Opinion
Time to Raise the Minimum Wage
“Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now”
B ERNIE F OSTER
Founder/Publisher
B OBBIE D ORE F OSTER
Executive Editor
T ED B ANKS
Advertising Manager
J ERRY F OSTER
Account Executive
L ISA L OVING
News Editor
H ELEN S ILVIS
Multimedia Editor
B RUCE P OINSETTE
Reporter
D AVID K IDD
Graphic Designer
M ONICA J. F OSTER
Seattle Office Coordinator
J ULIE K EEFE
S USAN F RIED
Photographers
The Skanner Newspaper, established
in October 1975, is a weekly publica-
T
he first federal minimum
wage of 25 cents an hour
was established in 1938.
Since then, it has been raised 22
times. It’s time to increase the
floor for the 23rd time, from its
current $7.25 to at least $10 an
hour.
According to the Center for Eco-
nomic Policy Research, the value
of the minimum wage peaked in
1968. If the minimum wage had
been indexed to the official Con-
sumer Price Index each year, the
minimum wage today would be
$10.52. The last time the mini-
mum wage was raised was in
2007, when it was raised from
$5.15 to $7.25.
Still, there is resistance.
Republican leaders say raising
the minimum wage will cost jobs.
But opponents, such as economist
Jared Bernstein, argue that rather
than job loss, employers compen-
sate by charging higher prices and
increasing productivity.
According to the Economic Pol-
icy Institute of the workers who
would benefit from the raise:
* The average age of affected
workers is 35 years old;
* 88 percent of all affected
workers are at least 20 years old;
* 35.5 percent are at least 40
years old;
* 56 percent are women;
* 28 percent have children;
* 55 percent work full-time (35
hours per week or more);
* 44 percent have at least some
T HE C URRY
R EPORT
George E.
Curry
college experience.
Approximately 3.6 million
workers, or 4.7 percent of all
hourly paid workers are at or
below the federal minimum wage
of 7.25 an hour. Employers are
allowed to pay students and the
disabled – defined as those “whose
occupations.” Robert Greenstein,
president of the Center on Budget
and Policy Priorities testified
before Congress in February: “I
would note that over recent
decades, the minimum wage has
been allowed to erode and is now
20 percent lower, after adjusting
for inflation, than in the late
1960s. For this and a number of
other reasons (relating in part to
globalization of the economy),
wages for low-paid jobs have fall-
en.”
A fact sheet by Economic Policy
Institute found, “A disproportion-
ate share of minorities will benefit
from a minimum wage increase.
African Americans represent 11
Approximately 3.6 million workers, or
4.7 percent of all hourly paid workers
are at or below the federal minimum
wage of 7.25 an hour
earning or productivity is impaired
by age, physical or mental defi-
ciency, or injury” – less than the
minimum wage. It also places lim-
its on workers who derive part of
their income from tips.
A study by the Congressional
Research Service found that 40
percent of those earning the mini-
mum wage or less work in “food
preparation and serving related
percent of the total workforce, but
are 18 percent of workers affected
by an increase.”
Washington State has the highest
state minimum wage at $9.19,
indexed to inflation. California
enacted a law that will raise its
minimum wage to $10 over three
years. Some cities have wages that
are even higher. The minimum
wage is $10.55 in San Francisco.
And in the recent election, New
Jersey voters approve a constitu-
tional amendment increasing the
minimum wage from $7.25 to
$8.25.
In March, the House voted 233
to 184 against raising the mini-
mum wage to $10.10 by 2015,
with all Republicans voting in the
majority.
Two Democrats, Senator Tom
Harkin of Iowa and Rep. George
Miller of California have spon-
sored legislation, called the Fair
Minimum Wage Act, to raise the
federal minimum wage. In his
State of the Union address in Feb-
ruary, President Obama proposed
a federal minimum wage of $9.
The EPI study stated. “When
describing who would see a raise
if the minimum wage were
increased, it is important to look at
everyone who earns between the
current minimum wage and the
proposed new one, as well as
workers earning just above the
new minimum wage. The typical
worker who would be affected by
an increase in the minimum wage
to $10.10 per hour by 2015 looks
nothing like the part-time, teen
stereotype: She is in her early thir-
ties, works full-time, and may
have a family to support.”
