National Youth Sorvica-No; Youth
Employment Programs-Yes
BY R ?P. GUS HAWKINS
Guest Editorial
A number of House and Sena
members have introduced ve
sions of “national youth service
legislation, a proposal which linl
volunteer duty to goveramei
benefits. The bill receiving tl
most attention is the McCurd;
Nunn bill, named after the respe
tive House and Senate author
While the proposal may be well ii
tentioned, there are many pn
blems regarding equity, workc
displacement, and program at
ministration which need close
examination.
In the McCurdy-Nunn proposa
government aid would be tied t
either military or civilian service
In other words, young peoplt
could serve in the Marines oi
work in a public facility, such as i
mental hospital. For each yeai
spent in the military, at a reducec
wage of about $100 a week, the
youth would receive a |12,00C
voucher to be used for student aid,
job training or a down payment on
a home. For each year of civilian
service, again at a reduced wage,
the youth would receive a $10,000
voucher to pay for government
benefits. The intention of the bill
is to foster the ideal of civic duty
and public service, while at the
same time meeting community
social needs.
The victims of these youth ser
vice proposals, however, would be
the poor. It is a regressive concept
which turns youth into indentured
servants. Similarly, in the 17th
century people would trade
passage to America to work for
another for a definite period of
time. Surely, we have progressed
from the days of this practice.
One of my major concerns is
based on the question of how equi
ty and equality of sacrifice can be
guaranteed. The proposal would
eliminate existing forms of stu
dent aid and condition receipt of
postsecondary educational
assistance on participation in na
tional service. This would un
doubtedly result in a national ser
vice composed primarily of low
income youth who would have no
opportunity to go to college unless
they served their time in national
service. On the other hand, their
middle and upper-income
counterparts could enter college
without similar service.
In addition, there are numerous
other questions related to labor
standards which can be raised.
What protection would existing
public service employees, par
ticularly those who .earn low
wages, have from displacement?
. Would they be replaced from the
te influx of federally subsidized
r- volunteers? What would protect
s” the volunteers from exploitation
® by employers? What would it cost
it to maintain strong labor stan
le dards for a large national pro
f- gram?
> Currently, we are not adequate
5. ly addressing the needs of our na
i- tion’s youth. This is a bad time to
}- experiment with dubious youth
r service proposals when we have
I- left behind millions of unserved
r children and young people by not
fully funding Head Start, Chapter
1 1, Pell Grants, the Job Corps, the
) Job Training Partnership Act,
and other programs.
* The thinking wiirich drives these
national service-type proposals is
based on a perception that the
public will support this program
(cost estimate is more than $5
billion) if you make people “work
for it”—no matter how
discriminatory it may be. This
same type of attitude enlisted con
servatives to support a sweeping
welfare reform bill last year,
which included a punitive
workfare provision. Everybody
supports the concept of the “work
ethic,” yet at the same time many
of the national service supporters
don’t understand the agony and
burden of the poor. It is also work
to rear children as a single parent
on a bare-bones budget. It is also
work to live from paycheck to
paycheck in substandard and
crime-ridden housing. It is work
for many of our youth and poor to
experience the constant hardships
of poverty.
Instead of national youth ser
vice we should be developing a na
tional youth job program, which
includes remedial education
assistance, job training for
decent-paying occupations, job
counseling (resume and interview
preparation), special programs
for juvenile delinquents %nd
teenage parents (with child-cate
assistance).
The concept of community ser
vice is an honorable one, but it
must be developed on a fair and
equitable basis. Ironically, the
proposed national service con
cept, which supposedly is intend
ed to teach our youth the value of
civics, fails this important lesson
by treating one class of citizens
differently from another. An
agenda to help our youth is badly
needed... but the current concept -
of national service is a wrong
headed and divisive approach.
The White GW Wins
rne mainstream Hollywood
film industry is notorious for its
lack of relevant subject matter
and significant employment op
portunities for Blacks and other
people of color. From D. W. Grif
fith’s “Birth of a Nation” to Allan
Parkere’s “Mississippi Burning,”
Blacks in films have beta pro
trayed as everything from
destroyers of White women’s vir
tue to nameless, one dimensional
individuals whose only salvation
is in the White man.
but as we plunge into the final
decade of the century many
Blacks feel that large scale suc
cess for them in this industry is
still “dream deferred.”
Tony Brown has taken matters
into his own hands. With f2 million
ofihis own money, a mostly Black
cast and crew, and an important
story that Hollywood has no time
for, he has produced and directed
his first motion picture. The White
G#l, from his own script the First
Black Freedom Motion Picture.
Brown started tne Buy
Freedom campaign three years
ago to promote economic develop
ment among blacks. The White
Girl is the first film in that cam
paign which is called ‘‘Buy
Freedom.” In the past year,
Brown has made the film
available to community groups
for fundraisers prior to its com
mercial release, slated for sum
mer, 1969, at which time com
munity people can become the
local distributor or Buy Freedom
Partner for “The White Girl.” For
information: (212) 575-0876.
