Newspapers / The Carolina Times (Durham, … / Nov. 7, 1981, edition 1 / Page 15
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In apartheid South Africa, there arc mass graves at a site called Dimbaza. Starkly symbolic of the fate that too often awaits the black majority, this cemetery speaks volumes. , , i , There is 'fio one site similar to this "Boot Hill" in the black communities pf the United States. But if Reaganomjes reaches its intended impact in the area of health care. Dimbaa will become a U.S. black reality.' ; v vV;';;:-.-o. . " The number of hospitals being closed has reached epidemic : proportions. - According to Dr. George .. I.ythcott, director of the U.S. Health Services Ad- x ministration, some 231 urban hospitals were closed or relocated from l975,to 1977. A whopping 47 of the ' closed hospitals were located in neighborhoods that are 65V to. 00? black. This ravaging did not begin with Reagan. Many urban hospitals lost privately insured middle class patients to the newer suburban hospitals built with Federal Hill-Burton grants and loans in the 1950's and 10's. The result? Look at St. Louis, where Homer G. Phillips Hospital's closing has harmed an entire neighborhood: or Philadelphia General Hospital being padlocked; or the .decline in services at D.C. General in Washington; or the shutting down of Sydenham Hospital in New York. The blacks in these areas and others arc then -forced to travel greater distances to obtain adequate health care. In San Antonio. Texas, blacks and l atinos brought suit under Title VI of the civil Rights Act of 1964, alleging that the closing there would impose upon inner city residents the burden of traveling longer distances. This claim was re jected in U.S. pistricl Court but there is no doubt that it will be raised again. These hospital closings could not come at a worse time. According to government health statistics. 22 million in this country have' no health insurance, public or private: 20 million have inadequate coverage for basic medical services: and an addi tional 41 million have inadequate catastrophic health insurance. Affirmative Action: , , ' ' .-- ' ' --" j ... ' . - ..- ' : . '''",'"' "-'","'-' , ,L: - ' ', " ' v - . . r ' . Reagan and Black Death ' , ' - . :; - ' . ' ::Gcrald'CHornc, Esquire'; Recent moves by the Senate Finance Committee are expected to debilitate an already weakened Medicaid program that is the life-line for many ;' black and poor citizens. Virginia, for example, faces a loss of more ihan . $90 million in funds during the next four years. Bedford Berry of the Virginia State Department of Health told the House Appropriations Committee , that the cuts will force states to choose bet ween put-; ting state money into the Medicaid program or reducing Medicaid program or reducing Medicaid services to its citizens. Virginia is not alone and this assault on health care will cause morticians to work overtime. The fact that blacks have hc dirtiest, hardest ions when they work at all exacerbates this horrific tendency. For instance. Tommy Quin, head of the Interna tional Woodworkers Union, said that in the wood work industry, blacks are dying of lung cancer due to the dust and splinters that they breathe, and that they are going deaf because of the noise level. Quin said that these problems are more prevalent in the south because "black southerners arc work ine people." "Industry knows about these problems, but it is unwilling to do anything about them," Qui" said. , "We (blacks) work hard. Wc absorb the heat: w don't complain; then we die." Bertha Roman, a furniture worker in High Point, North Caorlina. has noted that in the industry in which she works, "pregnant women often work in the furniture factory without knowing the effects of the chemicals and dust on their unborn children. It is undocumented what lacquer docs to the insides." . The Occupational Safety arid Health Administra tion (OSHA), which functions to correct hazardous working conditions, is supposed to take care of such; however, Ms. Roman said, when ai OSHA officer came to inspect the factory where she work ed that she noticed her supervisor arid the inspector were often on friendly terms. That cancer is ravaging blacks is no longer