14-THE CAROLINA TIMES SATURDAY. SEPTEMBER tl. 1982
Editorials '
Public Housing Dilemma, Part II
In 1908, a commission appointed by then President Theodore .
Roosevelt issued its report on housing decay. They said: "A little
government aid extended to these unfortunates in the form of a
loan to build them habitable dwellings would tend immensely
toward their uplifting and improvement ..; All unsightly and un
sanitary property should be condemned and purchased by the
government, improved in a uniform manner and inexpensive and
healthful habitations erected for the poor, who could rent or pur
chase their homes on installment plans at low rates of interest.
That report marked the federal government's entrance into the
question of how Americans are housed.
In 1937, the nation got its first federal housing law, designed to
both get rid of slums and to provide safe and sanitary housing for
the poor. But the original idea of public housing, as it has come
to be called, was to build temporary "holding centers," where
poor people could live for a short period of time. While living in
this housing, the poor would pay little or no rent until they could
learn more skills, advance themselves on the job, make more
money and move 0n to a better home and a more decent environ
ment. ''I fw': ' v- . '
From the beginning, public housing was seen as a way of prim
ing the pump to get private enterprise to shoulder more of the .
burden.
In a report by the Southern Regional Council, discussing the
1949 revision of the original housing act, it was noted:". ..Title
III of the legislation authorized the construction of 810,000 hous
ing units for low income families and provided that private enter
prise meet as large a part of the total need as possible. Where
feasible, governmental assistance was to be employed to en
courage private enterprise to serve more of the total need."
Thus President Reagan's efforts to sell thousands of units of..
federally subsidized housing to private enterprise, is not inconsis
tent with the program's original thrust. V ,
Subsidized housing was never designed for permanent residen- j
cy. It was never anticipated that an apartment in McDougald Ter
race, just as one example, would house the third generation of a 7
family.
It was also not anticipated that in 1982 an advocate of public
lousing would be quoted saying: "...tenants feel it's their right to
tay in public housing.. .We are taxpayers and we have the same
ights as people who live in Forest Hills, Emory Woods, or
; lyplace else."
And so, from 1908, when a federal commission said, "...a little
government aid...," we've come to the point that recipients of
that aid feel it is their right to get, approximately $1.6 billion of
federal money to help pay their housing costs.
This is not only ridiculous, it is extremely unfortunate as well
because these people seem not to realize that by accepting the in
evitability of their so-called fate, they have doomed themselves to
a life of gloom and deprivation.
But it is even sadder that we have also developed in this country
an industry that we call "Poor People Management, Inc.
(PPMI), a group of so-called "non-profits,''t who supposedly ad
vocate for the poor. In reality, they do poor people an extreme
disservice because instead of explaining to them clearly why they
are poor, and how they can stop being poor, they fight to help
poor: people be just a little more comfortable in their poverty.
And so if public housing as we know it is doomed, it could be a
blessing in disguise, because then it might shock some of these
people into seeing that he who gives can also take and that their
lives should be self-sufficient, rather than subsidized. It will be
when they become self-sufficient, and only then, that these peo
ple will have the same rights as other taxpayers.
To Be Equal
The Rising Tide of Poverty
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: The want the
wean's majestice waves without the awful roaiof its waters.
Frederick t)nuglas
Imp Yon SkiH Mm
GIDDINGS
By John E. Jacob
. . . - i it i-i , '
r-xn unw itireaor. nuiioiiui vrwi ivuum' ..
Last year. 2.2 million people became
poor, continuing a trend that continues to
grow stronger. This year it is expected
that Tour million people will he added to
the ranks of the poor.
One out of seven Americans is officially
poor lhat is. their total incomc.is below
the official poverty line. Over a third of
blacks arc poor, and the numbers of the
new black poor arc rising swiftly.
In 1981. 34.2 per cent of blacks were
poor: this year the percentage should go
to 36 per cent or more. The last time such
a large percentage of blacks were counted
among the poor was in 1967.
Throughout, the late sixties and early
seventies the numbers trended downward. '
By the time the 1974 recession hit. black
poverty rates were down to 30 per cent.
Then there was a slow rise, followed by an
accelerated push into poverty over the
past three years.
The rising tide of poverty dispropor
tionately engulfs black people and ur
banites. Central city poverty rates arc
about 18 per cent, double the rates for
outlying areas. ,
One of the more tragic aspects Of this is
.that even, those terrible figures arc
understated.-The so-called "poverty-line"
is itself a fiction that obscures the extent
of the problem.
.l.ast year the official poverty line was
$9,287 for an urban family of four. Hut
the poverty line figure is derived from a
crude calculation first formulated in the
1960s when researchers tabulated the
minimum survival food budget and then
made other adjustments to arrive at a
total income picture that defined poverty.
