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I hank V ou F or R eading T he P ortland O bserver
p e r s p e c
B e r n ic e P o w e l l J a c k s o n
R e m e m b e r th e sto ry o f th e
E m p e ro r’s N ew C lo th e s? O n ly
one b ra v e so u l w as u n a fra id to
tell th e E m p e ro r th at he w as n a­
ked, as I re m e m b e r it. E v ery o n e
else p re te n d e d that the E m p ero r
w as fu lly c lo th e d , w ell, w h ile
g o v e rn m e n t o ffic ia ls are te llin g
us that so -c a lle d W elfare R eform
has been su c c e ssfu l, th e re a lity
is that th e y re a lly d o n ’t know
w hat has h a p p e n e d to ten s o f
th o u sa n d s o f p e rso n s no lo n g e r
on w e lfa re ro lls, the re a lity that
m any w ho a re w o rk in g w ith the
p o o r are te llin g us that th e p o o r
are now p o o re r and that w h ile
w e lfa re refo rm m ay su cceed in
e n d in g w e lfa re as w e know it, it
is not e n d in g p o v erty as we know
it. T h ey are te llin g us that the
E m p e ro r has on no clo th e s.
W ell o v e r a m illio n cases have
been d ro p p e d from th e n a tio n 's
w e lfare ro lls. But sta tistic s from
the U .S . G e n e ra l A c c o u n tin g
O ffic e seem to in d ic a te that the
m ajo rity o f th e fam ilies w h o se
b e n e fits w ere te rm in a te d did no,
find w ork. T h e p ro b lem is th ere
are ju s , too m any u n sk ille d , u n ­
tra in e d , p o o rly e d u c a te d w o rk ­
ers and too few jo b s to m atch.
T ak e W isco n sin for in sta n c e ,
the sta te w h ich has o ften been
held up as th e m o d el for w e lfare
refo rm . A stu d y d o n e by the
U n iv e rs ity o f W is c o n s in - M il­
w au k ee found th at o n ly 34% o f
th o se d ro p p e d from w e lfa re ro lls
found full tim e jo b s. O n ly o n e in
six o f th e fa m ilie s c u t o f f w as
now a b o v e th e p o v e rty line. In
a d d itio n , p e o p le on w e lfa re are
re q u ire d to d ro p o u , o f e d u c a tio n
or tra in in g p ro g ra m s and tak e the
firs, a v a ila b le jo b . T h at re q u ire ­
m ent e n su re s th at th e se p eo p le
will fo re v e r be poor, w h eth er on
w e lfare o r not.
O r take M assachusetts.
O ne a d v o cate for the poor w ho
has w orked w ith the poor and
hom eless for over ten years points
to the reality that the o v erw h elm ­
ing m a jo rity o f the paren ts in the
fam ilies she w orks w ith have no
high school d iplom a and little to
o ffe r in term s o f jo b e x p e rie n c e
o r m a rk e ta b le s k ills ." T h ese
w om en have no ch an ce o f c o m ­
p etin g in to d a y ’s jo b m arket, but
the sta te ex p ects them to becom e
e c o n o m ic a lly s e l f - s u f f i c i e n t
w ith o u t any train in g or a s s is ­
ta n c e ,” she said, adding that since
th e sta te is no, p ro v id in g jo b
tra in in g for th ese w om en, the
tim e lim its are g o ing to ex p ire at
the end o f 1998 and th ese fa m i­
lies w ill have nothing to fall back
on.
U nfortunately, many Americans
b elieve tha, the problem s o f poor
fam ilies have gone aw ay with the
w elfare rolls. Many A m ericans
m istakenly believe that jo b tra in ­
ing or preparation has occurred,
when it usually has not. Some are
m erely given pep talks by their
casew orkers or assigned to a b rie f
“jo b preparation sem inar" which
tells them how to dress, and how to
speak on the phone and then puts
them at a desk with a telephone
and a new spaper to try to get jo b
interview s. W isconsin State Sena­
tor G w endolynne M oore calls the
pretense o f jo b readiness in her
own state the “ You Go, G irl" c a t­
egory.
M any A m ericans believe that
all these folks form erly on w elfare
now have real jo b s-,h a t they ju st
needed that extra push to get out in
th e jo b m a rk e t,
but look a,
w orkfare, the program by which
/
r
e
s
‘Supper Table Input’; What Was It? What Now?
BX
I ROE, M C K IN L E Y B l RT
O n e w o u ld in f e r th a t th e
te rm r e f e r s to th a t s i t u a t i o n
w h e r e a y o u n g p e r s o n w o u ld
g row a n d b e in f o r m e d by a
p ro c e ss o f s o c ia liz a tio n
w h i c h o c c u r s a r o u n d th e
f a m i l y ’s e v e n in g m e a l.
