CONGRATULATIONS CAPTAIN 0. H. LEAK
THE TR BUNAL A D
SERVICE TO ALL
VOLUMN 1, N0.2
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6,1973
15 Cents
Press Run 5000
GRADUATES RECEIVE DELTA SCOIARSHIPS
Deborah Moser
a
Six outstanding high
school seniors have been
awarded scholarships by
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority
for the 1973-74 Academic
Cynthia Alexander
Year. The scholarships are in
the amount of $500.00 for
each graduate and may be
used by each girl at the
school of her choice.
Sharon Simrel
Recipients of the
scholarships are Deborah
Moser, Cynthia Alexander,
Sharon Simrel, graduates of
High Point, and Melanie
Little, Cynthia Kindle and
PhilUs Lovette who are
graduates of T. Wingate
Andrews High School. The
students have attained aood
Melanie Little
academic records and have
participated in school and
community activities.
In addition to the
scholarships in the amount of
Cynthia Kindle
$3000.00 being awarded.
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority
participates in other local and
national service projects. Mrs.
Faimie Atkinson is president
Phyllis Lovette
of the High Point Chapter of
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority
and Mrs. Earlene Dennis is
chairman of the scholarship
committee.
Small Investment In Ex-Prisoner Pays Off
rrain«l Worksr
Earning
$3J8 An Hour
(X)RNING,'N.Y. — Back
in 1966, a bU^ man we call
Mark was arrested in New
York for what would now be
eoniidered a" relatively
minor offeme by the state -
possession of .marijuana.
In 1966, however, the of
fense drew a stiff sentence,
and Mark was to spend the
(Editor’s Note - This article
is in response to one entitled
“Black Progress and Liberal
Rhetoric”, authored by Ben
Wattenberg and Richard
Scammon, and published in
the April issue of
Commentary magazine. Dr.
Herrington J. Bryce, a
respected economist who has
done research and published
papers relating to migration,
population shifts and the
economic problems of
minorities. He is a visiting
lecturer at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology and
is director of research for the
Joint Center For Political
Studies in Washington. The
Joint Center has made Dr.
Bryce’s response article on
this important subject
available to the public.)
by Herrington J. Bryce
The question of whether or
not most blacks are in the
middle class is purely
definitional. Wattenberg and
Scammon have used such a
wide-open definition that the
only people who would not
be included, are professionals •
(who constitute only about
one of every night of the
black working population)
and the unemployed.
But the strongest argument
against Wattenberg and
Scammon lies in the
untampered facts on the
distribution of families by
income-size class as published
by the U.S. Bureau of Census.
Hie facts are these:
next five years in Attica
State Prison. As his release
time approclied, he wrote
every agency he had read
about, heard about or could
think of seeking a job.
needed as a condition of
parole
IN THE MEANTIME, his
wife, trying to support five
children on wdfare, got in
debt and finally left the
state.
Fortunately, a parole
officer took an interest in
Mark and acquainted Bruce
I. Hyland, director of
Project Mainstream for the
Steuben County Economic
Opportunity Pi^ram, Inc.,
)f his case. Hyland guaran
teed Mark a job on release.
ON DECEMBER 10, 1971,
Mark came to the Main
stream office 9nd was im
mediately placed in the
program. He had $7 ^ his
pocket and no place to stay.
Some temporary financial
assistance was provided
until his first paycheck came
through. A room was
arranged at the National
Hotel in BaOi. He was then
taken to a worldngman's
store, and credit arranged so
he could be properly clothed
fOT work.
That afternoon, be
reported to his Mainstream
job at manual labor, Hyland
explained that if he worked
well, this would help the
project officers “sell" him to
an employer.
HE DID AN excellent job,
Hyland reported. His
supervisor gave him top
ratings. Some weeks later,
the Coming Glass Works
called the Mainstream office
loosing for fotv men. Atark
was reco>nr'ended because
of his work record and his
■excepaonal efforts to better
himself.
Hyland took Mark to the
Coming Glass Works, 20
miles away, and spent the
day helping him get
physicals., and paperwork
done. Hyland also helped
Mark find a room and move
to a rate of $2.83 per hour.