"But that survival budget was clearly in
tended to be a temporary measurement
a rulc-of-thumb figure based on just
enough food to sec a family through a few
tough weeks, not a permanent budget.
So when wc talk about the "poverty
line" wc arc really talking about the sur-
vival line the absolute minimum budget
for a short period of time. That's why the
government also has separate budgets for
"minimum" moderate and higher level
standards of living.
That "minimum" low income budget is
considerably higher than the poverty level
in 1981 it was just over $15,000 ac
tually more than the median black family
income. By that standard half or ail
blacks are poor.
It has become commonplace to blame
black poverty on the large numbers of
female-headed households whose low in
comes push the average down. But that
doesn't make sense.
Black intact husband-wife families cam
less than 80 per cent of similar white
families. And if being a female-headed
household makes you poor, it should also
poor. But again, the black family headed.;
by a woman earns only 62 per cent of
. .liiiiiiai vr i 1 1 v. iuiiiiiil
There arc some who claim social pro
grams nrnviHf hcncfiK for the noor v ihi
jtt r. ... r . i......... t.t '
much meaning. But that is iusl a cruel
mvlh. since the Dovcrnmcnt iiu?lf ndmiK .
that two-fifths of poor people get no such
. I .-r:.
re . i .i.-. .1 - i..
n iiium: iiiui uu, iiium uvi oiiiv one .
kind of benefit. So a family may get:
Medicaid but not subsidized housing Or
tood stamps. Millions tell tnrougn the'
Vraflrc in thn v'tiCntv nnt 11111 Kftfari itiic
Administration's demolition job on it.
Some people even claim that generous
social welfare t benefits help cause
unemployment since people don't have in
centives io get out and find a job. That -kind
of fantasy is incredible when we
realize that less than half the jobless get
unemployment compensation benefits,
and hone of the jobless get benefits
anywhere near their earnings when they
worked. ,
With poverty rising and conditions for
ministration and the Congress to even
think of further cuts in the surviving pro
grams that help the poor.
Coping
Confidence
By Dr. Charles W. Faulkner
A. Jane wanted to ask her boss for a.
pay raise. The next day she walked into
his office and asked for it. .
B. Fran wanted to ask her boss for a;
pay raise. She debated the issue in her
mind for many weeks. She feared that the
boss would be angry with her for asking
for the pay raise. She was so nervous that
she could not sleep. She feared that she
would be embarrassed and hurt if he
refused her request. But, after weeks of
deliberation with herself and advice from
her friends, she went into her boss' office
and finally asked for the raise.
C. Jack wanted to have a date with
Susan. That evening he asked Susan for a
date, 'ft.! 'Cw
D. Frank wanted to have a date with
Alice. He debated the issue in his mind:
would she refuse to date him? Would she
embarrass him? Would she tell others
about how silly he was? He had a difficult
time sleeping during the six nervous weeks
that he struggled with the issue. Finally,
after building up sufficient nerve, he ask
ed for the date.
These cases represent confidence and.
the lack of confidence. In the earlier cases
(Jane and Jack), an individual had an idea
and immediately followed up on it. In the
latter instances (Fran and Frank), an in
dividual had an idea but failed to follow
up on it immediately due to a fear of re
jection or failure. Nevertheless, after
weeks of inner turmoil and deliberation,
even these people did what they wanted to
do.'
What is confidence? Confidence is the
belief that one will be successful and that
failure in any endeavor does not reflect
upon an individual's character or com
petence. In other words, the confident
person does not spend hours fearing
failure and feeling the stress that is caused
by those fears. The confident person Ac
cepts failure as a learning experience and
determines to try and try again until sc-j?
cess occurs. The confident person never
says: "If I am refused or rejected there
must be something wrong with me that
other people notice. Therefore, I will
never, never try again because I am cer
tain that I will be rejected again just as
I was previously."
. The confident person says: "I will pro
bably be successful but, if I am not suc
cessful, I won't be bothered by ii. I realize
that I am a competent, intelligent in
dividual who has had more successes than
failures in life and therefore, there must
be something good about me. I will con
' tinue to persevere in spite of setback
because, eventually, I will be successful."
In the case found at the beginning of
' this column Jane and Jack displayed con
fidence. Fran and Frank displayed a lack
of confidence. Yet, each of the in
dividuals obtained the same result - pursu
ing their goals. In a strictly pragmatic
sense the results are the same for both
confident and non-confident people.