E x a c t l y ! a n d at v a r i o u s
tim e s o v e r th e p a s t d e c a d e ,
th e p a g e s o f " T h e P o r tla n d
O b s e r v e r ” h a v e p r o v id e d an
o p p o r t u n i t y f o r m e to c ite
fro m f ir s th a n d e x p e r ie n c e th e
i n c r e d i b l e w a rm th a n d n u r ­
tu r in g to be o b ta in e d fro m
s u c h a r o u tin e d a ily e v e n t.
T h a t is if , in f a c t, th is e v e n t
is r o u t i n e a n d is d a ily . A n d ,
g e n e r a l l y , m o s t o f us a s s u m e
th a t it w a s at so m e d is ta n t
tim e -- b u t in c r e a s in g ly d o u b t
th e s i t u a t i o n s t i l l p r e v a ils .
T h is fu n d a m e n ta l c h a n g e in
o u r v ie w p o in t and e v a lu a ­
tio n s o f c h ild h o o d a n d e a r ly
y o u th is n o t j u s t so m e s u d ­
d e n a p p r e h e n s i o n g e n e r a te d
by th e r e c e n t s c r e a m in g h e a d ­
lin e s g e n e r a te d by m e d ia p u n ­
d its an d ‘e x p e r t s ’, "M o re
S l a u g h t e r In t h e S c h o o l
Y a r d s ... M o re P r o g r a m s D e s ­
p e r a t e l y N e e d e d F o r D is a f -
Bx D r , L enora Ft i . ani
Long-simmering public dissatis­
faction with the quality o f health care
provided under the nation's man-
aged-care programs has burst out as
the hot political campaign issue of
1998. According to the New York
Times, congressional and guberna­
torial candidates from both parties
and in at least twenty states are call­
ing for sweeping reforms that will
strengthen the hand o f patients in
their battles with IIM O ’s. However,
the likelihood o f significant reform
is slim, because both parties are so
deeply indebted to the insurance
lobby for campaign contributions.
In his first term in office, Presi­
dent Clinton placed health care re­
form at the top o f the national agenda.
I his was the signal to the insurance
The Emperor's New Clothes:
After Welfare Reform
by
/
w elfare recipients are required to
work to continue to receive their
benefits. It sounds like a good
idea on the surface w orking for
your w elfare check. But Jobs with
Justice, a national coalition o f o r­
ganizations, w arns that w orkfare
participants have proven to be an
irresistible, cheap labor force to
provide falling city services. In
New Y ork C ity , fo r in stan ce,
w orkfare participants have been
cleaning subw ays and busses as
w ell as s tre e ts, o fte n w ith o u t
proper protective clothing. They
have sim ply replaced other low
paid city w orkers, but with even
lower salaries and few er benefits.
M any A m ericans b eliev e that
ju s ,b e c a u s e they have not heard
h o rro r sto rie s ab o u t the end o f
w elfare th a , there have not been
any. But m any hom eless sh elters
and soup kitch en s arc finding
they a re feed in g and h o u sin g
m ore po o r people. C h u rc h e s are
finding th at fam ilies are running
out o f m oney ea rlie r in the month
and that w hile they once needed
help w ith food and en erg y bills,
they now are fin d in g it hard to
pay rent.
As our nation’s w ealth grows
astronom ically, with the stock mar­
ket likely to reach 10,000 before
the end o f the year, are we brave
enough to tell the Em peror that he
has on no clothes? Are we willing
to say that in this w ealthiest o f
nations, le t’s not ju st end welfare
as we know it, but le t's end poverty
as we know it? Arc we willing to
call upon state and federal officials
to provide real jo b training and
education for real fam ilies so that
we might all march through the
streets w ell-clothed and fed and
housed? Only then will the Em­
peror really have on clothes.
f e c te d U rb a n Y o u t h ” . A n d
m a n y , m a n y m o re in th e s a m e
v e in . In f a c t, at th e v e r y m o ­
m e n t I w r i t e h e r e (8 am
T h u r s d a y ; 5 /2 1 /9 8 ) , “ b r e a k ­
in g n e w s ” c ite s a h ig h s c h o o l
s l a u g h t e r in S p r i n g f i e l d , O r ­
egon.
I b e lie v e th a t i f I am a l ­
lo w e d to r e f l e c t b a c k to m y
o w n c h ild h o o d s i t u a t i o n fo r
a m o m e n t, I m a y b e a b le to
c ite s e v e r a l c o n t r i b u t i n g f a c ­
to rs (e v e n f u n d a m e n ta l)
w h ic h h a v e g r e a t l y i n f l u ­
e n c e d th e d e v e l o p m e n t o f
t o d a y ’s tr a u m a a n d tr a g e d y .
