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The Theory Of The Black Middle-Class; Part II
P rof . M< K i m m Bi
1 he
hi
Law o f unintended conse­
that famed “ Harlem Renaissance
model It is true that just this very
phrase evokes bitter-sweet memories
o f a stationary moment in tim e - a
cultural snapshot ofth e b rillia n t ebony
quences fin a lly caught up w ith me
last week; ‘The Theory o f the L e i­
sure Class" is the classic book w rit­
ten by Thorstein Veblen. Though I
inadvertently om itted the title , read­
expatriates ( in their own country) who,
in their Harlem bantustan; indulged
ers d id make a connection w ith the
auth o r’ s value judgem ents o f "c o n ­
spicuous consum ption” and “ pecu­
niary em ulation (w hite population,
themselves in an intellectual ferment
as productive as Europe’s offerings.
That writers, poets, painters, sculptors
leaders and teachers were forged in
their own fiery furnace. A n interesting
1899).
What was’ intended was to fo llo w
on w ith a demonstration that today’ s
black middle-class could not be de­
aside here, concerning Harlem, is how
a process thought to have a gradual and
orderly beginning turns out to have
been pure serendipity. Among the many
scribed as a population at "leisure” ,
not by anyone’s standard. N ot even
when compared with that hard-driv­
ing, "upward m o b ility” crowd that took
successful A frican American inven­
tors who empowered early entrants to
the black middle-class was G ranville
Woods whose electrical inventions so
greatly influenced the development o f
over Los Angeles' Baldwin H ills sub­
urb early in the “ Black R evolution.”
That frenzied mob o f overachiever
also is not a suitable model for an
Am erica’ s railways. For one fall CD-
R O M , I have focused my research on
Woods and subways.
W oods patented the so-called
"W estinghouse” A ir Brake, the R a il­
way Telegraph and scores o f other
evaluation today. Y our parents were
great, but the w orld is in a flux.
N or, as I advised one ‘ nostalgic’
caller, could we meaningfully employ
Ceasfire
Oregon
▲
Irw in notes that Ceasefire does
not advocate fo r legal restrictions on
gun ownership, o n ly voluntary ac­
tion. Canda says, "W hen our enter­
tainm ent is violent and our media is
vio le n t, should we expect anything
less than vio le n t confrontations?” He
adds, however, “ C ertainly i t ’ s peo­
ple that k ill people, but guns make it
a lot easier.”
Irw in can attest to this. A ccording
to statistics, she says, violent assaults
in v o lv in g guns end in death 60 per­
cent o f the tim e, as compared to four
percent o f assaults w ith knives and
one percent o f assaults w ith clubs,
feet o r fists. When young people
attem pt suicide w ith guns, they suc­
ceed 76 percent o f the time, as com ­
pared to 35 percent fo r poison gas,
less fo r other methods.
m odem subways possible. In 1888.
the A m erican C atholic T ribune de­
scribed W oods as "T h e greatest elec­
tric ia n in the w o rld .”
to and have tw o interested scholars
com ing here this summer.
There was great interest in the
S h o rtly afterw ards, serendipity
to o k over when New Y orks new “ In-
overall concept, and callers offered
models and parameters ranging from
classic studies like "T h e Philadel­
phia N egro” (W .E .D . D ubois) and
terurban Rapid Transit C o.” found
its expansionist dreams expedited by
the black engineer's inventions But
"the Black Bourgeoisie” (E. Franklin
Frazier), to a dozen essays and po­
lemics by contem porary observers;
m uch too fast when the com pany’ s
real estate d ivisio n greatly ove r-b u ilt
Cornel West, Haki R M adhubuti,
Harold Cruse, L in co ln Frazier (the
Negro Church In A m erica), Nathan
H are, Ja w a n za K u n ju fu , T o n i
M o rris o n , A n g e la D a v is , A lv in
Poussaint and others.
great tracts o f fashionable upscale
apartments at the most distant te rm i­
nal. They stayed em pty at any price.
Facing bankruptcy. Raid Transit
was bailed out when a black man by
the name o f Pickens came up w ith
“ an idea that w ill make all o f us ric h .”
