Page 2...The Portland ()bserver...January 29, 1992
Commissioner Kafoury Announces New
Mortgage Default Program
p e r s p e c tiv e s
»
» by Professor M cK inle y
B u rt
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Crime And Punishment In America: Conclusion
This is the final chapter of a five-
part series that has presented a realistic
frame of reference for examining the
position of African Americans in the
nations criminal justice system. We
have defined the majority of innerci-
ties-predominately black -- as most
efficient INCUBATORS OF CRIME;
not as resevoirs of urban blight or a
failed citizenry, nor even as a conse
quence of underfunded Urban Renewal
programs.
Instead, I have given an insight
into the structure of the American ex
tension of the 500-year old European
model of GHETTO as an ethnic and
economic containment device (see last
weeks description of origin of name
and system in Venice, Italy). Further,
we have detailed the methodologies
employed by establishment institutions,
public and private, to control and limit
the participation of blacks in the real
property equities and commercial ex
ploitation of the land. Since real estate
is the major, basic construct upon which
a capitalistic society operates, it is a
given that a people so constrained and
exploited for several centuries could
not help but be the victims of traumatic
social and economic disabilities which
would prevent any effective participa
tion in that euphemistic AMERICAN
DREAM. Some banks are just now
making feeble efforts at change.
All of these revelations were in
corporated into a three-quarter corse I
designed and taught for four years at
Portland State University; “ Black
EMconomic Experience,” 1972-76.
Housed in the School of Urban Affairs
and in the same quarters as the ‘ ‘Crimi
nal Justice Department” with its many
Law Enforcement Classes, I had in-
numberable interactions with person
nel of Portland Police Department - as
well as employees of related city, county,
state and federal agencies.
Many of these persons were stu
dents in my class and, with the notable
exception of the police, represented a
broad ethnic profile. The course began
with the period immediately following
the Civil War and by the end of the
third quarter dealt with the contempo
rary problems of African Americans in
areas of employment discrimination,
the dearth of economic opportunities to
buy, sell or manufacutre goods. Even
the possibility of leasing attractive
locations, or obtaining bank financing
(despite the media hypes about avail
able government programs). To make a
point I used that widely-viewed CBS
program where “ Famous Amos” of
chocolate cookie fame appeared along
side the founder of the “ Holidays Inns.”
Both were said to represent the Ameri
can Dream, a process by which one
could start from scratch and pull one
self up by the bootstrpas to attain any
goal desired by hardwork.
1 will be eternally grateful to Famous
Amos for telling the truth on national
television, “ Despite good credit, a good
business start financed from my sav
ings, the banks would not lend me a
cent, OR EVEN DISCUSS MY PRO
JECTIONS. I went over to the Finance
company and was able to secure a high
interest loan on the pretext that I wished
to TAKE A VACATION TRIP TO
THE WEST INDIES.” In subsequent
magazine articles “ Amos” has occai-
sonally voiced his displeasure at those
who would use that success he has
obtained as a model for black youth -
without telling htme of the outrageous
constraints placed upon them by the
financial community. We note that Mr.
Johnson, founder of Ebony Magazine,
was forced to go to Canada to purchase
newsprint when American firms would
not sell paper to a black publisher (Now
that they do we must wonder what the
price was to be let through—surrender
of a sizeable equity?). But then, of
course, Nat King Cole could not get a
sponsor for a network program.
It was the police in the class—from
blue collar and hard hat backgrounds-
who had the most difficulty in acknowl
edging a connection between these
economics and social barriers and a
failed system where many mightdecide
to get their portion of the highly-adver
tised dream “ by any means necessary.”
A number of these guardians of law and
order would still insist on recounting
how their grandfathers came over from
the old country, “ broke and ignorant,
also living in a ghetto, but had the will
and drive to beat the odds and succeed
“ just as any american can d o -w e were
never on welfare.”