con sidered news. Afro-Americans arc less likely than whites to survive cancer; blacks were less likely to get the most up-to-date treatment and follow-up care. Though corresponding figures for whites arc not presently available, there has been an eight per cent rise in cancer cases among blacks since the 1l950s and a 25 increase in black cancer mortali ty. Whv is this so? Morris Davis, executive director of the Labor Occupational Health Project at the University of California at Berkeley, has shown conclusively that a higher incidence of injury and disease among blacks could be explained in pari by their concentration in the most dangerous occupa tions. Worse than this is the fact lhai blacks have been traditionally less likely than whites to seek medical icarc. leaving many work-related diseases go un ' treated. "They arc more fearful of job loss as com pared to whites, less likely to compiain," Davis ad ded. He pointed to a 1978 Social Security Ad ministration report whjch found that black workers were fifty per cent more likely than whites to be SAT,. NOVEMBER 7, 1931 THE CAROLINA TIMES -15 . severely disabled from mH injuries or illness. 1 With Reagan pulling the ping wr litispiials. bleeding Medicaid and ending OSHA. an rtrv ol deaih in the black community is expected. Yet. Reagari attack on medical education proerams. may be l he hardest blow of all. The Graduate Medical FducatHuuil National Ad visory Committee (GMF.NAO has reported itiai U.S. American will have nunc than enough ptiv-a-cians hv 1990. Iu (his is urn true I'm flic b?;Kk d: tor. As ol April 19X0. US.XII dtvtors were in this country. Ol iluii number onlv two per cent ih.lhi were black. I lie Department of Health and IImhi.ih Services till IS) slums that there are IV doctors m every 100,000 in this country. Still, there are onlv 26 black physicians io every 100.000 blacks. And most black people are treated by black phvsicians. The Association ol American Medical Colleges recently reported lhai new black cmollmem in ihe nation's 126 medical schools has dropped another half point. Last year ihere were 6.60'ii black students in medical school. This vc;r onlv 6.2"'o aie black. Frank S. Royal. M.D. president of tiie predominantly black National Medical Association, has condemned litis icndencv. 'Not onlv have the nation's large medical schools hc-'iin to reduce ihcit commitment to black cnrollnicii' . bin public and private sources have v.ottsiderablv diminished their funding for graduate education." Black medical schools, e.g. Meharrv and Howard, have provided 75 o of all ptacticiiu! black physicians in any case: so inevitablv pressure mnsi be placed on Harvard, on Yale, on C olumbia io ac cept more black students. It cannot be cmphasied enough that the Reagan Administration must be deluged with protests of outrage about cms in Medicaid. The President must be toid that the dismantling ol OSHA will simplv not be tolerated. If Dimbaa is not to become a growing part of Afro-American reality, then political activity musi be stepped up to an all-time high. -Kot&lo cMtfoamosf frcmycurbertk I (c3 I your spouse isn't working, you're qualified to set up a spousal IRA which means you can contribute a total of $2,250 a year, and that figure is up from $1,750. There are two ways an IRA can benefit you now and in the future: First, contributions to the account can be counted as deductions from that year's gross income, thus reducing the amount of income taxes owed. Secondly, when you withdraw the money at retirement you will probably be in a much lower tax bracket, so your contributions and interest earned will be taxed at a lower rate. You won't be able to make any withdrawals with out penalty until 59 by which time that money you've squirreled away will amount to quite a sum. For example, if you contributed $2,000 per year com pounded at 8 percent over a working life of 30 years, your account should gross $265,000. If you wait until 65 to retire and withdraw the money, you'll be entitled to other exemptions which will further reduce the taxes you'd have to pay. The latest you ran atari-, withdrawals is 707. From a tax stand point, it's probably better to make withdrawals nrvoliiallir inaaaA nf in nnalnmnfllim. nui.Wiihlr4iwMS0V