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."