Editorials
ii iiiiiiiiim ............. ........
To Be Equal
A Look At A Blinded Leader
The Holy Bible advises us wisely that the blind cannot lead,
and only those who are equally as blind wiilf ollow them into the
inevitable ditch.
Many years later, Jesse Jackson said much the same thing when
he noted: "One cannot lead where one has never been." ;
Both of these observations, then raise serious questions about
the revived Durham Business and Professional Chain, and its
mission to help the final eight businesses displaced by Hayti's
destruction find permanent and prosperous homes.
.Let us make it f .fectly clear that we believe in the founding
Targeting The Elderly For Cuts
.By John E. Jacob
Executive Director, National Urban League
concept of the Durham Business andlfsTdnal Chaiivahd"
that if the Chain truly represented the black business interests in
this community, its value to the total population would be so
phenomenal that it wouldn't have to operate on government
monies.
We will not at this point question the Chain's motives or its in
tentions in entering Into a $40,000 six-month contract with the Ci
ty of Durham to hopefully settle this lingering municipal
headache. Rather our questions center around the logistics of the
mission.
How, for example, can the Chain advise these businesses on
long range planning, market positioning, location analysis,
marketing, and management when the Chain's own record in
these areas is spotty at best? How can the Chain give "life sus
taining" advice to these firms when the Chain, itself, has stumbl
ed along for many years, skidding on the brink of disaster? . Why
should those of us who daily must struggle to balance the bottom
line listen to advice from an organization whose existence
depends less on management expertise than it does on the pure
and simple largesse of government, federal, state or local?
And so it seems that before the Chain can make any serious ef
fort to lead these businesses to a better day, it must demonstrate a
better day in its own behalf. Before the Chain can show us how to
succeed, consult as it were, with us on the principles of economic
success, it must demonstrate some success of its own.
In other words, according to another Biblical admonition, the
Chain should not try to show us the mote in our eyes until it
removes the beam from its own.
We Must Fight Drug And
Alcohol Abuse Among Us
On a national level, blacks spend more .each year for alcohol
than we do for food. That is tragic.
And while the expenditures for drugs, both illegal and legal in
the black community is not as starkly apparent, the tragedy of
drug abuse is nevertheless clear.
We can no longer sit idly by while this demon of abuse con
tinues to run amok among -usf We. rriust fight backJhe N.Q
A neglected aspect of the Administra
tion's proposed budget cuts is the effect
they will have on older Americans,
especially those . in the low-income
brackets.
: Some of those cuts represent the worst
kind of nickel-and-diming. For example,
the Administration wants to change the
rules that now allow a recipient of sup
plemental security income (SSI) to ex
clude $20 per month of unearned income :
in determing benefits and eligibility,
. Ending the disregard will save the
government about SIS million next year.
But it will mean a loss, of $240 per year to
some 133,000 aged recipients. And jf you .
don't think $240 a year amounts to much,
it comes to fifteen per cent of the average
benefit for an aged recipient. ' r
Another measure hard to justify is the
plan to round off SSI benefit payments to
the nearest lowest dollar . So if someone is
entitled to a check of, let us say $108.99,
they'll get $108. That amounts to robbing
recipients of 99 cents every check.
If someone steals 99 cents from an
older person, it is a crime. But when
government does it, it's called revenue
enhancement. That little bit of sleight-of-hand
will save the government about $3
million in 1982, barely enough to buy one
tank, at a cost of damaging its reputation
for fairness and honesty. -
Cuts in food stamps will also hit the
elderly poor. It is estimated that an elderly
couple living on $5,100 of social security
: income would have their food stamp
benefits cut by more than half, to $120 a
year from $312. ; 1
The proposal to eliminate the minimum
food stamp benefit of $10 per month ;
would affect the elderly poor dispropo-'
,tionately. Again, a small amount that
- means a lot to people in poverty would
cut. ,
Nationally, one out of four households
with an older person will lose benefits.
-,- Bigger losses, would come from cuts in
energy assistance programs. The Ad
ministration wants to lump all its energy
aid programs into one package, funded at
more than thirty per cent less than existing
programs. The aged poor are the most
vulnerable to excessive heating costs and
would be the big losers if this plan goes
through.
Other changes in regulations would also
impose fresh burdens on older
Americans, especially the elderly poor.
