M arch 1, 1995 « T he P ortl and O bserver
P age A2
bx
K en W ong
C li
f the passage of
C alifornia's Proposi-
tion 187 was a wake-up
call for Asian Pacific Americans
throughout the country, the
R e p u b lica n C o n tra c t w ith
America is a three-alarm fire.
The contract is anti-immigrant.
anti-Asian and anti-worker It goes
beyond attacking undocumented im
migrants to attacking legal immi
grants. And it will harm all Asian
Pacific Americans struggling to be
come economically secure.
From an economic standpoint,
the contract is a dangerous rehash of
the Reagan Bush policies that
brought us a huge national debt, a
grow ing gap betw een rich and poor
and attacks on the civil rights of
women and people of color.
The Republicans want to help
the rich by cutting capital gains tax
es. They are also calling for millions
more for prison construction and bil
lions more for military-spending.
At the same time, they want to
NATIONAL'
C O A L IT IO N
Asian Pacific Alliance
Attacks Contract
slash and restrict social programs
such as Aid to Families with Depen
dent Children and to place children
in orphanages. Cuts in Medicare,
Medicaid and Social Security will
also be necessary to meet their bud
get goals. This would only make
matters worse for the elderly, strug
gling families and millions of poor
children.
The contract makes a mockery
of the Statue of l iberty by eliminat
ing over 60 social programs for legal
permanent residents. Many recent
immigrants are in great need of gov
ernment services to facilitate accul
turation and their ability to enter the
work force and become financially
secure. Yet the Republican contract
would deny legal immigrants access
to school lunches, nutrition programs,
childhood immunizations, AFDC,
Supplemental Security Income, job
training and other programs.
Two thirds o f Asian Am eri
cans are immigrants and the elim
ination o f benefits for legal resi
dents would have a d ispropor
tionate impact on the Asian com
munity. In addition, the poverty
rate o f Asian A m ericans exceeds
that o f whites and is very high
among Asian refugee com m uni
ties. Cuts in social program s and
services would have a devastat
ing impact on these newcom ers
to Am erica.
The Asian Pacific American
Labor Alliance, a national organiza
tion of Asian Pacific American work
ers, is fighting hard to protect our
community from the Republican con
tract. We are joining with labor
unions, civil rights organizations,
environmentalists, women and com
munity groups to oppose Republican
efforts to attack working people and
immigrant communities. We urge all
Asian Pacific Americans and all
working people to join in this impor
tant struggle.
p e r fe c t / v e s
A Final List Of Both
Classic And Modern
Books On Black History
> « R » ' his is not to say that
Il
in the past few weeks
we have come close
to coverin g the g ro w in g
number of texts and authors
rendering truthful accounts
of the many contributions of
the black races to the w orld’s
culture and science. What we
have soughtto do is produce
a list of very interesting and
“ readily obtainable” volumes
which w ill bolster your pride
and your self-esteem—not to
mention sure motivation for
you and yours.
BLACK EMPOWERMENT
Is Real Welfare Reform Possible
BX
D r . L enora F vlani
veryone - those on the
re c e iv in g end and
< 3 * ” those whose taxes pay
for it - agrees that the welfare
system is n ’t w o rk in g . The
system is degrading, inefficient
and top-heavy. Much of the
hundreds of billions of dollars
that the federal government
spends each year on welfare
never reaches people in need.
Some surveys indicate that
close to 80 percent of it winds
up in the hands of the
b u re a u c ra ts and p o v e rty
professionals.
But while the current welfare
system is a disaster, most Americans
believe that the country can't just
tum men and women w ithout jobs or
other means o f support out on the
streets. Most Americans believe that
children - all children - must have
food to eat. That’s why the welfare
program was originally established
60 years ago as part of the Social
Security Act.
Still, the outcry for reform per
sists. Some have pointed out how
politically motivated that outcry is.
On my television show this week, my
guest, the Rev. Al Sharpton, noted
that while Congress was willing to
bail out the Savings and Loan com
panies to the tune of $400 billion,
many of our elected officials are ob
sessed with cutting welfare. Most of
the proposals being put forward, both
from Newt Gingrich’s Republicans
and Bill Clinton’s Democrats, talk
about replacing “welfare with
“workfare.’’ The Republican plan
outlined recently by Congressman E
Clay Shaw Jr., R-Fla„ echoing the
reforms proposed last year by Presi
dent Clinton, would require that after
two years on welfare people take
jobs or become part of some work
program. But neither the Republi
cans or Democrats have addressed
the critical questions: What jobs?