A nd that he did, re cru itin g m iddle-
income black tenants from many near
by areas o f New Y o rk and New Jer­
sey in the greatest upward m o b ility ’
A more practical vie w o f matters
at hand w ould suggest that constraints
o f space w ould not perm it an in-
depth critique, but on the other hand
we w ould not want to be so breezy
and anecdotal as to exclude hard
inform ation w hich could enhance the
mances M ay 12 and 18 at 2 p.m.
Program B also begins and ends
w ith ensemble w orks w ith James
Hampton’s “ W ild M an” and Donald
B yrd ’s “ Cracked Narrative.” Three
pas de deux’s w ill be performed in the
middle o f the program including two
classical works w ith Shakespearian
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A Certain depth o f Heart,
Also Love will be
performed during sixth
annual ballet showcase.
S p a ig h t’ s C ra y o la , and James
C a n fie ld ’ s “ D rifte d in a D eeper
Land.” It w ill be perform ed M ay 10,
12, 15, 18 ,2 1 , and 23 at 7:30 p.m.
There w ill be tw o matinee p e rfo r­
me hunting,” she quotes him as say­
ing, “ but I ’ m going to bond w ith him
by having him see me turn in my
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Continued next week.
2 2 2 -7 1 2 8
“ When I was his age m y father took
heating oils
ny were ca lling each other "dweebs,
nerds” and no, satisfied w ith Sony
Play Station and Sega Saturn, w ant­
ed equal time on W o rld W ide Web.
PEST CONTROL
center section o f the program fea­
tures Val C a n ip a ro li’ s “ H am let and
O p h e lia Pas de D e u x ,” D e n n is
Sometimes you can get both things
Call For Quote
Then, again, I was hearing o f the
g ro w in g number o f black investment
clu b s, the p o p u la rity o f W endy
O ver The Hedge and Cathy. M any o f
th e ir older teenagers are d riv in g /
b u ild in g "B a d D ude” type ground-
hugging cars. T h e ir younger proge­
program - Paul T a y lo r’ s “ C loven
K ingdom ” and Bebe M ille rs " A Cer­
tain Depth o f Heart, A ls o Love.” The
at once. Irw in says that last year a
man to o k his ten year old son w ith
him when he turned in a hunting rifle .
Friendly
management,” the most endangered
species among jo b sectors (especial­
ly the last hired).
Program A features ensemble
works at the beginning and end o f the
contrast, she says, “ I f we destroy 100
guns it may seem like a drop in the
bucket, but it w ill probably save five
o r six lives.”
Service
a new “ black landed-gentry" that
drove Suburus and Audis, sen, the
little ones to Montessori schools —
but were also employed in “ m iddle-
R am m er's book, “ I ’ m D ysfunction­
al, Y o u ’ re D ysfu n ctio n a l,” and that
the in ’ com ic strips were D ilb e rt,
Oregon B allet Theater w ill present
“ C hanging vio le n t behavior re­
quires a radical change in society,
and that takes tim e,” she says. By
Dad's
q u a lity o f life. For instance, both my
local and national sources described
tw o programs as a part o f its sixth
annual “ Am erican Choreographers
Showcase,” M ay 10-12, 15-19 and
2 1 -24 at the Intermediate Theater o f
the Portland Center fo r the P erform ­
ing Arts. N ine w orks were selected
from the com pany’ s repertory.
guns in yo u r home may be used
against you.”
man nature? Both Canda and Irw in
concede the point.
(P a te n ts
N o.
383,844,463,020,509,065,ect.), in­
c lu d in g the "T h ird R a il” w hich made
movement seen to that date. "H a rle m "
was established, and the "Renais­
sance” was assured It seems that
I ’ ve opened up some terra incogni­
Oregon Ballet Theater Programs
Continued from front
W hat o f the N ational R ifle Asso­
ciation argument that people, rather
than guns, k ill people, that a mechan­
ical device is being blamed fo r hu­
inventions. But, p a rticu la rly we cite
here his "E le c tric R ailw ay” systems
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