M o re r e l e v a n t to u r b a n th a n
s u b u r b ia .
In th e s e g r e g a te d e n v ir o n s
o f c e n t r a l S t. L o u is , M o .,
w h e re I w a s b o r n ( 1 9 2 2 ) , th e
sa m e p h y s ic a l s tr u c tu r e o f th e
d o m ic ile h o u s in g th e f a m ily
u n it w a s g e n e r a l l y tr u e f o r
b o th th e A f r ic a n A m e r ic a n s
an d th e n e ig h b o r in g e n c la v e s
o f p o o r e r w h i t e s . T h a t is ,
th e r e w as ro o m to h o u s e so m e
m e m b e rs o f an e x te n d e d f a m ­
ily.
Q u ite o f te n y o u n o t o n ly
had in r e s i d e n c e an im m e d i­
a te h o u s e h o ld ; f a th e r , m o th e r
industry political action committees
to once again open the floodgates o f
political contributions to members
o f Congress, to highjack reform and
i nsure that any changes to the system
would preserve the financial inter­
ests o f the insurance companies.
According to figures compiled at
the time by Citizen Action, the insur­
ance lobby spent more than $2 mil­
lion a month during the debate, to
slow down or kill the reform. Politi­
cal action committees associated with
these lobbies contributed $26.4 mil­
lion to campaigns from January 1993
a n d t h e ir c h ild r e n - b u t su c h
e x te n d e d m e m b e r s a s g r a n d ­
p a r e n ts o r a u n ts a n d u n c le s ,
v a r y in g w ith in d iv id u a l c i r ­
c u m s ta n c e s . A n d a d d th o s e
c o u s in s w h o , m a d e o r p h a n in
so m e m a n n e r, w e re " ta k e n i n ”
i f at a ll p o s s ib le , r a t h e r th a n
tu r n e d o v e r to s o m e s o c ia l
a g e n c y . ( “ T h e r e w a s ro o m at
th e i n n ” ).
T h e n c o n te m p la te , i f y o u
w ill, th e r ic h e s a n d v a r ie ty
o f th e c o n v e r s a t i o n a n d i n ­
f o r m a tio n th a t w o u ld flo w
b a c k a n d f o r th a c r o s s th is
" s u p p e rta b le " . T he b ro ad
k n o w le d g e a n d e x p e r i e n c e o f
m any age g ro u p s and o c c u ­
p a tio n s r e a c h e s th e e a r s o f
a d u lt a n d c h ild a lik e .
M y o w n f a m ily c o n s i s t e d
o f a g ra n d fa th e r w ho w as a
r a ilw a y m a il c le r k w h o t r a v ­
e lle d a ll o v e r th e S o u th , a
m o th e r a n d a u n t w h o w e r e o r
h a d b e e n e le m e n ta r y s c h o o l
te a c h e r s , a n d tw o e ld e r ly o ld -
m a id c o u s in s w h o h a d b e e n
s e a m s t r e s s e s in y o u n g e r
d a y s . T h e n , th e r e w a s ‘ c o u s in
F r e d d y ', f o r w h o m a ro o m
w a s k e p t f o r u s e b e tw e e n h is
g ig s a s an e n t e r t a i n e r a t c lu b s
to May 1994, with the biggest dona­
tions going to members o f congres­
sional committees that would draft
health care legislation. In conferring
this largesse, the insurance industry
was truly non-partisan: recipients
ranged from the Utah Republican
Orrin Hatch ($267,141) to the Cali­
fornia Democrat Dianne Feinstein
($235,755).
If history is any guide, the health
insurance industry will once again
try to channel this latest reform
“movement” into some sort o f new
restructuring that will benefit their
r o u n d th e c o u n t r y .
T h e n it s h o u ld n o t b e s u r ­
p r i s i n g th a t lo n g b e f o r e I
r e a c h e d H ig h S c h o o l, 1 w a s
a s f a m ilia r w ith th e p r a c t i c e s
a n d t e r m in o lo g y r e l a t i n g to
m a n y w a lk s o f l i f e as I w a s
w ith th e p la c e v a lu e o f d e c i ­
m a ls . M o s tly , a c h ild lis te n e d
a n d le a r n e d a n d w h e n h e d id
m a k e in q u ir y - o r w a s a s k e d
q u e s tio n s - he c o u ld a lw a y s
be su re o f g u id a n c e th a t
w o u ld e n h a n c e p e r s o n a l d e ­
v e lo p m e n t a n d g u id e o n e to
s a f e h a v e n s . I f y o u r b ig e a r s
h a d n ’t a lr e a d y p ic k e d up on
th a t.
