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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 19, 1985)
H re ip e r r rances .r s lty o f o re ?oca on L i b r a r y 97403 PORTLAND OBSERMER u I H m m Volume XV, Number 34 June 19, 1965 2SC Copy Two Sections !« Sub-min wage attacked by Norm an H ill Conservatives both Black and white have long argued that poor people do not benefit in the long run from Welfare and other "in te rfe r ences in the free m arket” such as minimum wage laws; rather they ure priced out o f the labor market and they become sucked into a cycle o f dependency. For example, the Black conservative Thomas Sowell has attributed the rise in Black teen age unemployment in comparison with white teenage unemployment since the 1950s to the use in the m in imum w age. A grim Mayor Wilson QooOe answers ques tions from reporters regerOtng the who, what <» h J why of the tactical bootfxntf aixf hte that Oeetroyed 61 honres, leewury 250 homefessu Such arguments have resulted in many policy prescriptions. The latest to be pushed in a big way is the youth subminimum wage bill, which is Philly foul-up falls on Goode by Laoita Duke G RASSROOT NEW S, N W - The mabtlity of the bureaucracy in Phil adetphia, Pennsylvania, to handle, respond or control a cult known as MOVE led to the historical police bombing of their compound on 62nd a id Osage Thai bomb ignited a destructive firestorm that destroyed 61 homes and created 260 urban refugees T h e history o f M O V E in Philed eip hia MOVE, a name - not an acronym — was formed during the early part of 1970 by Vincent Leaphart, who later changed h « name to John Africa, v ri D o n a « Gbeeey. a w M te social w o rk « . Basically, MOVE is a back to nature, anarchistic cult who believe aminate and man are the same They eet raw vegetables, raw meet and abhor nKidern technology One of the MOVE'S teachings re quire women to give birth naturally, bite off the umbilical cord with their teeth and lick their babies clean with their tongues Chuck Stone, a columnist tor the Philadelphia Daily News, described MOVE as a cult or Man. ' dsOceted to making a symbiotic alliance with Mother Nature they believe in re cycling the earth s resources and that human bedings belong in their natural habitat "They were an exotic aberration like the hippieds of the 50s and SO until they became «iggressive and hostile, Stone added Ray Mahwi. a poet and community acme«, became ta r n * « w rit MOVE m 1971 after MOVE led a march to the Philadelphia Zoo to protest the caging In a dasMC photo o» pote» brutality, Oaibart Afnca « bam« kichad by Phtladaiphia Pobca. of animals They also believe in con frontation with the system ’’ Skobi Maturxle, communication chairperson from the PhiUxlwli>r>id Information and Education Coak tion, said a component of this con frontational philosophy was the use of urban street profanity as their "official language " "They used language that would anger anyone MOVE stated the reason they did it was that they want ed to show society its own mad ness," Matunde added Stone said MOVE has received at tention far out of proportion to their membership, respectability and im pact on society "Their only impact is like a terrorist hoM ng a city at bay W M a Amanca te taeoneted w«h M O VE It's M * a form of self flagellation Penodx aitv they have to excise the evil spirit out of them In between these interludes they practice the most insidious forms of racism The magxity of W hite America endorsee he Reagan Ad ministration A lot of whites think MOVE is representative of Black pen pie. I'» be shocked if they have more than 2 6 m e m b a n ." sari Stone One MOVE supporter explained W e are about life and total revolu bon W e re about wiping this system out, and not forming another one be cause John Africa teaches us there am t nothing as a system All systems are corrupt " The* confrontational gote made them easy targets tor the police A clash in 1976 left a baby Life Africa, deed Reporters and politicians were invited into the MOVE house and shown the baby's corpse This wes reportedly the event that acceterated the aggressive confrontational mood of MOVE On August 8. 1978, 300 poke« and firefighters arrived at a MOVE house located m the Poweiton ViMege area, one yew a ft« a 90-day bicckege faded to remove MOVE from the* house a ft« some neighbors com piemed of odors and rats W ith a bettering ram as th e* w ee pon. foMowed by w e t « and t e « g « - officiate assaulted the house a ft« MOVE faded to vacate the premise " F - k a court o rd « l" they repked to officiais The swge «u p te d mto a gun battle between police end MOVE Official j« n e s Ramp was tubed MOVE w o men end naked cM dren enwnjed from the house Delbert Africa cam e out wet 1«. fiantte up dixt was qrabtieil and kicked by police Hours lalei the house was bulldozed A police riot against the Black neiqhborbixxJ next to 'tie now bull dozed MOVE house went unreported by the local press However Jane Mancini, an independent film pro d u e «, documents the police assault m her 1981 award winning documen tary MOVE Confrontation in Phil adelphia ’ In 1980, nine MOVE members were found guilty of thud iJegree murder m a 19 week trial which was one of the longest and costliest in the city's history Each was sentenced to prison terns of 30 to 100 years MOVE'S co fo u n d « Glassey turned government informant and John Africa was arrested on federal bomb making and not charges Africa, who defended himself was acquitted At nca has since gone undwground VMwre e John Africa? 