s
SHI GTO , D.C. -The
Board of Director of the a­
tional Caucu and Center on
Blac Age, Inc. CBA) i
oppo ed to the propo ed Reagan
Administr tion cutback in the
Fi cal Year 1986 budget draft.
eeting in Washington last
month, board member unani­
mously adopted a re olution
stating that "propo ed cutbacks
in income maintenance and r­
vices programs negatively impact
on ged Blac and other low­
income older persons."
, e plead with thi adrnin­
i tration to rethink its actions,"
CBA Co-Chairman, Dr. Aaron
Henry said, "as tho hom you
are con idering adding a greater
burden upon are those who are
no bearing more of the
nation' burden than should be
placed upon any segment of our
people."
The low-incom elderly and
the Black elderly Dr. Henry
said, are 'those who can adjust
to these propo ed cuts only
with the greatest difficulty."
Dr. Henry is a pharmacist
from Clarksdal, Mississippi.
He's been CBA Co-Chairman
since 1974. He' amber of
the Missi ippi State Legisla­
ture.
While dknowledging that
the draft budget document's
details are till sketchy becau e
it focu s only on bottom line
figures for program the CBA
board emphasized that older
Blac will be among the chief
victims of propo d cuts and
freeze becau they are more
heavily dependent on federal
income maintenance programs.
PE SIO
OTL ELY
Older Black, the board
ad, are le likely to have pri­
vate pen ions or income from
ets than are members of
fa
S D RLAND, D­
Black busine es are doomed
to extinction unless they jump
on the technology bandwagon.
So id Blac entrepreneur
Edward Diez at a recent work
conference of Black communi­
cations speciali t .
"Any Black busines own­
er or profe sional who doesn't
own a computer or at least
u computer ervice will
shortly be out of busine s,"
. d Diez, president of Busine
Information & Resource Ser­
vice (BIRS).
Diez feel the next five
years are crucial. "By 1990
computers will be 0 entren­
ched in American life, that any
busine that doe n't have one
probably won't urvive for
more than a fe years," pre­
dicted Diez.
Diez is concerned that
Bl cks aren't taking dvantage
or
ae
other groups.
"If the cuts are imple-
mented," 81-year-old Edward
Cooper id, 'Blacks will not
only be stripped of economic
benefits that they have earned
over their wor ing lives, but
also their dignity. They will
Age
say
JANUARY 9 - 15, 1985 THE CITIZE
PAGE THREE
o
transportation _ and other nece­
ry costs - will not remain
frozen in the months ahead.
The CBA Board agreed to
encourage local chapters and
Black organizations serving the
needs of the aged to expre s
their opposition to these propo-
ons and compensation pay­
ments; s well as Railroad Re­
tirement and federal civilian
retirement pensions.
These cuts are e timated to
produce a S 1.8 billion savings
in F:V86. And while no chang s
are proposed for Social Security,
be forced to become beggars
in a land of plenty.
Cooper is a member of
the national Board of Direct­
ors and the president of the
Boston chapter of CBA.
early one out of every
two eld rly Blacks is now
poor or marginally poor, accor­
ding to CBA figure. This ra­
tio will increase if. federal in­
come maintenance programs are
frozen at current levels. At the
same time, the elderly person's
daily living expenses - such as
food housing, medical care,
sed reductions to appropriate
local and nationally elected
officials.
CBA will call upon the
Advocates Senior Alert Proce s
(ASAP) to encourage them to
join with CBA in resisting the
cutbacks in income maintenance
and services programs.
LIST OF PROPOSED curs
The Reagan budget reco­
mmendations include a freez
on Cost-of-Living Adjustments
(COLA) for Supplemental Secur­
ity Income (SSI); veterans pen-
Senate Bud et Committee chair­
man Pete Domenici (R- M has
urged that Social Security not be
insulated from the COLA freeze.
The proposal include a
freeze in food tamp benefits.
This would result in a 465
million drop in benefits for
food stamp recipients in FY 87.