Witii only a couple of exceptions it
was impossible to get past the rigid
mindset endowed by a history of Amer
ica that is racist because it deliberately
avoids (in school or text) revealing the
true story of the operative system that
shaped today’s traumas. Even when I
used “ Commager’s Documents of
American History and The Annals of
the American Academy of Political and
Social Science (Sept. 1966)” to docu
ment how white European immigrants
were almost exclusively give the better
job opportunities (particularly skilled
trades), unrestricted opportunities to buy
land, botain franchises and join busi
ness associations. It seemed to no avail
to ask, “ how hard would it have been
for you under these conditions to raise a
family and keep it intact, to endow your
children with a sense of equal worth or
with a drive for upward mobility with a
goal PLAINLY ACHEIVABLE?”
Obviously, this mindset is not solely
attributable to law endforcement per
sonnel. But, because the attitude is so
general we find that rather than realistic
policies and programs for effective in
tervention in a disintegrating social and
economic system, frantic efforts to fund
more prisons and control options for
both black and white. The level of train
ing and education for police and related
personnel has been upscaled and they
do yeoman work for the most part. How
ever, we not that some of the hottest
issues on the stock exchanges are the
equities in firms building prisons, con
tracting incarceration, manufacturing
restraints, or providing security. Is it toe
late?
KEEP WOODSTOVE
IIRES SMALL
AND HOT
Cold-weather goods needed
As winter nears, blankets, heavy coats and other
cold-weather clothing are once again atop our list of
desperately needed items. Among the other needs:
workboots, rain gear and tents (for the homeless),
blankets, pillows, bedsheets, baby blankets, pots,
pans, dishes, kitchen utensils, tables and chairs,
chests of drawers.
For details: 284-6878.
While we waited with a not-alto-
gether-bated breath for the President to
describe his economic miracles “which
will turn this economy around," some
of the “Wonder Works" were leaked to
the press. The nation is left to wonder
just how much of a job impact will be
provided by such contemplated rem
edies as revocation of luxury taxes on
yachts and airplanes.
Last week I promised "an approach
that specifically addresses the minority
situation in all this." It is interesting
that most of my articles, lectures and
talkshow presentations over the past
year seem to have a common thread that
could be construed to anticipate this
series on a Minority economic experi
ence. For instance, see today's "Per
spectives" column on this page; “Crime
and P u n ish m e n t In A m e ric a ”
(origninally published November 6,
1991. This was a definitive recap of the
several expositions I had made of
innercity (ghetto)development intended
to render the African American eco
nomically impotent - a captive nation
with a nation.
Just Sunday night, I participated in
a radio talk show on radio station K BOO.
The subject was “African American
Men" and was cohosted by Messrs
James Kent and Curtis Scot of the Port
land Urban League’s “ Male Respon
s i b l y Project." Dr. Darrell Millner,
chairman of the Black studies program
at Portland State University, joined me
in this session that featured listener
call-ins. In the context of our “ No Jobs
and No Shame" theme, I would further
exphasize or clarifiy certain points that
were made - extremely important as
urban and educational programs are
about to take another gigantic Z»r("Gov-
H e lp clean up o u r a ir
LUNG ASSOCIATION’
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Sales & Promotions
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Production Staff
Dean Babb
Sharon Camarda
Gary Ann Garnett
Jennifer Johnson
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low-up with the family will continue up
to a two year period or until the home-
owner is no longer at risk of default.
Participants in the Program may
also be eligible for emergency financial
assistance of an amount not to exceed
$4,500. This assistance is only avail
able in the form of a loan secured by a
lien or deed of trust filed against the
participant’s property. The interest rate
and term of the loan is tailored to the
individual financial resources and
circumstances of the household and can
range from a no-payment, no interest
deferred loan to a loan at the prevailing
market rate and term. At a minimum, a
loan recipient must agree to repay the
full amount of financial assistance upon
transfer of title of his/her home.
