It would be nice if we could say: "Well, since
racism is caused by whites not liking blacks, all that
we have to do to get rid of racism is to be nice to
white people. Then, they will like black people and
racism will disappear.' Unfortunately, the issue is a
bit more complicated than it appears to be. -
Racism involves, the stereotyping and prejudg
ment of blacks by whites. In simpler terms, when
whites see a white face they automatically react with
respect even if the person having the white face is-v
a criminal. -
When, whites see a dark complexionedperson, :
they react with disrespect, even if the dark skinned
person is a well-mannered politician or educator.
The reaction is almost a reflex response. They react
without thinking about the person or analyzing the
filiation. If the person is black, he or she is inferior
and 'That's all there is to it."
Blacks and whites observe television programs
that depict blacks as being inferior tp whites and the
conditioned, automatic response is, for the most -part,
deeply implanted in the subconscious mind. It
According to its 1 980 annual report, the National
Corporation for Housing Partnerships, as sole
general partner of the National Housing Partner
ship, develops, owns and operates more housing for
low and moderate income families than any other
private organization in the United States.
In the twelve years since it was authorized by an
Act of Congress as part of the 1968 Housing Act
and in response to the riots in cities across the na
tion, NHP, as it is popularly known, has invested
funds in 532 housing projects , in forty states, .the
District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, with a total
development cost of over $2.5 billion.
Blacks involved in the supply side of housing
would do well to take a fresh look at NHP in view
of the fact that recently passed tax laws liberalize
the depreciaton of real estate and provide increased
. tax,credits for investments in low income housing.
NHP is a valuable resource for low income com
munities seeking to build and rehabilitate their
housing. Perhaps of more importance to the grow
ing black self-help movement, NHP could serve as a
model upon which blacks can build stable
.economic base to get a meaningful piece of the
action today.
When NHP was authorized. Congress provided
that "one or more" national housing partnerships
could be created by the President. So far, only one
has been established. Blacks in realestate and hous
ing finance have now acquired the professonal skills
and experience needed to become a part of the
housing production process in a significant way.
Using the new tax laws in conjunction with the
Reagan Administration's philosophy, it stands to
reason that more private capital will now be fun
nelled into neighborhood revitilization projects in
poor communities.
NHP has been investing its funds in local projects -across
the nation in partnership with community
non-profit organizations and local developers. In a
typical deal, the Partnership wil buy up to 99V of
the ownerhsip in a project. The cash flow and tax
losses are shared with its investor partners in each
Getting Smart
By Walter L. Smart
Executive Director
United Neighborhood Centers Of America t
The percentage of elderly persons within our total
population is. continuing to grow. I, along with
many others , have frequently brought attention to
the fact that the Social Security System, which
many of us are or will be dependent upon, is runn
; ing out of money.
Some peope have a false sense of security feeling
that the politicians wouldn't too seriously cut
Security benefits because of the political strength of
organizations which represent our senior citizens.
Recently, however, President Reagan discovered
that the amount of tax cuts granted by his Ad-
ministration would cause a far greater deficit in the
'Y '82 budget. Thus, he has proposed even deeper
cuts from the expense side than had already been
voted. Mr. Reagan spoke on nationwide television
saying that there would be some people attempting
to instill fear in our senior citizens by spreading
rumors that he would attempt to balance the budget
on the backs of our elderly citizens. President
Reagan went on to say that such was not the case.
Within ten days or lessj the Administration an
nounced plans to cut $5 billion from Social Security
benefits by delaying their cost of living increment
for three months, while cutting military spending by
only $2 billion.
Nevertheless, reform is desperately needed within
the Social Security System if it is to survive. The sad
fact is that the Old Age and Survivors Insurance
(OASI), the largest of the three trust funds is ex
pected to develop a cash shortage. In each of the
years 1981-1985, expenditures in the OASI trust
fund are expected to exceed income.
On the other hand, the other two trust funds,
Disability Insurance (DI) and Hospital Insurance
(HI), are in fairly good shape. The one short-term
solution being proposed is to simply borrow funds
from the Disability Insurance and Hospital In
surance Trust funds.
Another proposal woulkd be to increase revenues
for Social Security. David Stockman, Director of
OMB, stated thafca tax increase of 0.5 of payroll
by employers and employees would be required to
finance the short-term deficit which the Ad
ministration estimates to be $84 billion.