The Buy Freedom campaign
was designed to plow Black
dollars into the Black community
by stimulating Black businesses
and creating new jobs. Brown
hopes to recoup his investment
and continue to make films with
relevant social messages. We
believe that his success will be an
example for all people of color
tunities
in it as
Miller Says
BY SHERMAN N. MILLER
CREATIVITY C0MMUNICATE8 VISION
“I want a kinder and gentler nation,” prodainudPreei
dent George Bush. Although this proclamation is often
mocked, it is Bush’s vision of the future.
Bush’s statement suggests that he is a covert hawk who
will opt for the appearance of negotiation over an im
mediate armed confrontation. But Bush’s <ww»nm>u»eH«m
problem points out the difficulty that corporate America
can expect in disclosing its visions to its employees and
customers.
Multinational corporations are
using creativity to transcend
media problems in com
municating their vision
statements. The DuPont Com
pany’s dinner-show at the 1988
Society of Automotive Engineers
Congress and Exposition was a
unique vision statement.
This show was held at Detroit’s
famous Fox Theater, featuring
Peter Nero and the Detroit Sym
phony Orchestra. It also included a pictorial history of
automobile style from the 1980s to 1990s. Yet the rise and
fall and the reincarnation of the U.S. automobile industry
was the nonverbal message that underpinned DuPont’s
show. But, what was DuPont’s assessment of this dinner
show?
Henry B. Milligan, director of sales and development in
DuPont’s Automotive Products Department, says, "I
doubt that there has ever been an event in Detroit that
more than 2,000 customer/spouse teams shared an even
ing.”
Milligan was asked to tell whether this special dinner
show met DuPont’s objective. “Without question, we met
our objective,” he replied.
Milligan’s reply begged the question, what was
DuPont’s objective?
Milligan saw the show allowing DuPont to develop a
positive image and an opportunity to share and build on
customer relationships.
Terms like “image,” “share,” and “build” are abstract
vehicles that politicians exploit to aHllfaily maneuver
around thorny issues. Business people are pragmatic, so
Milligan offered some feelings that quantified his reply.
Milligan claims DuPont is trying to earn the right to be
viewed as an important part of the community. He says
they do not want to give the impression that they are jiit
passing through.
It is common knowledge that DuPont has been a stodgy,
ultra-conservative company. Yet Milligan argues they are
now undergoing a cultural change.
“Young people feel the change,” claims Milligan. “[We
are] creating an arena that very talented people can excel
in.”
On the other hand, Milligan said, “[The] culture is
changing so fast some [people] are left behind.”
Milligan was then requested to give a DuPont mlyinn
statement to the nation
(See MILLER, P.8)
..BY ERNIE JOHNSTON, JK. j
s
have PATIENCE WITH SUMMER HELP
»T"e other day I was shopping In this start and the clerk
at uie counter took aorne time in counting the change that I
had coming to me. w"
At first I was getting a little annoyed but then it sudden
°n me ttoat *» time of year for part-time
i summer help.
_Every yeaLr ^ time.studentsout of school wek work in
S.vsi ssr*’ w «d
For the mbst part, many are inexperienced and this is
theWirst time in the Job market. Therefore they are ex
pected to make a lot of blunders and this is the
we as a public must be understanding and sympathise with
summer help as best as possible ^ “
Probably most of us can relate to the gu—Hon that is
often asked when applying for a Job and that is, "Do you
have any experience?"
And my answer to that is how can you say you have ex
perience when you are not given the opportunity for ex
perience? Of course meet summer Jobs may not be the
route to a lifetime goal but it does help in terms of having
built up some work experience.
Many cities have instituted summer work programs
whereby students are given the opportunity toworkto
businesses and companies, thereby gaining experience and
at the same time making extra mooeT^
The attitude toward summer help should be that this is
in the forefront of our businesses when we are retired and
long gone.
At the same time, fellow employees of summer Nr
should be willing to go out of their way to teach young nee.
pte the iM and outs of the Job end serve ss a role model to
them and not become annpyed or angry at thair mistakw
All of us can no doubt look back at the time whan we
were new to a Job and we, too, sought guidance and help in
trying to make it. ^
A call should also go out to successful African-American
businesses to give young students Jobs for the summer I
say successful because there are many minority
the other hand there are those who are succeaaiui enough to
With the number of Afrlcan-Amerknn bwhieaaw Out
are increasing **--*—'»
there should tw
students should
c--a ■;
* .j
SiiSsiia
What Chinese
students teach us
By Chick Stoke
Graduating seniors head out into
the real world, convinced their class
is special, their year historical, their
members unique. But the class of
1999 can lay claim to membership in
One of Western civilization’s most ex
citing moments — the Chinese stu
dents’ revolution.
The ability of millions of students
: to bring China’s communist dictator
ship to its knees has awed the world. A
million people in any kind of demon
stration, as there were in Bejing, bog
gles the mind. (Only seven cities in
America have more people.) But peo
ple (over 1 billion) are China’s biggest
resource.
As American students did SO years
ago, Chinese students are pressing for
moral chlhge and the right, as Mao
Tse-tung once put it, to let “a hundred
flowers bloom and a hundred schools
of thought contend." When you think
abontlt, that’s a fairly accurate inter
pretation of the First Amendment.