The important point is to do what you
wanti to do or dream of doing in spite of
the odds. If you conduct yourself as a
confident person, even if it is an act, you
will eventually become the confident per
rtif0JJtyM want tw.be Confidence-involves'
taction, confidence involves "giving it a
try." Confidence involves climbing upon
the stage and giving one of the best pcr
formanes that you can. If you act out the
role of a shy, retreating person, you will
eventually become in reality, a shy,
retreating person.
On the other hand, if you act out the
role of the most confident person you can
think of, you will eventually become that
very person. So. even if you do not think
:. that you should do it, do il anyhow. You
will be a better person as the result of the
.experience.
- - :
An Independent View From Capitol Hill
' Presidential Veto of
Supplemental Appropriations
The first militant
ABOLITIONIST IN C0N3RESS,
KNOWN FOR HIS FAMOUS DEFIANT
AMTI.Cl Mipnu .J... ... ... . '
-cm orfctCH in WASH" v 1 ;
INGTON IN 1841, OIS EFFORTS
DID MUCH TO OPPOSE THE WORK OF JOHN C. CAL
H0UN, THE PRO-SLAVERY LEADER WHO SAID, IN 103$
"ABOLITION AND THE UNION CANNOT CO-EXISf. . "
When Congress reconvened after I .abor
Day, we had to settle with President
Reagan's veto of the supplemental ap
propriations bill wc passed just before our .
recess.
Wc had to settle that issue last week in
order to avoid temporary shutdowns of
many federal agencies and paylcss pav
days for federal employees.
in announcing his veto. Reagan argued
that "This bill would bust the budget by
merely a billion dollars."
However, the truth is that he busted the
budget earlier this year and by a much
bigger deficit ($155 billion) when he per
suaded Congress to approve $263 billion
for war. . . v
: But he did not persuade me then. I
voted against his earlier budget crainess.
And he djd not pcrsnade me to uphold
his veto. I voted last week to override is
veto, and also I voted against reducing
Congress' supplemental appropriations
for domestic needs and increasing those
for war,
Last week's dispute was really over
budget priorities.
Reagan vetoed the bill because ii pro
vided a relatively small additional amoiiiu
($918 million) for employment of the
elderly, education of the handicapped,
unemployment compensation, and stu
dent loans.
He vetoed it also because it provided $2
billion less than he had requested for the
military.
By Gus Savage
Member of Congress
The November Congressional elections
are near so, ask how your represen
tative voted, and cast your vote accordingly.
L.E. AUSTIN
Editor-Publisher 1927-1971
S. Security Overpayments To Be Collected
People . who , have
received overpayment
from Social Security can
expect to hear from
Social Security promptly
about the, need for repay
ment, according to John
Pcraza, District Manager
of the Durham Social
Security Office. Under a
new policy, money owed
to Social Security will be
more aggessivcly col
lected. ,Thc tougher policy is a
result of . standards
established jointly by the
General Accounting Of
fice, which is an agency
of the Congress, and the
Department of Justice.
The standards , arc ex
pected to result in
recovery of a higher
percentage of money ow
ed to the Federal
Government.
In general, money ow
ed to Social Security
results from .over
paymentspayments people recieve to which
they arc not entitled. The
law requires that Social
Security overpayments
be paid back. This is
usually done through a
lump-sum payment or by
withholding portions of
f ut u re check s due t he
beneficiary.
. Overpay m cms
generally occur when
people fail to report a
change in circtimstnaces
that affects their entitle
ment to benefits. Mar
riage of a widow depen
dent, earnings over ihc
annual limit, or stopping
school while receiving
students benefits, arc
typical examples of
events that affect entitle
ment to benefits. . .
; The most common
cause of overpayments is.
failure to promptly
notify Social Security
when a person expects to ,
earn over the annual
limit for people receiving ;
Social Security benefits. '
In 1982. the limit is
$6,(XX) for beneficiaries
65 to 72 and $4,440 for
people under 65. Earn
ings over the limit cause
the benefit to be reduced
by $ I for every $2 of ear
nings over Ihc limit.
The Social Security
Administration has a
policy of helping
beneficiaries avoid over
payments to the extent
possible. When people
are awarded benefits, we
send them a special .
leaflet explaining what
they heed to report to
Social Security if a
change in circumstances
could , affect their
eligibility or the amount
of their monthly checks.
A number of booklets
are available in detail
changes in circumstances
that should be reported
to make sure an overpay
ment is avoided . They
may be obtained by
writing or calling Social
Security Office'
USPS 091-380
(Mrs.) Vivian Austin Edmonds
Editor-PubHshsr
Kenneth W.Edmonds
Genem Manager
L.M.Austin
Production Supervisor
Milton Jordan
Executive Editor
Curtis T. Perkins
Contributing Editor-Foreign Attairs
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