What programs’1 Who would pay for
these work programs’1 And how
would cuts in welfare spending af
fect the overall economy?
These questions are being posed
to these problems. Government has
by economists and labor experts who
simply become too controlled by
criticize both the Democratic and
Democratic and Republic politick
Republican proposals. In a recent
ing to come up with real solutions
article in the Wall Street Journal,
capable
of moving the country for
these economists argued that the pro
ward.
Until
we take care o f that
posed restructuring o f welfare could
problem
,
there
is no way out of
increase the poverty rate from the
social,
econom
ic
and political
current 13 percent of the population
gridlock,
no
possibility
o f re
to as much as 22 percent and that the
form
ing
the
w
elfare
system
and
reduction o f per capita incom e
no
chance
o
f
setting
the
stage
for
could have a negative “ ripple
bona
fide
econom
ic
expansion.
effect” on poorer urban and rural
A restructuring of the political
areas o f the country. Labor ex
process
that opens it up to include the
perts have noted that the eco n o
American
people and breaks down
my will have difficulty absorb-
the
control
of the two major parties
ing m illions o f workers w ithout
would
be
the
first real step in the
skills or jo b experience.
direction
of
welfare
reform. If the
The real question is: Can we
process
is
open
to
the
people
- through
create an economic arrangem ent
•
term
limits,
initiative
and
referen
which takes m illions o f people
dum,
recall,
the
elimination
of
PACs,
o ff welfare and brings them into
ballot
access
and
election
reform
- if
the work force in ways that foster
we can create real dem ocracy in
the growth and developm ent o f
A m erica, then 1 am very confi
both the economy and the people
dent that the Am erican people
whose lives will be profoundly
can find humane and d evelop
affected by this shift?
m ental solutions to the failure ot
In my opinion, there is no evi
the w elfare system and all the
dence that the government can pro
other problem s we face today.
duce serious and workable solutions
^¡Letter
Send your letters to the Editor to:
Editor, PO Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208
Amendment Could Hurt Social Security
deficit. Only the spending programs
can's senior citizens strongly sup
financed by general revenues are run
port the idea of a balanced budget.
ning a deficit. Social Security and
But any constitutional amendment
ome members of Con
many other trust fund programs are
which includes the Social Security
gress are acting like
running substantial surpluses, which
program is the wrong way to go.
mad scientists. They're
then are being taken to mask the true
The proposed constitutional
ying to mix two incompatible
size of the deficit.
amendment would rely heavily on
isues, knowing full well the
The Social Security program is
the annual surpluses of the Social
»suits could be explosive.
soundly
financed. In fact, the Social
Security trust funds - payroll taxes
I’m referring, of course, to a
Security
trust fund is estimated to run
paid by working Americans - to off
roposal now before the Senate to
a
surplus
upwards of $60 billion this
set the huge deficit in the general
iclude Social Security in a constitu-
year. This money was collected for
revenue fund.
onal amendment to balance the fed-
Social Security benefits and admin
In fact, if this amendment were
ral budget. On their own. Social
istrative expenses only and should
passed, the Social Security trust fund,
.ecurity, which keeps millions of
not be used for deficit reduction. The
in effect, would cease to exist. All the
Lmericans young and old out of pov
Social Security program should be
monies that have been earmarked
erty and a balanced budget are great
protected from the general budget
specifically for beneficiaries both
deas. But. together, in a constitu-
process, not just for today s seniors,
young and old no longer would be
ional amendment, they re a recipe
but for the future beneficiaries who
separated from the rest of the budget.
or fiscal disaster.
are counting on the program when
There would be no trust funds - only
Despite all the campaign prom-
they retire.
revenues and outlays. There would
ses to leave Social Security alone,
Controlling government spend
be
no
distinction
made
for
monies
proponents of the balanced budget
ing
and
getting the federal budget in
taken in by the government for a
:o n stitu tio n al am endm ent are
order is part of the job of every
specific purpose
»teamrolling toward a major and dan
lawmaker elected to Congress. Of
The problem is the entire federal
gerous change to Social Security.
course
we need to control a deficit
government does not operate at a
Don't misunderstand - Ameri
bx
M artha A. M c S teen
that runs in the hundreds of billions
of dollars. But why unnecessarily
destroy a successful program to ac
complish that?
