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N ovember 24, 1993 • T he P ortland O bserver
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Immigration Vs The American Black Family
<7
B y P rofessor M c K inley B i r i
O ne o f the principal subjects ot
debate in A frican A m erican co m m u
nities across the country is w hether an
increasing tide of A sian and H ispanic
im m igration co n stitu te s a se rio u s
threat to the econom ic w ell are ot
blacks.
A num ber o f those blacks w ho
strive to rem ain "p olitically correct
in their stance on the m atter seem to
be yielding to grow ing pressu res from
a m ajority that perceives the m atter to
be o f critical concern; tw enty m ajor
urban areas (m etropolitan statistical
districts) w here blacks perceive them
selves to be a t a fast increasing d isa d
vantage in term s o f social services,
housing, foundation grants and schol
arships, business loans and m inority
“ set-a sides.” T heir leaders have not
articulated those concerns.
It is truly a rem arkable ph en o m
enon that it is alm ost exactly a hun
dred years ago that A frican A m eri
c a n s b e g a n to v o ic e th e ala rm
t h a f ’E u ro p ean Im m ig ra tio n ” w as
threatening the “ loss o f all the great
gains w e have m ade since em ancipa
tion". And it w as quite true if we refer
principally to econom ic development.
W e have ju st seen from the w ritings o f
E .F .R ich in g s(E v id en cesO fP ro g ress
A m ong C olored People) that there
were m any advances o f no sm all pro
portion; from store to factory.
As we prepare to assess here the
escalating im pact ot current immi-
g ra lio n -th is tim e from lands to the
w est and the s o u th -I w ould rem ind
the reader o f other research that has
been published in these pages; P ar
ticularly, the series I did several years
ago on “ E uro p ean ” im m igrants. I
chronicled the w ell-funded fears o f
the A frican A m erican of that day that
both his jobs and land were under
siege by the hordes pouring in from
across the A tlantic (The AFL union,
ju st being put together by Sam uel
G om pcrs, rew rote the constitutions
o f the craft guilds to read “ for w hite
m alesonly” ,(SeeC om m ager s,D o cu
m ents o f A m erican History).
T o further correlate the past to
the present, we may exam ine the
em ploym ent history o f that past tim e
through the research o f Dr. W .E.B .
D ubois and his peers or one o f the
standard labor h isto rieso f blacks pub
lished by the academ ic presses; usu
ally circa 1620 to 1941.
T he process o f displacem ent o f
A frican A m ericans in jo b , land and
body politic w as thorough and trau
m atic-accom plished by law, violence
and withholding of the franchise. Even
the black veterans o f the Ninth and
Tenth C alvary, w ho had been prom -
L eg a Aide S
I
Buying on credit is risky, e sp e the right to repossess, he/she is not
cially in hard econom ic tim es. If you required to give you advance notice or
to take you to court before trying
lose your jo b or get hit w ith unex
pected expenses, you may not be able repossession. But if thecom pany usu
ally accepts late or partial paym ents,
to m ake regular paym ents as outlined
it cannot “ suddenly” repossess b e
in the purchase agreem ent o r c o n
cause
o f a late or partial paym ent.
tract. O ften this ag reem ent allow s
You
could
have a defense, if reposses
your creditor to take back or "rep o s
sion
suddenly
happens and the credi
sess” the item if you m iss any ot the
tor
fails
to
w
arn
you he o r she no
paym ents. If threatened w ith repos
longer
accepts
late
or partial pay
session is not allow ed unless the o rig i
m
ents.
If
th
ere’s
a
disagreem
ent over
nal purchase agreem ent you signed
w
hether
you
ow
e
paym
ents,
reposses
says it is. The creditor also cannot
legally repossess unless the ag ree sion may also be illegal and you may
be able to sue the creditor.
m ent states he or she has a "security
O ne way to avoid repossession is
interest” in the item . T his m eans you
to
sell
the item you ow e m oney on and
have a right to keep the item only as
pay
off
the rem aining debt. But if you
long as you m ake paym ents on it. T he
sell
it
yourself,
you should legally get
creditor has legal o w nership until
the
creditor’s
perm
ission I irst because
y o u ’ve m ade all paym ents, and can
the
creditor
is
still
the legal ow ner.
take it back if you m iss any. It, h o w
And
make
sure
you
m ake enough
ever, an item is repossessed w hen the
from
the
sale
to
cover
the rem aining
agreem ent does notallow it, you maybe
paym
ents.
able to sue the com pany.
Even if your purchase agreem ent
In m o st cases, if the c re d ito r has
ised rich farm and ranch land along
the U nion Pacific R ailroad their valor
had m ade possible, found no place at
the table w ith the G erm an and S can
dinavians w ho w ere ‘g iv e n ’ these
lands.
So, it is against this ugly history
o f the travails caused by that great
surge o f im m igration that reached its
peak ju st before W orld W ar I (1914),
that A frican A m ericans ju d g e and
evaluate the new diasporas o f the
A sian and L atino peoples from the
Pacific Rim and from Latin A m erica.
A study o f both contem porary m ateri
als and classics like the 1 9 6 6 "- and
Census Reports from the lim e the
Bureau w as fo rm e d -re v eals there arc
both paralle Is and differences between
today and yesterday.
As we proceed with this series in
com ing w eeks w e w ill see that blacks
who are exam ining the “new im m i
there’s a co u rt order. And C reditor s
can’t use force them selves, even with
a court order. If a creditor does use
force, such as entering your garage or
house w ithout your perm ission or
driving or tow ing a car aw ay w hile
you’re inside it.y o u c a n su e thecredi-
allow s repossession, you can legally
stop it by ref using to let a creditor into
your house. T his will block repossess
ors from taking item s such as furni
ture, appliances or a vehicle in your
garage. But you c a n ’t stop reposses
sion o f a car parked in front o f your
house sim ply by locking it. If you re
going to try blocking a repossession
attem pt, you m ight notify the creditor
o f this so you can head it o ff before it s
attem pted. But a creditor m ay re
spond by getting a court order. And
this you m ust obey.