FOLLOWUP REPORTS
indicated Mark was doing
well. Then the bad luck hit.
On April 2,1972, Mark oBllf^i
Hyland to say he had been
laid off. The next day,
Hyland placed him back on
the pro^am so he would not
have to go back to jail.
On April 7-just four days
later-Mark was called back
to the glass works, and he is
still there. He is currently
earning $3.39 an hour.
Hyland has worked out
some figures showing how
much it cost to help Mark
make the transition from
prison; Total Wages Paid,
$660; Taxes Paid, $130.05;
Net, $535.95.
IT roST THE I;.S.
Department fo Labor $535.»5
to help this man move from
prison to lieing a productive
citizen,” Hyland observes.
“How long will it take the
United States Government to
get the $535.95 back through
taxes? How much would it
have cost to keep him in
prison and support his wife
on welfare? The work he did
was for the improvement of
the community and would
not have been done if it was
not for the extra labor of the
program.”
On The Progress Of Blacks And Liberal Rhetoric
FAMILY INCOMES AND
EARNINGS - 1971
Race
White
Spanish
Black
Median Income
Under $5,000
7,548
Percent of famiUes
with incomes
Under $5,000
$15,000 or more
16.2.. .26.4
30.4. . .10.3
38.6.. .10.3
$15,000 or more
What emerges without
stretching of the facts is that
in a society which preaches
egalitarianism as an ideology,
incomes are grossly unequally
distributed along lines which
are fundamentally racial. And
this is what the struggle is all
about: Although significant
progress has been made there
is a lot left to justify
discontent.
Both Wattenberg and
Scammon, as did Moyniham
before them, place
considerable weight on the*
evidence that black families
with made heads who are
under 35 years of age and
who reside outside the South
have achieved income parity
with comparable white
families. Both they and
Moynihan argued that this
parity is evidence of progress
and augurs well for the
future.
The income gain is
deceptive. As the authors
recognize, the two groups
lack fuU comparibility on ^ a
very crucial point young
black wives outside the South
are more likely to be working
year-round than young white
wives. Hence, a considerable
amount of the “equality” in
family income is based upon
the inequality in work effort.
The income gain is
restricted. Black
husband-wife families outside
the South in which the male
is under 35 years of age
account for only per cent of
black husband-wife families
in the country. It is only 10
per cent of aU black families.
The other 90 per cent of
black families continues to be
unequal! As a matter of fact,
black families as a rule found
that the absolute gap between
their incomes and white
family incomes increased
from roughly $2,500 in 1947
to just over $4,000 in 1971.
Wattenberg and Scammon
state that when only men less
than 35 years of age who
reside with their wives
outside the South are
compared, the parity ratio is
maintained. These men
account for less than 10 per
cent (roughly 7 per cent) of
all black men. Again parity
affects relatively few blacks!
There are reasons for being
doubtful that the parity to
which Moynihan and
Wattenberg and Scammon
refer will be maintained.
Studies by economists have
suggested that a main reason
for black advancement in
income was the migration of
young blacks out of the rural
South to the North where
wages are higher. There is
Uttle hope for further major
gains due to this kind of
migration. The black
population in the rural South
is now only 3.9 million.
While blacks were leaving
the South as a rate of 10.6
per cent, the economic
growth and income of that
area was increasing faster
than any other part of the
country. It has been the
young whites who have been
returning to the South at a
rate of nearly 10 per cent to
capture these new
opportunities.
One possible effect of this
migration might be to
increase the income gap
between blacks and whites in
the future if the industries to
which whites are moving in
the South continue to grow
faster than the ones blacks
are entering in the North.
This situation could be
exacerbated unless blacks are
able to take advantage of the
economic growth in the
South.
In addition to migration,
another major factor in
improving black earnings in
the sixties was the high level
of demand for labor during
that period. Economists have
argued that economic growth
and its induced demand for
labor was the most important
factor in increasing the
relative wages of black men in
the sixties.
Economists have found
that when the demand for
labor falls such that the
aggregate unemployment rate
rises above, say, 3.5 per cent,
black family earnings are
seriously threatened. The
unemployment rate now
hovers around 5 per cent.