Because resources are limited and
because a major goal of the program is
to promote neighborhood stability, fi
nancial assistant in initially targeted to
residents of those lower income neigh
borhoods presently experiencing severe
decline and deterioration. Criteria used
to select the target neighborhoods were
their designation by the City of Port
land as distressed areas and the current
numberof vacantand abondoned single
family residences within each neigh
borhood. Based on this criteria, the
target neighborhoods are King, Boise,
Humbolt, Vernon, Concordia, Eliot,
Woodlawn, and Cully in Northeast Port
land; St. Johns in North Portland; and
Brentwood-Darlington in Southeast
Portland. It should be stressed that
these are target areas, and, depending
on the demand, financial assistance will
not neccessarily be denied to home-
owners residing outside these neigh
borhoods.
The Mortgage Foreclosure Preven
tion Program is a project of the Portland
Housing Center which operates under
the auspices of the Ecumenical Minis
tries. The Center is supported by the
City of Portland, First Interstae Bank,
US Bank, Bank of America, Fannie
Mae, Key Bank, the Meyer Memorial
Trust, Pacific First Bank. Security Pa
cific Bank, and the Washington Federal
Savings Banks. For more information
about the Mortgage Foreclosure Pre
vention Program, please contact Rand
Kennedy at the Portland Housing Cen
ter. 2755 NE Broadway, Portland. Ore
gon, (503)282-1297.
No Jobs And No Shame, Part II
I of Ortgon
(USPS 959-680)
OREGON’S OLDEST AFRICAN AMERICAN PUBLICATION
Established in 1970
pay for the new sewer hook-up and
assessment?
These are some of the people the
Portland Housing Center’s new Mort
gage Foreclosure Prevention Program
intends to help. With a generous three
year $300.(XJ0 start-up grant from the
Northwest Area Foundation, the Mort
gage Foreclosure Prevention Program
is designed to help lower income home-
owners avoid foreclosure and to pre
vent the personal hardship and neigh
borhood decline which usually accom
panies the loss of homes. The Program
offers two level of comprehensive in
formation, referral, and counseling ser
vices: Post Purchase Home Ownership
Services to help owners avoid over
getting into a mortgage default situ
ation. and Mortgage Default Services
for those households that are already
behind on their house payments.
Post Purchase Home Ownership
Services are early intervention services
directed to homeowners who are not yet
behind in their house payments but who
may be in danger of future default due
to such things as loss of income, in
creased expenses, upcoming balloon
payments, and impending major home
repair needs. Information and educa
tion is offer on such topics as money
management, refinancing and home
repair and maintenance. Referrals are
also made to other housing, energy
conservation, social service, and job
training and placement programs. In
addition, homeowners receive help in
assessing their financial situation and
developing a plan to reduce the risk of
future default and foreclosure.
Mortgage Default Services are in
tensive counseling and case manage
ment services targeted to those lower
income households who are currently
behind in their housing payments as a
result of circumstances which were pri
marily beyond their control. In addi
tion to basic information and referral,
the Mortgage Default Services include
an in depth assessm en t o f the
household’s situation and financial
problems which may be contributing to
the potential loss of the home; and an
examination of the physical condition
of the home. Based on these assess
ments, an action plan designed to meet
the specific circumstances of the house
hold will be developed with each par
ticipating family. Monitoring and fol-
This article was originally published on November 6, 1991
BY PROFESSOR MCKINLEY BURT
AMERICAN ±
(Tlje ^ a rtla n b (©Hserfier
P o rtlan d C ity C o m m isio n er
Gretchen Kafoury, Washington County
Commissioner Linda Peters, and repre
sentatives from Key Bank and US Bank
held a press conference to announce a
new Mortgage Foreclosure Prevention
Program. The program is designed to
help low-income homeowners experi
encing financial crises avoid losing their
homes. The press conference took place
Monday, January 27th. at the Portland
Housing Center. 2755 NE Broadway.