The co u rt order could require
you to give up the item sought or to
pay money penalties instead. II you
d o n ’t obey a court order, the creditor
can get the court to “hold you in
contem pt,” and you m ight face fines
or jail, or both. A court order allow s
the creditor to get help from police
officers or sh eriff’s deputies in repos
session. Law enforcem ent officials,
how ever, w o n ’t get involved before
tor for money penalties.
You can try to retrieve the item
after repossession by paying o lf the
entire debt along with repossession
charges before the creditor tries to sell
it. Repossessed things may not be
resold privately. Y ou m ust be sent a
w ritten notice of the sale, along with
the time and place ot sale, as w ell as
the item ’s price, m ust be reasonable.
If not, you can sue the com pany. But
rem em ber, repossessed goods are usu
ally sold for far less than fair m arket
value in actions turd resales. A low
selling price alone is not the basis tor
w inning a lawsuit. M oney from die
sale is used to pay o ff die debt plus
repossession and resale expenses. The
C ontinued from fro n t
th e p r o p o s e d b y - la w a m e n d
m e n ts ). I m m e d ia te ly f o llo w in g
th e A n n u a l M e e tin g , th e C h il
d re n F irs t B o a rd o f D ire c to rs w ill
New Portland PayLess Drug Store
C ontinued from fro n t
inform ation collected from each H eat
ing, V entilating and A ir co n d itio n
ing (H V A C ) unit allow s the eq u ip
m ent to be run at peak efficiency.
L ighting and tem perature control are
linked to the tim e o f day, autom ati
cally changing the therm ostat setting
to conserve energy.
All this adds up to a savings o f
over 20 percent in energy usage co m
pared to stores that arc not sim ilarly
equipped, according to Sw eeney.
“T aking care o f the environm ent
is every b o d y ’s concern,” concluded
M cA lcar. “ W e will continue to do
everything w e can as a com pany to
prom ote environm ental responsibil
ity-”
m e e t u n til 6 p m . Y o u a rc w e lc o m e
to a tte n d an d o b s e rv e th e B o a rd
m e e tin g .
In th e c o m in g w e e k s th e re
w ill b e im p o r ta n t R e g io n a l M e e t
in g s h e ld in P o rtla n d ( W e d n e s
d a y , D e c e m b e r 8, 7pm a t C e n tra l
L u th e r a n C h u r c h , 2 1 0 4 N .E .
H ancock)
and
E ugene
(T uesday.D ecem ber 7, 7pm at First
U nited M ethodist C hurch, 1376 O l
ive). Please m ake every effort to at
tend these m eetings w hich aim to
develop a local action agenda.
' *'
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repossession, such as whether to refuse
a repossession attem pt or sell the item
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is so ld fo r le ss th a n th e a m o u n t
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$ 1 ,2 0 0 on a c a r an d th e c r e d ito r
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c o u n try fro m w h en ce th e y c a m e .
A n d th in k in g A fric a n A m e r i
ca n s are say in g “ H ere w e go a g a in ,
th e new H a rle m s an d o th e r g h e t-
t o e s - ’B a n tu s ta n s ’ a d m in is te re d
by o th e r r a c ia l g ro u p s w h o , w ith
th e c o n n iv a n c e o f the w h ite e s
ta b lis h m e n t, w ill ta k e th e m o n e y
h o m e to th e su b u rb s. A n d th e p r o
je c te d g ro w th in la rg e sc a le m i
n o rity o w n e d b u sin e ss, how w ill
it c o m p e te a g a in s t the im m ig ra n ts
w h o a lre a d y are im p o rtin g in v e s t
m e n t c a p ita l from the h o m e la n d ?
Last week we saw the black fam
ily reeling from catastrophic changes
in the workforce. Are the m ounting
challenges survivable? M ore next
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from V ietnam , K orea, C hina, Japan,
India, T hailand or from M exico, H on
duras, etc. and South A m e ric a -b u t
also in term s o f the capital, skills and
leverage m any o f these people bring
w ith them . A nd these A frican A m eri
cans are saying to them selves, “ the
very nature o f society here is com pe
tition, w hat chance has an econom i
cally-disabled black population in the
struggle for survival in those twenty
m ajor urban centers.”
N ot only are there such obvious
disabilities as the banks w hich rcdline
and give preference in loans to A sian
shopkeepers and w holesalers, and
“dow ntow n” re a l e s ta te in te r e s ts
w h o g iv e th e m o p p o rtu n itie s fo r
c h o ic e lo c a tio n s in c lu d in g s h o p
p in g m a lls th a t a re d e n ie d to
b la c k s --b u t th e se im m ig ra n ts p o s-
sess a n o th e r m a jo r a s se t, th e sa m e
as the e a rly E u ro p e an im m ig ra n ts.
T h ey h av e stro n g e c o n o m ic a n d
f in a n c ia l b o n d s w ith th e “ o ld
^ 2 6 : R e p o s s e s s io n
G P 1G S
C h ild r e n F ir s t
a m e n d m e n ts ( C h ild r e n F ir s t
m e m b e rs ca n c a ll the o lf ic e an d
be m a ile d , at n o - c o s t, a lis t o f
B o a rd n o m in e e s a n d /o r a c o p y o f
g ratio n ” seriously are not thinking
ju stin term s o f ‘b odies’- n e w arrivals
s
MB MM MB ■■
« 8 2 5 .51» B a r n e s R o a d . P o r t l a n d ,
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