George E. Curry, former editor-
in-chief of Emerge magazine, is
editor-in-chief of the National
Newspaper Publishers Associa-
tion News Service.
tion, published each Wednesday by
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Needs and Wants are Not the Same Thing
D
uring a seminar in Buffalo,
N.Y. a few years ago,
noted author and financial
adviser, Brooke Stephens, said,
“How you handle your money is a
reflection of how you feel about
yourself.” Many of us, including
me, may not want to admit it, but
there have been times in our lives
when we did some pretty stupid
things with our money. We spent
all we had and then some; we
ended up with more month than
money; we bought things we
thought would bring us satisfac-
tion but later found they had little
lasting value.
As mature adults now, our finan-
cial mistakes and indiscretions
should be used to help our young
people, many of whom find their
self-esteem and self-worth in their
possessions. And, sadly, the more
they pay for those things, the
greater their perceived self-worth.
Shahrazad Ali once said, “Black
folks brag about how much we pay
for things, and White folks brag
about how little they pay.” Our
economic empowerment will
never come from spending alone;
it will come from ownership of
production capacity, distribution
channels, real estate, and business-
es through which we circulate our
dollars among ourselves.
Our lifestyles are definitely
reflective of our penchant for pur-
chasing “top shelf” items and,
thus, illuminate our need to
impress others with those items.
For instance, the television com-
mercials featuring various brands
of alcohol being promoted by
Black icons of the rap music
industry carry the subliminal mes-
Page 4 The Seattle Skanner November 13, 2013
E CONOMIC
E MPOWERMENT
James
Clingman
sage of being accepted and afflu-
ent. Clothing and shoe commer-
cials lull many of us into a
continuous state of “I gotta have
that.” The automobile ads, espe-
cially the high-priced autos, fea-
ture all kinds of reasons for going
into debt for seven years to drive
them. And it goes on and on.
Collective Empowerment Group,
conducts a daily prayer teleconfer-
ence (712-432-0255; access code
372536#). In a recent session,
Pastor Weaver stated, “Know the
difference between needs and
wants. You need transportation to
get to work or your business, but it
doesn’t mean you need to buy a
$50,000 car. What you need is a
ticket to get on the metro or sub-
way or bus fare. You need to have
some clothes, but you don’t need a
$10,000 mink coat.”
Weaver went on to add some
very important tips, such as,
avoiding the use of credit cards,
and refraining from “window-
shopping,” because you may be
drawn into the store and buy
“Black folks brag about how much we
pay for things, and White folks brag
about how little they pay”
When do we get off this train of
consumption? How do we begin
to establish self-control when it
comes to how we handle our
money? How do we immunize
ourselves against the disease of
allowing our wants to morph into
needs simply because of a com-
mercial, a billboard, or a cute jin-
gle or saying recited by some
superstar? A lot of our purchasing
habits really do reflect the saying,
“We buy what we want and beg
for what we need.”
Jonathan Weaver, pastor at
Greater Mt. Nebo A.M.E. Church,
in Bowie, Md. and founder of the
something you did not consider
until you saw it. (“Turn away my
eyes from looking at worthless
things…” Psalm 119:37). Mar-
keters, to their credit, know how to
turn a consumer’s wants into
needs. So, beware of all the ways
to get your money out of your
pocket and into someone else’s.
It all boils down to what Brooke
Stephens said about how we view
ourselves. We have been so pro-
grammed to believe that having
“things,” especially the best and
highest priced things, is the key to
our personal value. We are mes-
merized by luxury and excess and
have become obedient consumers
who will rush out, sleep out, and
even knockout someone else just
to have the latest fashion, gadget,
or whatever anyone is selling.
Maybe we can change our tenu-
ous and abbreviated relationship
with our money by holding on to it
a little longer. Maybe we can edu-
cate our children and guide them
in such a way that they will not
make the same mistakes we made
when it comes to handling money.
Maybe we can gain a new and dif-
ferent perspective on ourselves as
a people and as individual con-
sumers. And, maybe, just maybe,
we will take that first giant step
toward economic self-reliance and
achieve a proportional level of
ownership and control of income-
producing assets in this country.
After all, we have been here since
it began, yet we lag far behind
where we should be economically,
slavery and mistreatment notwith-
standing.
I believe those of us who have
been through some “stuff” and
made poor decisions in our lives
have an obligation to at least share
our experiences and use them to
help others.
Jim Clingman, founder of the
Greater Cincinnati African Ameri-
can Chamber of Commerce, is the
nation’s most prolific writer on
economic empowerment for Black
people. He is an adjunct professor
at the University of Cincinnati and
can be reached through his Web
site, blackonomics.com.