I h a d l e a r n e d to a v o i d
fig h ts and c o n f r o n ta tio n s ,
no w m y g r a n d f a t h e r h a n d le d
h is m o r tg a g e a n d t a x e s , h o w
to n e g o t i a t e r a t h e r th a n to
ran t and ra v e an d g e n e ra lly ,
I w a s b e in g s o c i a l i z e d , p a i n ­
le s s ly . I do n o t b e l i e v e th a t
an im m e r s io n in to th e N E T
and c o m p u te riz e d g a m e s an d
r e la te d p r o g r a m s c a n r e s t o r e
th e s o c ia l s t r u c t u r e a n d m u ­
tu a l r e s p e c t th a t d e v e lo p e d
a r o u n d th e “ s u p p e r t a b l e i n ­
p u t ” - w h e th e r th e d i n e r s a r e
tr u c k d r i v e r s o r j a n i t o r s .
own bottom line, if not necessarily
the health o f Americans. It’s worth
remembering that HM O’s were once
considered a reform.” The Nixon
Administration embraced them as an
alternative to strong, grassroots de­
mands for national health insurance.
In 1973, Congress passed the HMO
Act, which required companies with
more than 25 employees and a health
coverage plan to offer at least one
HMO as an alternative.
The most severe casualties have
been in the field o f preventive medi­
cine.
Vanport Memorial
Dedicated
C ontinued F rom F ront
lodged in dwellings ranging from
single family homes to medium­
sized apartment buildings, Vanport
City was created to house workers
building “liberty ships” in the Kai­
ser shipyards. Inadvertently, it
changed the complexion o f Port­
land. Some 20 to 25 percent o f the
population was African-American,
and the percentage was higher in
northwest Portland’s G uild’s Lake
housing project. Overall, the war
w orker influx pushed the city’s Af­
rican-A m erican population from
1,931 in 1940 to 15,000 at w ar’s
end.
By most accounts the housing
w as seg reg ated , w ith A frican-
Americans concentrated on Cotton­
wood Street, but the community had
an integrated school, shopping cen­
ter and social activities such asa girl
scout troup. Regina Flowers, who
lived in Vanport as a child, says
“ Henry Kaiser just saw people as
workers It w asn't a perfect place,
but if you came from a segregated
society, as most o f us did, you’d be
stupid to expect things to be all
hunky-dory. As a ten-year old, I
didn’t spend time worrying about
it.”
Others did. With the war over and
black w orkers’ services nolonger
needed, they were a problem and
their city was in the way. Many civic
leaders, including mayor Earl Riley
and senator Wayne Moss, wanted
the area to become an industrial park.
The "problem " was solved by
nature in May, 1948. A sudden rise
in tem perature melted a heavy w in­
ter snow pack in Montana and Brit­
ish Columbia, sending the Colum ­
bia River flooding toward Portland
According to PCC researcher Linda
Elegant, there was a small break in
the levee surrounding low-lying
Vanport in mid-afternoon o f May
29, starting a slow flood that sent
Birdie Lee and Gary Ann Taylor in Vanport ju s t before the flood
in 1948.
people fleeing. Then, a, 4:30, a 600-
foot section collapsed, bringing in a
wall o f water 12 feet high.
Estimates o f those drowned range
from 14 into the hundreds.
Floating objects thought to be bod­
ies later turned out, in many cases, to
be logs. North Portland resident Alta
Mitchoff recalls that the day after the
flood many o f her Vanport friends
were missing, bu, almost all later
turned up. Most agree with Flowers,
who says. “Nobody really knows.”
The flood was so convenient in
eliminating Vanport that to this day
some suspect that the levee’s col­
lapse was done deliberately. Cer­
tainly, its construction was poorly
done. The Army Corps o f Engineers
originally planned to lead a discus­
sion a, the anniversary entitled, “I es-
X
sons Learned From V anport.” They
eventually decided not to partici­
pate.
The African-American survivors,
now housed in temporary shelters or
as guests in private homes, were en­
couraged to leave town - some say
they were offered money to go - or to
resettle in the Albina area o f inner
northeast.
Many o f those who remain in
Portland are looking forward to the
reunion. “W e’ve stayed in touch all
our lives,” Flowers says. “Most o f
us are at retirement age now, and
our children are curious about w hat
happened there.”
Anothersutvivor, Frank Brummett,
says that life in Vanport was “a won­
derful and joyous experience for me.
and a godsend to my parents.”