Portland Observer, February 25. 1987, Section II, Page 3
b o rn o u t o f w e dlo ck also have increased
H o w eve r, those b irth s have not
been balanced by b irth s o f m arried m id dle class Blacks, because th e latter
has elected to have fe w e r childre n This is a clear sign o f a ssim ila tion and
e n try in to m id dle and upper class status
In this era of a rising econo m y, w hy does so m uch of
the under class depend on the govern m en t for support?
N icholas Lehm an w ritin g in th e A tla n ta M o n th ly
believes th a t the
Black under i lass su ffe rs from a sharescropper m e n ta lity He even w e n t so
fa i as to de velop an analogy be tw ee n a w e lfa re recipie nt and a share
cro p p e r, for b o th de pend upon th e system fo r e ve ryth in g
H a ving ch ild re n perpe tu ates the status qu o o f b o th system s E ducation
and fo rm a l m arriage is not a p rio rity
A dd susstandard h o u sin g and poor
fis i al m a n a g e m e n t and b o th the w e lfa re and sh a recro ppe r syste m s w ill
te n d to pe rp e tu a te them selves
H o w did the upper class really develop? One the ory is tha t w h e n the
p o o rly ed ui ated sharecropper m o ve d fro m his rural hom e e n viro n m e n t, the
Soi ial strut lu re s th a t at Ted as an in h ib ito r to ne ga tive behavior w ere re
m o ve d W ith o u t a real su p p o rt system in th e urb an areas (either sou th or
n o rth ), it w as in evita ble tha t the fa m ily stru c tu re w o u ld collapse
W h e n the
m id d le class le ft the g h e tto w as w ith o u t p o sitive role m odels and leaders
D isorga nization began to g ro w w ith an increase in vio le n t.
Black on
Black crim es No one in the g h e tto is im m u n e fro m ille g itim a cy, illiteracy,
d ru g s and high u n e m p lo ym e n t even if he is not an active p a rticip a n t W hen
hunger, d e vastatio n and d e p riv a tio n are con stant com p an ion s, it is d iffic u lt
to w a tc h D ynasty. Dallas or A ll M y Children w ith o u t c o m p a rin g fantasy
and reality and w a n tin g som e o f th e g o o d life p o rtra ye d on th e screen The
story lines o fte n deal w ith th e realities of the g h e tto , ille g itim a cy, m urd er,
and anger becom e a cce p ta b le Unless strong, p o sitive values are deve
loped at ho m e m any o f th e residents o f the g h e tto do a n y th in g to em u la te
their TV hero me Ju st as B uppies (Black urban professionals) are m em
bers o f the N o w g e ne ration , so to o are Guppies (g h e tto urban p o o r) The
d iffe re n ce is in the m e d iu m o f exch an ge Buppies use plastic, g u p p ie s use
steel
P overty m ust be o v e rc o m e ’ To do so requires e d u ca tio n and e m p lo y
m ent pro gra m s I t ’s o b v io u s th a t th e tra d itio n a l pu blic scho ol has n o t been
successful D edicated tea chers w ith sm all classes in a m o tiv a tin g en viro n
m ent one that s b rig h t, c o lo rfu l, and non threa tening , m ust replace the
dreary h o ld in g pens th a t pass for scho ols
D iscipline m ust be e n fo rce d ;
b u t here again, the fo cu s sh o u ld be on de veloping self disciplin e S upplies,
tests, te xts all kinds o f m aterials th a t are w ritte n in relevant lang uag e m ust
be used
Expensive? Yes
H o w eve r, w hen you m a tch th e $5,000 cost
o f these changes an nu ally against the $25 tho usan d it costs per year per
in m ate w h ic h makes m ore sense?
Industry m ust be in volve d in h e lp ing to elim in ate the deepest p o ve rty
It's ironic th a t |obs at the b o tto m (fast fo o d chains. superm arkets, etc I
th a t pay m in im u m wages go be g g in g
N o bo dy w a n ts to w o rk for $5 per
hour w hen drug dealers can buy a car (or .it least the d o w n pa ym e n t) in a
m o n th A ga in p o sitive im ages m ust be de velope d W h e n self disciplin e
and de ferred g ra tific a tio n are learned, m any w ill be w illin g to g o o n to high
er e d u ca tio n , o r at least have en o u g h p o te n tia l for c o rp o ra tio n s to becom e
w illin g to take a chance on h irin g and tra in in g the g h e tto resident
Pride in livin g a cco m o d a tio n s is d iffic u lt w h e n your residence is a w el
fare' h o te l In every city, the re are e n o u g h c ity o w n e d houses or apart
m erits th a t can be c o n ve rte d to h a b ita b le dw e llin g s at a lo w e r cost than
using ho tels It's un de rsta nd able th a t the latter m ay tie a sto p gap m easure,
but little appears to be done to in d ica te th a t the ho te ls are a n yth in g but
pe rm anent
60 M in u te s had a p ro g ra m on w e lfa re h o te ls in the spring
Far fro m sha m in g c ity fathers in a large eastern c ity in to m a kin g ap a rtm e n ts
available to th e w e lfare recipie nts th a t c ity |ust shipped o u t n u m b e rs o f
g h e tto reside nts to another ho tel in an othe r s ta te 1
O nce these th in g s are done, th e b a ckb o n e o f th e pe op le m u st be re exa
m ined for stre n g th the fa m ily G roup co u n se lin g and w o rk s h o p s in paren
tin g co n su m e rism rig h ts hygiene, ho m e e co n o m ics p o litics, in tra g ro u p
d yn a m ics a n il values m ust be m an da te d A gain it is i ru i ial th a t the g ro u p
leader tie s ym p a th e tic tin t firm and ho ld tfie ab solute respect o f the m em
tiers o f th e g ro u p This again is e d u ca tio n They m ust be e d u ca te d on the
(lo w e r o f tlie vo te and exercise tfi.it (low er W h e n Black p o litic a l c lo u t is
s h o w n in W a sh in g to n , m ore pro gra m s th a t aie essential to e lim in ate the
c rip p lin g e ffe c ts o f p o v e rty w ill tie in s titu te d O nce m ore the cry o f Black
P o w e r’ w ill be heard, and pride a p o sitive self im age am t th e elim in a tio n
o f p o ve rty w ill tie th e legacy o f ear h o f us to tho se yet unborn
Are Buppies in Touch With the Real World?