And to make matter worse,
there is currently a tacit
assumption that we must be
prepared to accept as normal
something in that vicinity
because of changes in the
composition of the labor
force.
Accordingly, the following
points are implied: First,
much of the black gains are
due to cyclical factors which
are, by definition fluctuating
and might easily be reversed.
Second, we might well be on
the course of reversal with an
unemployment rate well
above 3 per cent.
A foundation for an
increasing income gap lies in
educational attainment. While
blacks have made great strides
in education, some basic
truths remain: Among people
who are under 35 years of
age, the college completion
rate is 4 times higher among
white males as it is among
black; it is twice as high
among white females as it is
among black females.
The rate of high school
completion is 50 per cent
higher amorg young white
men as it is among blacks.
These figures say that while
blacks are busy in the labor
market, whites are investing
in themselves. Since the
return to investment is always
expressed in higher Ufetime
earnings, the parity which is
observed is unstable and
could disappear over the life
time of this cohort; for it has
been shown that the rate of
return to education and
experience is significantly
hi^er for whites than for
blacks.
The children of this young
cohort will not necessarily
grow up equal. Otis Duncan,
in a very careful and
well-done study of the ability
of parents to transmit income
status to their children, shows
that blacks are less liekly to
be able to do so than whites.
Historically, the black
unemployment rate has been
twice as high as the white
unemployment rate.
Scammon and Wattenberg
take comfort in the fact that
the historical 2 to 1
black/white unemployment
ratio was apparently broken.
There is dubious reasons
for joy. Economists noted,
and the statistics support,
1970 was an unusual
recession. It was one which
struck hardest at those
industries from which blacks .
were traditionally excluded.
Morever, 1970
represents a period when
black men were leaving the
labor force at a faster rate
than white; hence, they were
less likely to be counted as
unemployed.
The fact is that in 1972,
the black/white unemployed
rates returned to their 2 to 1
ratio! Today (1973) the
unemployment rate for
blacks is 10.2 per cent, and
this does not include those
who left the labor force,
those who are working
parttime although they would
prefer fulltime work and
those who are working at
substandard wages. The
unemployment rate for
whites is 5.2 per cent - again
the rates are 2 to 1.
It is not satisfactory for
Wattenberg and Scammon to
show an improvement in the
relative unemployment rate
of black and"white men with
wives present.
Surely, the struggle has not
been for the sole benefit of
this group.
The high unemployment
rate (over 35 per cent) among
black teenagers cannot be
dismissed lightly. In many
black families this spells the
differences between being in
poverty and not. It also
engenders criminal behavior
and disproportionally high
enlistment rates among black
youths.
Wattenberg and Scammon
note that blacks made
In the year Mark has been
working, he has made a start
toward paying off some of
his wife’s ^bts and has put
the down paynient on a
hbu^. ‘Rfe ody knows his
wife and children went
“south,” and he is looking
for them through friends and
relatives.
Since tho’e are relatively
teW blacks in northern New
York, Hyland explains,
Mark is reluctant to bring
attention to himself by
permitting his name to be
used.
remarkable strides into white
collar occupations.
It is true that the black
rate of upward mobilitiy
outstriped the white male. It
should be noted, however,
that the greatest differences
was in the rate of entry into
clerical occupations - hardly
the objective of most
upwardly mobile whites.
The fact that blacks made
these gains should not
obfuscate the issue. Blacks
remain significantly
under-represented in
high-wage occupations. In
1972 there were 35 per cent
fewer blacks in professional
occupations than would have
been the case had blacks an
equal opportunity as whites
to enter.
The underrepresentation in
managerial occupations and'
in sales is nearly 70 per cent.
In crafts its about 30 per
cent, and in clerical work
about 21 per cent. All these
figures are based on
calculations using data in the
In fact, the Duncan
findings hold that while
blacks may transmit
occupational status as easily
as whites, their children are
less likely to be able to
convert this occupational
status into income as well as
white children do.
Manpower Report of the
President.
Scammon and Wattenberg
Continued on Page
SUPPORT THE ADVERTISING MERCHANTS OF THIS, YOUR NEWSPAPER!