Stll another proposal would eliminate the ceiling
on the amount of wages subject totoayroll taxes. It
is estimated that an additional $20-$30 billion a year
could be generated, if this proposal 'were adopted.
The one thing all of the proposals have in com
mon is that they are all short-term. None of them
will solve the cash short-fall on a permanent basis.
Isn't it time that our representatives in Washington
begin to act' on permanent solutions? I have long ,
advocated for a system in which an individual's
payments into the system, along with those of his
her employer, be invested in an interest-bearing ac
count. After working for forty or more years, the
amount of funds accumulated on behalf of an in
dividual would be available to that individual. It
would not fluctuate as it now does when the work
ing population is too small in relation to those who
have retired.
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Coping
Racism: Traditional .and Permanent
By Dr. Charles W. Faulkner
is deeply imbedded in the behavior of both blacks
- and whites. Years of conditioning have molded the
behavior to the degree that whites and blacks would
find it quite difficult to respond to blacks in any
way other than negatively. - - '
' So, even if blacks were to be kind to whites.-to.an
obsequious degree, whites would have a very dif
ficult time modifying their own behavior in order to
treat blacks with, respect.
Inasmuch as prejudice is traditional and "Almost
everyone knows that blacks are inferior" several
distasteful implications result: - .
" l) Blacks, deluged with self-hatred and feelings
of incapability, undervalue their own abilities and
fail to develop them;
(2) tyhites observe the unfulfilled potential of
blacks and label it as natural they think that
blacks have no potential to develop and judge every
black person by the'onewho fails to succeed;
(3) American whites incorporate their prejudices
in the great institutions that govern the country.
" In education, they say "Since blacks are inherent-
ly inferior, they deserve only inferior schools; in
politics, they say just ignore them; in employment,
sit nrmarnifi icsi THFCARflLiMATlKES 15
they say "Since blacks are poorly educated, let's
i give them only inferior jobs." , , '
The above sentiments are present in every aspect
of American society. Until these institutions which
govern our lives change drastically, racism is likely
to remain as strong and brutal as it is presently.
There seems to be no interest on the part of the
powers that control this country to modify its racist
institutions. Thus, racism is likely to exist as long as
America docs.
-The most unfortunate and distasteful factor is
that the behavior .indicated above Is deeply im
planted in the subconscience and the person who ex
hibits such behavior is often unaware that he or she
is exhibiting it.
.
Note: Your suggestions are welcomed. Sugges
tionsor future articles will be appreciated. Cassette
tapes of this and other articles are available for in
dividual use, discussion groups and classroom use.
AH letters and inquiries should be sent jo: Dr.
Charles W. Faulkner, P.O. Box 50016,
Washington; D.C. 20004.
Money For Housing ;
Where It Is How To Get It
The National Housing Partnerships
project. .
Last year alone, NHP passed over $16 millionln
tax deductible losses on to its investors. Unfor
tunately, very few of the dollars generated by these
projects remain in the community wherehe hous
ing is located.
Equity capital and joint venture funds are also
provided by NHP to projects that it becomes in
volved in. To date, they have never failed to com
plete a project or experienced a foreclosure of
developments it has invested in. To help sustain
their operations, NHP has, over the years, created a
number of subsidiary corporations.
They are the Housing Capital Corporation, a
small business investment company which provides
front-end funds to small builders; Capital Homes,
Inc., which builds and sells moderately priced
single-family homes; its own property management
company and a National Training Center to train its
management personnel. There is also the NCHP
Development Corporation and NHP Real Estate
Securities. A national network of NHP Associates
identifies and packages local projects for the Partnership.
As a nonprofit organization, NHP is not taxed
on its income. Three blacks currently serve "on
NCHP's fifteen-man board of directors, one of
whom was appointed by the President. NHP began
- with initial capital of $42 million committed by 270
major corporations, financial institutions, and
labor unions. .
" Additional capital is generated from sales of
limited partnership interests in rental projects an. I
from individual home sales. It can act as ole
.developer of a project, as a joint venture partner, or
as a financial partner, depending upon the cir
cumstances. Although the current period of high interest rates
and decreasiing federal subsidies for housing has
somewhat slowed NFIP's activities, it continues to
take new projects into its pipeline. The contribution
of locally-administered community development
block grant funds and increased private tax
deductible -investments in low-income housing is
expected to support a limited number of projects in
the years ahead. To find out how you can be helped
by NHP, call 202857-5700 in Washington, and ask
to speak to George Bradv.
" C tMO R.J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO CO.
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