Planned changes in Medicare and
Medicaid would raise deductible charges,
delay coverage, reduce reimbursements
for drugs and dental care, and force
"cost-sharing" on the medically needy.
There is more, of course rent hikes
for public housing tenants and other
changes j that, added up, will have a
tremendous impact on older poor people.
It's hard to make a case for those cuts.
The savings they represent don't justify
the human misery they cause. And some
of those cuts will reduce opportunities fori
the dependent elderly to become con
tributors to our economy. v
The Administration wants to eliminate
funding for the Senior Community Ser-
TICC" CinpiVTIIICiIl r 1 Ui Bin,- " uraru)ra
older citizens find employment.
Many of the elderly don't have the
i skills or the education to land jobs on
their own. They need counseling, train
ing, and assistance. This program gives it
to them.
It halne mnve manv riff the UplfarP mlk
and onto the payrolls of private industry.
It brings hope and a new zest for life to
older people who might just have given
up. It helps them fill productive jobs serv
ing community needs. .
Why cut it? It just doesn't make any
kind of sense to do away with a program
that helps the elderly poor pay taxes in
stead of consuming them.
The Senior " Community Service
Employment Program ought to continue.
And other programs aimed at helping the
aged poor also should be spared the
budget-cutters' axe.
An Independent View From Capitol Hill
Job Training Can Pay Its Own Way
By Gus Savage
Member of Congress
A recent study by a major university on
the impact and benefits of Federal job
training efforts is indeed timely. Hopeful
ly these data will find their way to open
minded individuals within the Reagan ad
ministration. The study strengthens the contention
that Comprehensive Employment and
Training Act (CETA) employees are not
on a form of "welfare", as the Reagan
administration maintains. In fact, the
report affirms that job training can pay
for itself and that such projects are in
vestments in the future economic growth
of our nation.
These were among the conclusions
reached when the University of Kansas
School of Business recently examined the
effect of CETA training programs on par
ticipants' income. The researchers con
ducted their study during several three
Task Force on Alcohol and 0ru&Abise Among KackWea
that fight and needs the help, of every black person in Durham
and across the state. j
Now here's how we all can help the Task Force accomplish its
mission, and help ourselves in the process.
We need to request the literature that is available from the Task
Force. We need to let these dedicated professionals share with us
the information we need to protect ourselves from the ravages of
alcohol and drug abuse.
Armed with information on prevention, and treatment, we
need to become less tolerant of the problem . Those of us who
have relatives with the problem must open pur eyes and insist that
they get help. We must not wink knowingly at the pusher who
drifts in and out of neighborhoods peddling his deadly
substances, often to our children.
And just as important as being educated and taking action
against this menace in our midst, we must also give the Task
Force some money to continue its work.
And in that connection, we make this suggestion. Let's all of us
who drink; but who don't suffer from the disease of alcoholism,
send the money we would spend this week for our weekend fifth
or pint to the Task Force. The address is: Black Task Force, N.C.
Council on Alcoholism, P.O. Box 10465, Raleigh, N.C. 27605.
Another conclusion was that the
average earned income of persons trained
under CETA was 65 per cent higher than
the income of similar individuals who had
failed to secure such training.
In this connection, the study projected
that training costs for CETA employees;
trained in 1980 will be repaid to public
treasuries within seven years, as for those
.trained in 1979, when the nation's
economic climate was better, the invest
ment in job training will be repaid in three
years. Such quick returns on the job train-
ing investment will be realized because of
increased tax revenues, lower unemploy
ment insurance outlays, and decreased
welfare benefits, all stemming from the
trainees' improved employment status.
These findings come at a time when
unemployment continues to soar to
record levels. Joint House-Senate Labor
Subcommittees a are grappling with the
issue of job training and unemployment.
Hearings are being held on the question of
job training and how to mount an assault
against joblessness among blacks and the
urban poor.
One method the Reagan administration
feels will combat unemployment is the in
stitution of Urban Enterprise Zones in
selected depressed areas. However, this
approach will create more ills than it
cures, unless efforts are made to
humanize the Urban Enterpise zones con
cept and brojaden the participation uof ; s
minorities as employees and employers.
As the Urban Enterprise Zones are now
proposed, businesses will be allowed to
hide under tax shelters until the fiscal bliz
zard blows over. However, there is no;
sign that the economic uncertainty is
lessening. The Urban Enterprise Zones
proposal is receiving oppositjon in the
black community because the issue of
targeted job training remains a whisper,
when the issue should be noted in un
mistakable terms. .
