amalgamated Publishers Inc N e w York
