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PORTLAND OBSERNER
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Vol. XVII, No. 44
September 9, 1987
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National Sickle Cell Month
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September, 1987 marks the tw elfth anniversary of Nation­
al Sickle Cell Month. Once again the National Association For
Sickle Cell Disease, Inc. (NASCD) and its more than 80 mem­
ber organizations throughout the nation will focus on educa­
ting the general public about sickle cell disease: a blood dis­
order which affects primarily Black Americans, as well as
South Americans, Latin Americans, Africans, West Indians,
Greeks, Italians, Sicilians, Turks and Asians.
One of the highlights of Sickle Cell M onth is selecting the
National Poster Child. Erica Leta Hughey, a six year old from
Fayetteville, North Carolina, has been selected the 1987-88
National Poster Child for the National Association For Sickle
Cell Disease.
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Youth receiving awards w ere (Front L-R): Johann Olive, Mican
W illis, Jo hn tai O live, V incent LaBlue, Jo hn Toran and (Rear-Center)
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Jesse Brazzle Jr. John Olive ahd Jesse Brazzle (R & L rear) are
Youth Developm ent Enterprise coordinators.
Photo by Richard J. Brown
Youth Developm ent
Enterprise Youth Receive
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Awards for Service
Youth Development Enterprise just consumated their 4th year of sum­
mer community services. This past summer, 1987, the youth did most of
their work in the N.E. Irvington area of Portland, Oregon.
Services consisted primarily of on-the-spot auto wash ($2.00 donation)
and cutting yards for a minimum donation of $3.00.
Youth received several compliments from neighbors regarding their
work.
John Olive and Jesse Brazzle, both youth coordinators, said that the
primary purpose for the summer youth program was to provide a positive
male image for young youth, teaching them the importance of physical
work and doing a good job. Youth who participated were of pre-employ­
ment age ranging from 9 to 13 years of age, who received weekly checks for
their services from the donations earned from their work.
This year a fall-winter program will go into affect. Youth coordinators
have been contacted by Sickle Cell Foundation and City Fire Department
personnel to help youth add another dimension to their training and service.
Youth receiving awards and not pictured are Frank Jones, Chris Welch
and Jermaine Freison.
Youth Development Enterprise serves the community as a component
of the Christian Brotherhood Association of Portland, Oregon. The motto
of the group is "to help youth build a better tomorrow today.
Adult men interested should contact either Jesse Brazzle, 287-2949 or
John Olive, 248-8790 for more details.
We would sincerely like to thank Portland Observer in their support of
showing the community what we re trying to accomplish.
Higher Minimum Wage Will
Destroy Job Opportunities for
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Thousands of Black Teenagers
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More than one million teenagers will lose their jobs, including 100,000
blacks, by 1991 as a direct result of enacting proposed legislation to in­
crease and then index the hourly minimum wage, according to a recent
witness before the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources.
Dr. Finis Welch, a UCLA professor of economics and chairman of Um-
con Research Corp., in remarks following his July 17 testimony before¿the
committee said that a plan to raise the minimum wage from $3.35 to $4.bb
bv 1990 and then index it to 50 percent of the average non-supervisory em­
ployee's hourly wage would increase pressures on young, entry-level
workers trying to find and keep jobs.
"B y increasing the minimum wage, we’re raising one more hurdle to
those trying to break into the job market," Welch said in describing the
economic consensus that every minimum wage increase leads to |ob loss.
"W e re saying that if you can’t make more than the minimum now then you
can’t work at all in the future."
Under the proposed legislation, an indexed minimum wage would
reach $5 25 an hour in 1991 and result in a total teenage job loss of 1.1 mil­
lion, according to Welch's calculations. Disemployed adults would raise
total job loss figures even higher, he said.
Employees on the bottom rung of the economic ladder are the first to
lose their jobs as businesses face higher labor costs without increasing pro­
ductivity. Often unable to offset these costs through higher consumer
prices, businesses are forced to cut back on hours and services to make up
the difference, Welch said.
"The losers of a higher minimum wage are those people-black teen­
agers, entry-level workers, the working p o o r-w h o supporters of an in­
creased wage most want to help,” Welch said. "A higher minimum wage is
little consolation if you can't find a job.”
Welch, joining others who oppose a minimum wage increase, also
called for new programs, and private and public sector initiatives that would
address specifically the needs of the disadvantaged, including unemployed
black teenagers.
"D o you suppose that President Roosevelt suspected when he signed
the 1938 minimum wage law that we would see a time when black teen­
agers were only half as likely as whites to find jobs; when black youth un­
employment rates approached 50 percent and when 9.5 percent of all black
men aged 20 to 24 who have not completed high school would be in jail?,"
Welch said in his congressional testimony.
N ational A ssociation fo r Sickle Cell Disease, Inc., 1987-88 Poster
Child, Erica Leta Hughey, Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Erica is an outgoing youngster whose hobbies are paint­
ing, travelling, drawing, and being photographed. She attends
Benjamin Martin Elementary School.
Erica was nominated by Operation Sickle Cell of Fayette­
ville, a chapter of NASCD. Her sponsors described her as an
extremely bright, articulate, and attractive little girl who enjoys
being in the limelight.
A committee of volunteers selected Erica from 21 local
Poster Child candidates submitted by NASCD Chapters. The
judges included Julie Blood, businesswoman; Josephine Alex­
ander, Basileus, Chi Eta Phi Sorority; and Mereline Wilson,
President, Top Ladies of Distinction, Los Angeles Chapter.
Family Income Up
Real median income of Black families has increased significantly since
1982 when the last economic recession ended, according to the Depart­
ment of Commerce's Census Bureau.
The median income in 1986 for all Black families ($17,600) and for
Black married-couple families ($26,580) increased by about 14 percent from
1982
Black families with a female householder, no husband present, had a
median income in 1986 of $9,300, up 9.8 percent from 1982.
Since 1982, real family income has grown by 10.2 percent for all White
families and 11.3 percent for White married-couple families. The median
income of all Hispanic families and married-couple families both increased
by about 9 percent. The differences between the percentage increases for
White and Black families were not statistically different from comparable
Hispanic families.
Neither the number of poor nor the poverty rate changed significantly
for Blacks or Whites between 1985 and 1986. The number of Hispanics in
poverty did not change, but the rate declined. The poverty rate in 1986 for
Blacks was 31.1 percent (9.0 million) compared with 27.3 percent for His­
panics (5.1 million) and 11.0 percent for Whites (22.2 million).
The 1986 poverty rate for Blacks was lower than during the most re­
cent peak in 1983 when it was 35.7 percent.
The 1986 poverty rate for Whites has declined since 1983 when it was
12.1 percent. The 1986 poverty rate among persons of Hispanic origin was
not different from the 1983 rate.
The 1986 poverty level for a family of four was $11,203.
The income and poverty data are based on money income only, before
any deductions, and do not include the value of noncash benefits, such as
food stamps, public housing, and Medicaid.
As in all surveys, the data are subject to sampling variability and other
sources of error.
Copies of "Money Income and Poverty Status of Families and Persons
in the United States: 1986,” Series P 60, No. 157 (advance report), may be
purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Prin­
ting Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.
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