'That's MOVE'S busmess Bui he's here." repked one MOVE supporter Irwiy at '» » of tt«e rwnaraig MOVE compounds. City of Brotherfy Love? The pokce beeong of DeKwrt Afnca was « a • » W> of the x a tw g m t e n s of pukce brutakty m Pfxby In 1981. the U S Dspartneot of Jusbce Nad a class acbor i sort fcjr vx Xatx x e of ervi ngfits by the Pfikadelphia pokce chef and Mayor Frank Rizzo The charges were let« (topped Mevor Frank Rizzo was trymg to rem Phdy »ito a pokce state. I vwmdw if he succeeded,' stated one iw tte n R bzo <kn M ay » Goode, dedered ww on MOVE Pm » to the asswXt on Powebon Vfcge. Rizzo, cangwgnmg m South Ptfcdelphia sari. Whites are (Continued on Page 9i Duke gets award Lamia Duke, news director o f Grassroot News, N .W ., recently re ceived a national award from Trans- A frica fo r her consistent and hard hitting reports, articles and editorials about South A frica. “ I ’d like to thank the management o f 77ie Portland Observer, profes sional photographer Richard Brown and Portlanders Organized for Sou thern A frican Freedom.” * meant to combat teenage unemploy ment, especially Black teenage un employment . The bill would allow youth undet 20 to replace older workers. Propon ents o f the bill say it would create -MX),(XX) new jobs and give many un employed youth sorely-needed ex perience in developing work habits and discipline. There are serious Haws in this plan. Even Waller W illiams, the Black conservative economist who has long advocated a subminimum wage for youth, when he was asked some years ago, “ How many more jobs for teen agers might he creaied with a sub- minimum wage’’ ” replied; "T here’s no theoretical evidence to answer that question. It all relates to what econo mists call “ elasticity” — the response o f employment to wage increases or decreases — and thai cannot be rnea sured very well ” In other words, he doesn’t know — which is more than some proponents o f this hill will admit The idea that a subminimum youth wage would create jobs and not dis place older workers is very hard to be lieve People who are working at the minimum wage are already at the margins o f the workforce, in jobs that are by their nature not permanent Employers w ill not find more low- skilled jobs to offer merely because they can legally pay $2.50 an hour. However, if they can get away with firing their $3.3S-an hour workers and replacing them with the cheaper teenagers, they may very well do so. It is highly unlikely that such em ployers w ill he caught. There is al ready a form o f youth subminimum — it’ s called a student subminimum, and it ’s set at $2.85 an hour. In 20 years the Department o f Tabor has not sanctioned one employer for displacing an older worker to hire a student. The subminimum bill cannot real ly create jobs; it can only depress wages at the bottom level o f the labor market. The minimum wage itself has become an ipso factor subminimum, since it has steadily (alien with respect to the average wage It fell from 51 percent o f the avetage wage in the 19fi(X to 45.8 percent in the 1970s — and today is 40.7 percent According to Sowell’s thesis, then, Black youth unemployment ought to have (alien during the 70s and 80s. hut instead it was skyrocketing. Proponents o f the bill are also ignoring the fact that a large percent age o f businesses are already exempt from minimum wage laws — mainly small businesses, which employ a third o f the workforce. That’ s not counting employment in ihe “ under ground” economy. The real causes o f I he rise in black yxxith unemployment over the decades can be traced to some large trends, such as the mechanization o f agricul ture in the rural South; the decline o f smokestack industries and all its ef fects on the Black comm unity; Ihe tightening o f the job market in the 1970s and 80s; the exit from cities o f the Black middle classes, portions ot which traditionally provided an in fo r mal job network; and the growth o f the "underclass." The government must take on the dilficult tasks o f promoting economic develoment and initiating greater educational and job opportunities for those who need it most. The sub- minimum wage is simply anothet way for the Reagan administration to avoid dealing with the real problems Gov. to decide fate of HB 2001 by Nathaniel Scott S A l.E M — " I certainly hope the Governor w ill listen to the people o f this state," said Rep. Margaret Carter, in response to the I,(XX) post cards delivered to Gov. Vic A liyeh’ s office Monday. The postcards, which urged the Governor Io sign H B 2<X>l — Ihe divesture hill — were collcclged from churches, civic organizations and stu dents at Portland State University. They represented a portion o f the postcard campaign inhaled by the Oregon Rainbow Organizing C om mittee Additional cards, possibly as many as 5,0(X), are expected to he either hand delivered or mailed to the Governor’ s office. Members from Portland State University, Lewis and Clark College, Reed College. POSAF (Portlanders Organized for Southern African Freedom) and the Oregon Rainbow Organizing Committee, said at a news conference that preceeded delivery o f Ihe cards to the Governor’s office, "W e feel strongly that Oregon is now in a morally indefensible position.” He added that "O regon is profiling from the exploitation o f Black people in South A fric a ." Anderson also announced that the five anti-apartheid groups will hold weekly Wednesday and Friday dem onstrations at Portland’s state office building, 1400 SW 5lh Avenue, until final action on the b ill has been taken. The twice weekly demonstrations are from I2 nix in until I p.m. The bill before the Governor is a revised version. It calls for two spe cific actions: Phase I and Phase II Phase I. which runs from July I. 1985 to June 30. 1987, orders the State Treasurer to divest investment funds from "hanks continuing to lend directly to companies owned by or headquartered in the Republic of South A frica; hanks continuing to lend directly to the government o l the Republic o f South A frica; (and) in vestments in slixks and bonds o f companies owned by or headquar lered in ihe Republic o f South At rtca.” Phase II is much broader and would require the Slate Treasurer, between July I, 1985 and June 30, 1990, to "p n xe e d in an orderly man tier to divest funds in slixks and bonds in the United States and inter national companies doing business in ihe Republic o f South A fric a ." The Statesman Journal in its edi tonal, Monday, June 17, said, "T h e hill (H B 2(X)I) has not yet become law. Gov. Atiyeh, concerned more than most Oregon governors have been about the state’s economic well bang, hasn’t decided yet whether to scuttle it. We suggest he consult both the state’ s stock p o rtfo lio and his own conscience before picking up his pen. "W e are not setting precedent. Other states and major cities with far more at stake than Oregon have adopted divesture laws aimed direct ly at South A frica and Namibia Twenty-four other states are con sidering those sanctions ai present." Rep Jim H ill from District 31 in Salem, said, “ House Bill 2001 makes a statement against the evil o f apartheid."