Medicare would face the
largest reduction for anyone
program 2.8 billion while
edicaid would be cut by
about 1 billi n.
Other cuts would be made
to the older Americans Act
ea
programs under the Admini­
tration on Aging; Title V of the
Older Americans Act the Senior
Community Service Employ­
ment Program would be frozen �
the Legal Service Corporati n
would be abolished' Community
Services Block Grant would be
abolished; Urban Development
Action Grants would be pha d
out; Community Developm nt
Block Grants would be reduced
by 10 percent and loan guaran­
tees would be terminated.
CRISIS FOR GED POOR
The impact of the reduc­
tions on aged Blacks and other
low-income older mericans­
especially the proposed COLA
freeze for income maintenance
programs-would intensify the
retirement income crisis that
already affects so many Blac
and other low income older
per ons and now threatens to
engulf thousands more.
The Board suggested that
other alternative should be
considered for reducing the bud-
et deficit, uch as reduced
spending for the Pentagon tax
reform and strengthened tax
compliance effort. The po t­
ponement of the constru tion
of just one battle hip CBA
said would obviate the need
to freeze COLAs for SSI reci­
pients, and still leave hun­
dred of millions of dollar
to fund ot er worthwhile a -
tivities. or provide savings in the
overall budget deficit.
There are fairer way to
reduce the budget deficit than
attempting to balance the bud­
get on the baks of the p or
the ick and the lame, CBA
believes ..
Instead of spending billion
of doUars to destroy life in
me distant land our empha-
Continued on p e 11
Su
iness extinction possible
of the computer revolution. He
cited the results of a recent
survey to emphasize this point. •
It shows that despite tre­
mendous increases in per onal
computer sales during the last
few years Blacks are far be­
hind when it comes to compu­
ter purchases. According to the
findings of the survey, the per­
centage of minorities who own
computers is incredibly low.
"The figures are alarm­
ing," stated Diez. This nation
is rapidly being transformed
into an information society,
and we're being left out."
Diez cited many reasons
for the lack of computer pur­
chase by Blacks, among them
the co t.
"Let's face it, the cost
of a busine computer has
in many ca s, been prohibi­
ti ,but with prices continu­
ing to drop, computers are no
within the reach of more
people; certainly within the
reach of bu ine s owners and
professional .
"But," said Diez, "Even
in Washington, where one of
the nation's largest concen­
tration of Black professionals
exists, the us of personal
computers among Blacks is
extremely low, so other
factors must be involved.'
Diez suspects that many
people have been falsely led
to believe that computer
operation i highly complex
and takes a great deal of
technical training to
master.' othing could be
further from the truth,"
claimed Diez. "Anyone with
a -fair degree of intelligence
and the interest, can learn
to operate a personal
computer within a short
period of time."
Many people also have
the view that computers are
nothing more than 'techno­
logy trap .' Diez wants to
change that -perception.
'Computers can be 'tech­
nology traps,' but only if
we fail to see the tremen­
dous potential benefits
that can be derived from
their u e.
, e are the fir t genera­
tion with the means to have
information at our finger­
tips; information to make
better busines de I ions.
Sources of information that
were available to only a select
handful as recently as ten
years ago - even five year
ago- are now available to the
personal computer user.
"Becau e of the com­
puter, Black busine men
and women can now obtain
information that at one time
was available only to tho e
with huge sums of money,
time and resources at their
dispo al - and all for a
modest cost.'
Diez warns that merely
owning a computer isn t
beneficial. "A computer
bought and not used, or not
u d to its full potential
as it applies to its owner,
is nothin more than an ex­
pen ive toy.
"The proper use of
computers can be an impor­
tant factor in helping Blac
business owners and pro­
fe sionals succeed - and just
as urely, failure to incor­
porate computers into
busine and professional
operation will lead to extinc­
tion."
(For a free copy of
, Th Computer Tip Pam­
phlet" nd a elf-addres d,
stamped busines - ize enve­
lope to Computer Tip ,BIRS
P.O. Bo 412, Sunderland,
MA 01375