In their demonstrations, the Chi
nese students have melded the intrin
‘ sic gentleness of Confucian morality
- and the non-violent tactics of Gandhi
and King. They are teaching a watch
ing world that non-violence can still
stop armies, a lesson that rock-throw
ing Palestinian students have forgot
ten in their freedom struggle against
Israel.
The Chinese students’ revolution
for democracy exalts other lessons of
history.
When they pasted a few unassum
ingposters six weeksago oo thCWlfis
of Bejing University, they were fol
lowing the path of an Augustinian
monk who nailed 95 Theses to the
door of the castle church at Witteif
berg 473 years ago and launched a re
ligious revolution.
When a young Chinese leader of the
hunger strike wistfully longed for "a
beautiful, perfect system,” he seemed
to replicate Alexis de Tocqueville’s
praise of Americans for their "lively
faith in the perfectibility of man."
The ideas behind our American
Revolution still inspire the world. As
Justice Oliver Wendell. Holmes so ac
curately predicted, "Every idea is an
incitement."
In 1919, ideas incited Chinese stu
dents when they orchestrated the May
Fourth Moverr *nt, a massive protest
CHUCK
STONE
against the Tit rty of Versailles eva
sion of Chinese territory to Japan
The editor of a magazine, New wrath,
had called on the students to forego
old traditions and follow the Ideas of
“Mr. Science" and “Mr. Democracy.
Seventy years and two generations
later, Chinese students have go°ebe
yond mere protest They are calling
for massive changes In the system.
But the system has resisted change
for 3,500 years. China Is a
dynasties — Shang, Ming, (
tionalist and now Comm uni
er ruled by Dowager Emj
Hsi, the Japanese puppet Wang Ching
wei, the American ally Cblang Kai
shek or Communist Premier Li Peng,
China has managed to absorb with al
most paradoxical nonchalance the
convulsions of violent change. “
Students may be reacting to that
cultural intractability as they teach
another lesson that Americans un
learned two decades ago — respect
for one's elders.
The lesson’s symbol is a student
hero, a frail-looking 71-year-old edi
tor with unruly white wins of hair,
Qin Benli. As he has threaded his way
through groups of chanting demon
strators in Shanghai, many have
cheered him.
When the Communist Party put
Qin’s weekly paper, The World Eco
nomic Herald, under the censorship
fist of a “rectification committee,1’,
scares of Chinese Journalists publicly
supported him.
“We are just one little newspaper,’ ‘
declared the septuagenarian Qin, “but
if we win, we can contribute to a free {
press in China.” Faith is a powerful;
elixir. j
In a country with a religious tradi- »
tion of Confucianism, Buddhism and
Taoism, a Christian prophet’s words
seem exquisitely appropriate tor this
1989 student revolution. And a tittle
child shall lead them.
BY MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN
SOUNDING THE ALARM ABOUT HOUSING
For some in affluent America, the only touring crisis is deciding whan to
install the Jaeussl. In poor Mack America, people are clinging desperately to'
the roof over their heads.
Black Americans are taking a shattering Mow from the nation’s bowing
crisis, says “A Place to Call Home,” a new report from two Waahiimton
based groups, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Low-Income
Housing Information Service. It Is time to sound the alarm about our howfaK
problems before more black Americans are pushed out Into the streets or the
homeless shelters.
o Housing Costs ore Devouring Our Income. Black households are aero
likely than white households to have “unaffordable" housing—bousing that
eats up more than SO percent of the income they must live on. Anyone who has
ever balanced a household budget would be appalled to kaowthatooo out of!
every five Mack households is now spending half their income Orinoco Juetto:
pay the rent or the mortgage
e We Are Less Likely Te Own Our Own Hemes. It’s the American (heam*
owning your own home. But the dream is cowidorabty y, yinck
America. Lees than half of all Mack households own a home, while more than
two-thirds of white households do. This drives our bowing costs tm because
among households with incomes below 940,000 rsnt takes a bigger Mte out of
income tfii» mortimi
•It’s Getting Wane. Black America’s bousing costs have gone 19
dramatically since 1S78. Why? Because, on average, wo are paying more for
our housing now while we are not bringin home more Income/
•We Are Mare Likely Te Live In Peer '’—-‘‘-mi Not only are blacks
fighting to keep a roof overhead, but the roof Is leaking. A Mack household to
day is more than twice as likely as a white household to live In “substandard"'
bousing. This does not mean housing that doesn't look pretty. It mean living
without adequate plumbing, shivering through spells without any heat, or
sharing space with mica and rats.
What can we do about our bousing crisis? The first stop is to bring it to the
attention of every politician we can, from Housing and Urban Development
Secretary Jack Kemp to our senators or our council mamba— b»m«dftgrt
the osr oftho press by sending letters to the editor, poiating out what is hap
pening. Thors is only ooe way out of this bousing crisis: putting back the
billions of dollars Oat President Reagan slashed from our federal
urograms with such dsvfcstating results. "v
Other Viewpoints
BYRBV.MARKC.OUW
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