Without job training, urban centers will
Now's The Time To Speak Up
become expanding pools of black tension,
frustration and discontent. The only way
to humanize the Urban Enterprise Zones
plan would be to spell out how many jobs
will be created for residents who reside
within the zones. To further stimulate
Arrtnnmu HpvMnnmmt hlarlr nwnM
businesses must be given a key role. Black
enterprise must not be allowed to sit on
the sidelines while other firms move in to
reap all the benefits.
In addition to the creation of jobs
within the Urban Enterprise Zones, ex
isting firms outside of these areas should
also be encouraged to begin intensified
job training programs.
It is rather disturbing to note that at a
time when black unemployment stands at
eighteen per cent, many large scale firms
are turning to the use of robots instead of.
ifiALt.' T7-fv i rryn -.a. i..'wi
the level of research dollars being
allocated toward industrial robots has
climbed from $60 million to $250 million.
Few persons are opposed to automation,
for its own sake, but automation must be
utilized to enhance rather than curtail
employment opportunities.
Job training must be woven into any in
dustrial revitalization thrust, so that when
expansion and modernization result,
those persons most in need of jobs will be
prepared to accept them.
If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who propose
to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation are men who want
crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without
thunder and lightning. They want the ocean's majestic waves
without the awful roar of its waters.
Frederick Douglass
America is in very severe economic
straits. The Reagan Administration which
took office with the promise of high
economic growth, low inflation and jobs
for all, has instead led us into the midst of
a deep recession. Unemployment has
reached levels which are eclipsed only by
those endured during the Dperession
which many of us still remember all too
well. Industrial activity, despite enormous
tax cuts for the rich, is at a standstill
and most Americans are still waiting for
the "better times" to trickle down.
The President has submitted his 1983
budget proposal which represents the se
cond round of his campaign to slash spen
ding on programs which benefit the poor,
the sick, and the elderly while providing
the Pentagon with the largest peacetime
spending increases in history.
The Administration's new budget cuts
are in addition to the $44 billion which
Yea Wd
mmo
Born in Columbia, S.C., in 1871, educated in New Hampshire, '
he was class orator and co-editor, of his college paper. He got his
Ph,Df' in 1895; his M.D. from Jefferson Medical College,
Philadelphia, in 1906. 'As a scientific researcher, he made
medical history with his pioneer work on the causes and preven
tion of tuberculosis. He was also a celebrated chronicler of
Negro history.
Continental Features
& '' if
By Congressman Augustus F. Hawkins
has already been cut from social pro
grams. Last year, the Reagan Administration
claimed that its budget proposals were
fair. In fact, however, those cuts were
disproportionately directed at programs
to assist the poor and disadvantaged, and
at investment in health, education, train
ing, and public works. This year, the Ad
ministration hasn't even bothered to pay
lip service to the idea of fairness. It has
once again targeted for cutbacks the same
programs which sustained deep spending
reductions last year.
Many Americans, particularly those
who live far away from Washington, seem
to feel that what goes on in our nation's
capital and the budget process doesn't
really affect their , lives. . By the same
. token, too many Americans feel that since
they personally don't receive food stamps
or live in government subsidized housing -that
the budget cuts that the Administra
tion is proposing will not affect them,
consequently, they have no reason to be
concerned or to speak out.
... This type of attitude reminds me of a
story which goes like this: In Germany,
; they came first for the Communists, and I
' didn't speak up because I wasn't a Com
munist. Then they came for the Jews, and
I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a
trade unionist. Then they came for the
Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I
was a Protestant. Then they came for me,
and by that time no one was left to speak
' . up. ,
That story today could be revised to
read: In America the Administration cut
' medicaidmedi-cal, and I didn't speak up
because I didn't receive medicaidmedi
cal. Then they cut housing programs for
the poor, and I didn't speak up because
didn't live in subsidized housing. Then
they cut food stamps, and I didn't speak;
up because I didn't live in subsidized;
, housing. Then they cut food stamps, and
' - I didn't speak up because I didn't receive .
food stamps. Then they broke up PATCO!
; ; and I didn't speak up because I was not ai..,
' ,';..it . -(Continued on Page 15)
L.E.AUSTIN
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' CurHs T. Perkins
Contributing Editor-Foreign Affairs
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