theustial incbme taxes,' plus a penalty" f tOper- kt i. A. T mama .fA4 . ceni oi uie amuuni wiuiuntwu. ti woe u w f manent disability, IRA funds will not be penalized. When you open an IRA, most banks will put your contributions in long-term certificates of deposit earning annual interest rates trom eigm to sugnuy more than 15 percent Besides finding out how much m k 1 " INDIVIDUAL RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS by Pat Taylor viaoarMoaa nf thi tvnA of financial Dlan vou pre sently have for retirement, starting January 1 you'll be able to set up your own individual neuremem Account (IRA) and make annual tax-deductible jpontributions to it. Beginning in 1982, banks and other institutions will be offering IRAs to anyone; Presently, IRAfln aotlaV.Wrilv fot' those tax- b -j' CLl S 1 I Vf -w r payers not covered by employer sponsored pension or profit-sharing plans. Under the new law, you can be covered by your company s pBtTyior pension plan and also make tax- deduCuDie conuiouuuiia w juiu u" mue utait iu peivcuu uraiura iuuuu iinv Or, if your employer allows it, you may be able to your ira will be earning, here are some other items mane coniriDuuona w uie eumauj fu v.v.v, yOU BnUuiu tiicc uu. date your retirement funds. The main attraction Of tbo new law is that you can contribute up to a maximum of $2,000 a year to your IRA; that's $500 more than the current law allows. If your spouse is employed, that's another $2,000. If Affirmative Action: President Kennedy's goals and he achiev ed both. President Reagan has proclaimed a goal of "a balanced budget by 1984". That he will probably not achieve it does not negate the fact thai this is a goal and a timetable. Deadlines, targets and the like arc necessary io the efficient operation of a business. For the administration to assign the use of goals and timetables io the "slag heap" implies a retreat from the use of sound business methods in the resolu tion of employment discrimination. For more than twenty years prior to President Johnson's signing of F.xccutive (Continued from Page J4) Order 1 1246. the principles of affirmative action remained largely jusl that a principle. It was only when mandatory af firmative action guidelines were developed and given enforcement power by F.xccutive Order 11246 thai any iden tifiable progress was made in combatting employment discrimination. Without the impetus of Federal oversight, employers can be expected to return to the old way of doing things. The Reagan Administra tion's retreat on affirmative action is a shocking departure in Ihe field of civil rights which we should oppose with all of our resources and combined effort. . -r- i-i . jn.;ni-l-finn faa1? I n . nr. i i l.. f. ,.. u.ai ia n Poranruil Ranker lJoe8yOUXDaiicnarjjcmiauiJuiiuoiiuv,. roi 1 oytor, o ooniter y ui - 7 a.WiihfttndsrronwiI a Waciwma Bank and Trust Company Office m it yeurdidposayour jreturemen years cntoe piyrvboiagaoro. orryrree. HtLs,.iJJZ S 1 I U'ili Row is vnnr amount comnounded? HoWoften, and by what means, can you make contributions? (" If you decide to make gradual withdrawals after . . A. .1110 retirement, now otten can tney De maae: iliPliiillWiiilliiil mmmmm y J f , s Reward it with Touch Calling. It points. It pokef. It cratehe. And it doet a million other things you just take for granted. . ' , . rs in rahirn. Giv it a Touch Calhne phone from General 4 WJIliCMlil -" Telephone. It's faster and more fun to use than dial phones. CNot to mention more efficient) You cari choose from a variety of styles and colors. And your finger : will absolutely adore the effortless calling. ; , All in all a really inexpensive way to express your gratitude; Touch Calling avaitobl In fflott arM NmVkuu TO:-:::.a.: VK-. I ' 1 ! 1 : I 'CANADIAN I MKT I 1 n v 1 ,- , 3 'i CANADIAN s MIST mm I? ntmt ttiwnw or THE CAWU s jjiMt) '""l i. MISTING Misting is going in style. It's the mellow lightness of Canadian Mist, An Imported Canadian Whisky. IMPORTED BV frF SPIRITS LTD N Y CANADIAN WHISKY-A BLEND 80 PROOF CI98)
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
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Nov. 7, 1981, edition 1
15
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