The 1994 elections should not
be construed as author izingCongress
to divert Social Security revenues to
a federal deficit slush fund. But that
is precisely what the balanced bud
get amendment would do. If mem
bers of Congress cannot do their jobs
without raiding the Social Security
trust funds, then it's time to find
leaders who can.
D espite all the cam p aig n
rhetoric and prom ises to leave
Social Security alone, proponents
o f the balanced budget am end
ment are m oving tow ard a funda
mental change to Social S ecuri
ty. They need to be told to keep
their fingers out o f the Social
Security cookie jar
Martha McSteen is president o f
the National Committee to Preserve
Social Security and Medicare
Join us
in celebrating
(O bservers
In the Feb
ruary, 8 issue
of the Portland
O b serv er
n e w sp a p e r,
th is co lu m n
provided a list
o f 3 p rim e
s o u rc e s fo r
books and other m aterials of
sp ec ia l in te re st to A frican
A m ericans. In a d v erten tly , I
omitted a valuable local source,
Pow ell’s Book Store at Tenth
and West Burnside. If still hav
ing difficulty call me at 284-
7080, or FAX at 284-0484.
“The A frican O rig in o f
C ivilization: Myth or R eality’,
Cheikk Anta Diop, Lawrence
Hill & Co., 1974, A very read
able and fundam ental account
o f the title, this classic thor
oughly docum ents the archae
ological, anthropological and
linguististic evidence. Includes
illustrations by this renowned
scholar from the African C on
tinent (Senegal).
“The D estruction o f Black
C ivilization” , C hancellor W il
liam s, T h ird W o rld P ress,
1976. This black au th o r’s ac
count o f the great African civ
ilizations that earlier the Greek
historians and p h ilo so p h ers,
Heredotus and Plato, had d e
scribed as “the greatest in the
w orld” is p erhaps the most
w id ely re a d o f h is g en re.
Progresses forward through the
conquests o f Islam, European
C olonization, A m erican sla
very, right up to to d ay ’s rac
ism.
“Stolen Legacy” . George
G. M. James. This is an im
mensely popular account; this
black author docum ents that the
so-called “G reek" schools of
philosophy, religion and sci-
ence were really o f African o r
igin” , and that “the Egyptian
Em pire extended to W estern
Asia, Syria and Palestine.
• Before The M ayflow er”
Lerone Bennett Jr. and “They
Came Before C olum bus” , Ivan
Van Sertim a are two great com
panion books to have before the
Europeans.
"The M iseducation O f the
N egro” , C arter G. W oodson and
his earlier-w ritten. “ Education
o f The Negro" Both o f his fifty
year-old classics warned even
back then o f what was happen
ing in our edu
cation system ,
“ A m e ric a ’ s
chains o f s la
Sy
Professor v ery are no
longer on our
Mckinley
bodies but on
Burt
our m inds.”
"M a rc u s
Garvey And The Vision o f A fri
ca". Early on this organizing
genius clearly understood the
vast economic power that lays
w ithin the grasp o f A frican
Americans it they would pool
their monies and talents to de
velop commercial relations with
their home kind ("just as whites
have already done"). He o rg a
nized a halt-m illion American
blacks and scores o f business
enterprises including a steam
ship line - before being be
trayed by en v io u s,je alo u s and
frightened blacks.
And let us by no means ne
glect the pioneer who, unac
knowledged, pointed the way
so early on for our more re
nowned historians, the prolific
J.A . Rogers. With rev ealin g
photos he wrote "N ature Knows
No C olor-Line, W orld’s G reat
Men o f Color, Sex and Race,
A frica's Gift to Am erica, 100
Amazing Facts About The N e
gro, As Nature Leads", and oth
e rs ; W E B
D u b o is s a id ,
“Greatest Living!"
Say, I ju st read, “ Queen
Bess: D aredevil A viator by
Doris L. Rich. A w onderful,
m otivational story o f a black
female aviator who was licensed
as a pilot in 1921, two years
before Amelia Earhart. Pub
lished by the Sm ithsonian lnsti
tution Press, 1993. Afterword
co p y rig h t by M ae Jem iso n
M.D., the first black female as
tronaut.
Wife
(©bseruer
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