The program received a three year
$300.(XX)grant from the Northwest Area
Foundation. In Portland, the program
will operate out of the Portland Hous
ing Center and target several low-in
come Portland neighborhoods. In
Washington County, the program will
be a joint effort between Washington
County, Community Action Organiza
tion and Housing Services of Oregon,
and will make special effort to reach
rural and non-English speaking home-
owners. Both programs will work with
homeowners to stabilize their financial
situtations and keep their homes by
offering couseling, budget manage
ment, negotiations with lenders, and
no-interest loans to help pay back mort
gage payments.
A 34 year old construction worker,
father of three, is injured at an unsafe
worksite, ripping all the tendons in his
left shoulder. He no longer has die full
use of that arm. Since the injury, he has
been unable to work at his former trade,
and although he is now being re-train-
ind for a new career, this vocational
schooling will take at least six more
months. Meanwhile, the family has
fallen three payments behind on their
mortgage.
A working wife and mother of two
comes home to find a note from her
husband. He has abandoned the family,
emptying out their joint savings and
checking account. She doesn't know
how she’ll make it through the month,
let alone make next m onth's house pay
ment and the upcoming property taxes.
An elderly couple on fixed income
have both recently been ill and now find
they need prescription drugs costing
more than $400 a month. Their social
security income isn’t enough to pay for
both their monthly mortgage bill and
their medications. For the first time in
20 years they've missed their house
payment, and how can they possibly
j
ernment regulators are poised to begin
the biggest round of bank and savings
and loan seizures in U. S. History"; LA
Times). That will be costly beyond
belief.
In an exchange between a listener
and the participants, one of the hosts
cited my book, “Black Inventors of
America,” as a very useful tool in de
veloping self-image and motivation in
at-risk youth, a group severely impacted
by dropout rates and gang behavior.
Subsequent on-the-air conversation
indicated a definite need on my part to
reinforce my frequent assertions that
“history" is prime component of any
meaningful paradigm for developing
motivation and direction. We do re
member the famous adage, "He who
does not know his history is doomed to
repeat it."
More directly to the point, we have
entered an age of "high tech" while at
the same time the economy is in ruins
and innercity residents have the least
technologial education or the means to
acquire it. It is a given, then, that this
group (especially at school age) most
assuredly needs a motivational struc
ture based on a reassuring and docu
mented recitation of its accomplish
ments and abilities in the field of tech
nology. In my book I specifically chose
to feature certain key and seminal in
ventions (historic, but daily visible)
that made possible today's phase of the
industrial revolution. School, educa
tors and students from across the coun
try have told me that this technique has
worked - where used! (Pioneers in
innovations for railroads communica
tions, food processing, mechanics, etc.).
If one is to note such things, then
there is awareness that the demograph
ics - both social and economic - are
changing with frightening speed. The
innercity and its co called “under
class" is going to become increasingly
isolated. If you remember, it was
about this time last year that I wrote a
series on "Electronic Communications/
Computers for operating businesses
from the home,” using my own opera
tions for a model. As the “Portland
Oregonian" just pointed out in a three-
part series, the more affluent are using
those techniques toexpedite their flight
from the innercities and their prob
lems - race, education, crime and
poverty. The tax base hasn't fallen
like it’s going to.
Ever more evidence that what
ever the cost in time and effort, mi
norities across the entire age spectrum
(including their organizations) have
got to regain their historic perspective
of technological mastery. We all have
got to learn math and science and the
other technical skills that will make
for a viable existence in the 21st cen
tury, its just around th comer. Sound
too tough? It’s that or become the
domestics or day laborers for all the
new immigrantscoming intothe coun
try, and this “No jobs/No Shame" ad
ministration may expedite the proc
ess.
Also, during that talk-show ses
sion I had an opportunity to advance
the idea that innercity residents should
ask their employers for “time-shar
ing" support that would enable them to
bring their skills and technical exper-
tiste to the school sand youth programs
where they are so sorely needed. “Ask
for a day or halfday a week - or a
month, whatever.” If they say they
can’t afford it. explain to them that
given the current situation. THEY
CAN’T AFFORD NOT TO!
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