Page 2, Section II. Portland Observer, February 25, 198/ .Living With Poverty. by Y von ne W haley There w a s a tim e w h e n all Black people u n d e rsto o d w h at cla ss" m eant There w as the upperclass "h o u s e fo lk ” and th e low erclass "fie ld fo lk ." N ext ta m e the have and the have n o ts M o re rece ntly w e had the elite and the in dig en t C u rre n tly, it's the b tip p ie s and the underclass W h a t does th is n e w b u zzw o rd , "u n d e rc la s s ” m ean? W h a t m akes it m ore descriptive, m ore d e fin itive , tha n any o f the others? A fte r all. the con cep t is n 't new , even the Bible in fo rm e d us th a t the re w o u ld alw ays be poor people We have to back up a bit to the beginning of this century. Public de ba te a b o u t h o w to solve the pro blem o f p o v e rty and do aw ay w ith labels had basically been co lo re d by the p h ilo sop hies o f Booker T W a s h in g to n and W E B O uBois O uB ois took the co lle ctive stance that Blacks w ere the v ic tim s o f seem ingly un changeable social, racial, and eco nom n. policies, w h ile W a s h in g to n felt tha t personal e ffo rt or self help w o u ld im p ro ve one s life W h e n this happened, a ripple e ffe ct w o u ld therefore be tte r the p o s itio n o f the entire race O uBois belief th a t the "ta le n te d te n th " w o u ld o ve rco m e , or at least lessen th e p o litica l racism th ro u g h legal m eans, fo ste re d the b irth o f the N A A C P T h o u g h W a s h in g to n urg e d B lacks to ' ect and even un resp ectab le W h e n the dem o gra ph ic s tru c tu re o f the U S w.ts changer) try th e Great M ig ra tio n W ash m g to n ’s th e m e was d o o m e d centers rose ph en om arially, and C h ica g o 's S ou thsid e becam e the largest Black n e ig h b o rh o o d in th e U S A . w ith som e eigh t m iles by fou r m iles in area. N o w . som e tw o ge ne ration s later, th o se same areas tha t w ere hu stlin g w ith com m e rce are filled w ith b u ild in g s th a t are boarded up or c o ve te d by heavy g ra tin g W h a t happened? It is a w ell k n o w n sto ry W h ite flig h t m eans urban b lig h t "Urban renew al m eans N egro rem o val B oth rhym es are p a rtially true A fte r W o rld W ar II w h ite s t>eyan to flee the citie s fo r tfie suburbs, and those Blacks w h o co u ld , m ove d in to the tretter (i e w h ite ) neighbor hoods U n scrup ulo us realtors helped this ne w m ig ra tio n along th ro u g h block b u stin g In a d d itio n , ne w civil rig h ts le g isla tio n in the 60 s saw the em ergence o f fair ho using agencies This enabled m ore m id d le . lass Blacks to m ove to the suburbs and leave th e center c ity to the low er class ! I | This Coupon Good For m id dle or upper class Blacks had succe ssfully d ilu te d th e statistics N evertheless these sta tistics are q u ite sta rtlin g In th e de cad e between 19/0 and 19H) S o u th B ronx in N ew York (called Fort A p a ch e or Vietnan by the e n fo rce m e n t agencies) lost 37% o f its p o p u la tio n ; C h ica g o exper tenced sim ilar losses W a sh in g to n 0 C and A tla n ta W h a t this repr« sents is brain and p o cke t dram Role m odels th a t are le ft w ith in th e g h e tto c o m m u n ity represent the dregs o f society, th e tru e under . lass for whit.r m any social scie ntists see no hope A ll o f the fa cto rs th a t need be present in the i ities o f despair are fo u n d in the g h e tto W fie n th e m iddle class tier) to the suburbs, C hicago s p o p u la tio n below the p o v e rty line rose fro m 37% to 6 , % . u n e m p lo ym e n t fro m 9 5% t, 24 5% and tem ale headed fam ilies increased fro m 40% to 72% Babies or poor Black Thus th e under class becam e m ore visible by being isolated in a sectio n o f a c ity renam ed "th e g h e tto This d e p o p u la tio n o f the g h e tto s in the U S resulted in social and eco n o m ic d e te rio ra tio n lo r g e n e hey L i A rgc T rally the only agency ttia t rem ained in the c ity was the s to re fro n t ch u rch F light by die m id dle class Black was a desire for sa fe ty g o od schools, and •' ........ .. e n viro n m e n t so m e th in g that was no longer available in the cities w h ere the c u ltu re o f the under class had lost its c o u n te rv a ilin g force 31 NW FIRST NIGHTLY ENTERTAINMENT Thu' r»t> 2« lU ip e s ESO ' , I.' v* CRA^ 8 S D u ring the first W o rld W ar. labor w as sorely needed in the in du strial n o rth A g e n ts traveler) th ro u g h o u t the so u th to en cou rage Blacks to pa rti cip a te in d ie war e ffo rt and m ake "b ig m on ey " Sharecroppers becam e w o rke rs in in du stries th a t ranged fro m sla ughterhouses to steel m ills The m on ey w as so go od tha t alm ost e n tire to w n s m o ve d n o rth It w a s n 't easy for th e m ig ra n ts C o n tra ry to a be lie f s tro n g ly held by m any w h ite s, all o f us d id n 't look alike, am) m ore im p o rta n tly Blacks had n o c o m m o n c u ltu r e This was, and still is, a real barrier to b o th self acce ptan ce and assim ila tion in to the m ain stream In order to help the for rnerly rural w o rker to adapt to his ne w ho m eland , the Urban le a g u e was fo rm e d A fte r W o rld W .n I the m ig ra tio n s lo w e d to a tric k le Even so. the to w n or city fathe rs kept a w a tc h fu l eye on th e m ig ra n ts In the sou th. Blacks were kept w ith in certain ge og raph ic areas th ro u g h in tim id a tio n Through care fu l o rc h e s tra tio n o f the realtors, bankers and others, no th e rn w h ite s selectively set aside areas in to w h ich Blacks c o u ld m ove Thirty or fo rty years ago. those Black areas in urban A m e rica de m o n stra te d a deep pride in o w n e rsh ip A stro n g c o m m itm e n t to service w as held try Black entre preneurs. and everyone kn e w and truster) each Othei U nlike today w hen d ie d o lla r d o e sn 't c o m p le te one circu it in Black ne ig h b o rh o o d s, in the lor ties d ie dollar tu rn e d a ro u n d five or six tim e s 1 G ro w th w ith in the urban *1 I I I I U n e m p lo ym e n t, p o ve rty, and tem ale headed fam ilies increased drarnat ra lly w ith in the g h e tto s H ow ever, be fore th e m ig ra tio n to th e suburb«, Su' , r NA g E art c A yt»' ? zvdeco bockw ’ ORO A 0 0 ^ DAVE'S SHOP buying everything o f value We Pay Cash Open 10 00 5 00 Mon Sat 00 :$1 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I off 5600 N E Union REG ULAR PRICED Thanks to you rt w o rk s fix A L L O F US ON A L B U M OR CASSETTE OVER $5 00 • MISTY IASI AVAUAVD 32i.il b B U R N SID F 231 s w Unitaci wag NW AOATIANO N W 21xr b JO H N S O N 248 01S3 « • ’ t • • - i K\ CLUB ZODIAC Beauty ft Barber Supply Open to the Public J ■ M I L M L E U N S N I C I U M I I I I I A lo o k ,it th e u n d e n h iss Bl.i< k We weni curty yesterday. We B Jammin Retail b Wholesale We sell all brands Stop in and check out puces » a 5852 N.E. 42nd Ave. A cross fro m A d a m 's Track on 42nd S treet •E X C LU D E S RED TAG M E R C H A N D IS E LIM IT 1 CO UPO N PER P U R C H ASE HO U RS L. M o n Sat 8 A M 5 30 PM Phone: 282 1817 GOOD PEOPLE • GOOD MUSIC • GOOD FOOD AND GOOD TIMES featuring TRADITIONAL BLACK AMERICAN SOUL FOOD Open Tues. Sun. Wed is Ladies Night Thurs. is Fun Night Fri b Sat After Hours til 4:00 AM Sun is Oldies Night .................... Join U s .................... 309 W. Burnside Club A vailable For Private Parties. C om m u nity Groups Banquets, etc call 227 5248 for inform ation « • p • •o .•