H ow They Use Education as a Force For Change
M u c h lias tie i'ri w ritte n ab ou t the d e te rio ra tio n o f Urban Arneru a
its
g h e tto i/a tio n and a b a n d o n m e n t Under the policies o f the present admiru
s tra tio n the pe rce n ta g e o f fam ilies livin g b e lo w the p o v e rty line is again on
th e increase and u n e m p lo ym e n t for the Black underclass is d o u b le that
for w h ite s A ffirm a tiv e actio n, scho ol, and job in te g ra tio n no longer seem
to be popular issues w ith the g o ve rn m e n t agencies and civil rig h ts attor
neys
O n a tour th ro u g h urban A m erica, it appears to be easy to m ake ttie
gene ralizatio n as to w h ic h race lives in w h at n e ig h b o rh o o d In N ew York
C ity, for exam ple o n a trip n o rth on Park A venue or C entral Park W est
th e cha ng e (last 106th street is n o th in g short o f dra m atic
H o w eve r, yo u n g B lacks are m o v in g in to th enclaves tfi.it w e re fo rm erly
all w h ite tx ia rd roo m s, co rp o ra te headquarters, o c c u p a tio n s , and neigh
b o rh o o d s
A lo n g w ith these m oves has com e a new term
B uppies
Black U rb an Professionals
W hat is a b u p p y ’ Like their w h ile y u p p ie co u n te rp a rt, they |et to Europe.
A frica , or the C arntitiean are p a tro n s o f the m use um s and pro fe ssio nal
s trid e n tly a d vo ca tin g fem in ism w h ile buppies were b u rn in g the m ig ru g h t
oil and p ro te s tin g for m ore ed u ca tio n a l o p p o rtu n itie s O ne yo u n g Black
w a n te d to k n o w w h y the term "w u p p ie s" w h ite urb an professionals
rathe r tha n yuppies yo u n g urban professionals wasn t user! since yuppius
co u ld stan d for e ith e r race
E ducation has alw ays been a to o l for advancem ent in tfus c o u n try One
o f th r' m ost p o sitive h a pp en ing s for all tin t m ost p a rticu la rly Blacks w as
W o rld W ar II For at its close. Ill»' G I Bill bet am e la w
This enabled
hu n d re d s o f th o u sa n d s of yo u n g Bl.n ks to ter eive a college e d u ca tio n ,
and th e tre n d c o n tin u e s for th e sons and d a u g h te rs o f th e vo te ra n s are
the m se lve s s tu d e n ts or co llr'ge graduates
There are five tim e s as m any
Blai ks e n ro lle d in » olleg c to d a y as the m w as in 196b B e.w e en 1970 and
1981. w h ite colleg es m i leased their e n ro llm e n t by 37% w h ile pre d o m in a n t
ly Bl.n k in s titu tio n s gre w by 71 Si
C u rre n tly there are 1 1 m illio n Blacks
theatres are paid tioa rd m em b ers o f large c o rp o ra tio n s and are subset)
bers to F ortune. Business W eek Forties M agazine and Th»' W all S treet
Jou rna l In sfio rt ttiey have arrived
S om e are co n sp icu o u s con sum e rs
d e se ttin g the large A m e n t an i ars o f their predei essors tor B M W s or a Met
cedes They shop at N eim an M arcu s a n d Saks F ifth Avenue or sm all spe
cialty shops w hose cra ftsm e n o ffe r o n ly the finest selection o f leather or
furs to ttiier upsi alt' clientele
O ttie rs are reverse snobs
p re fe rrin g to boast o f their Perry Ellis or
o’
Rosie's
Professional Service
Q uality Craftmanshlp
R easonable Rates
'« . ■ T . , . . ...■ ■■ «R I— _ . |------- m --.
Free E stim ates
Uua~~*— ■-
Davis
and
T h e re are 1 1 m illio n B la c k s in c o lle g e s to d a y
Painting
Anne Klein p u n liases at 50% o ff in an o u tle t m all
M ost are goal o rien te d but their c o n trib u tio n s are im m easurable Phy
sir i.ms m ale and fem ale sing in their c h u rch ch o irs at c o u n t,n its vo lu n
teer as tu to rs in public h o u sin g pro(ei Is or give free advice as do attor
neys for non p ro fit ventures co n s u lta n ts supply their expertise in w ritin g
proposals for fle d g lin g en tre pre ne urs
D uring the 60
the yup pies w ere busy p ro te s tin g thr- V ie tn a m war and
Sons
Company
X83-X459
In te r io r
E x te rio r
1/4 LB BURGER
sm fries
sm drink
NOW $1.50 (S a v e $1 00)
3517 N.E. U nion Ave.
I R eg $2 50)
HRS. M O N .-S A T
11A M
10 PM
PHONE 284-2638
r
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