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By Bernice Powell Jackson
The old folks used to have a
saying about the fox guarding
the chicken ooop. Many people
might use that old saying to de­
scribe some of the debate going
on about health care reform
right now.
Part of t e dilemma for 'peo­
ple of color in this country is that
for too many, health care is al­
most non-existent and yet too
few of our voices have been a
part of the debate. Instead the
voices most often heard are
those of the insurance and
health industry leaders who are
responsible for the current pre­
dicament.
In th last few weeks, Presi­
dent Clinton's health car re­
form initiatives have come
under attack by business groups
and by some members of Con­
gr , despite the fact th t polls
tell us that most Americans still
upport health care reform.
Meanwhile, African Ameri-
car nd other people of color
are sick and dying.
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7
y
mo t cle rly demon-
1'8 in u tion. or
City 37 pe nt of th '
children in i public choo , but
the city only 3 rcent
of th ta . d. That hortfall
amoun to an underfunding tb
t public hools ch y r by
00 million.
.nt..I.'�� of ho . ng In the ubur of e Yor
the average uburb chool
pends 9,236 per pupil; Ne
Yor City pe 6,826 per pu­
pil, nearly three thousand dol­
lars 1 per child. Statewide,
the average tudent per teach
ration is 14.5 per one; in
Yor City's public schools, the
ration is 16.7 per one.
The basic factor wlUch under-
co the dynami of opp
ion for Blac children and
youth is economics. Between
1980 and 1992, New Yor City
lost 87,000 private sector jobs.
During the same years, the
number of African-Americans
living below the poverty level in
the city grew: from 520,000 t?
6664,000 people.
THE AVERAGE BLACK
family in the city earns 24,000
annually, compared to more
than 40,000 per year for
whit . Black men have unem­
ployment rates of 13 percent,
compared to under six percent
for white mal . As the economic
situation for Black households
declin , the status of our chil­
dren and young people also date­
riora
� . versity's In-
itu 0 in African-
American Studies, we are
planning a major national ron­
ference, to be held in April, 1995,
on the theme: "The Crisis of
Black Youth. "Th greatest chal­
lenge for African-American lead­
ership and organizations
throughout the country is find­
ing solutions to reverse the war
against our young people. Our
children are the future of the
Black community.
pro­
portion of child n und r the age
of'si ho Ii in married eoupl
familie has also declined
sharply, from S8 percent in 1979
down to 31 percent in 1989. This
means that thousands of our
children are being raised in­
c ingly by their grandpar­
ents, or by individual who a
not related to them at all.
The war against Black youth
is strikingly apparent within the
criminal justice ystem. In cen­
tral Harlem alone, 2500 young
people were arrested in 1992.
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H- S A�D SIST� .. �OU CAN
)( J.t770 , CHCAQ? IlL. 6>OG:J
AI:
power.
The world n to the
magic words, MADE IN AF.
RICA, printed on produ rang­
ing from non rs to guns and
ca .
Th world knows about Black
power in basketball, football,
b ball, track nd oth r sports.
But in this a of t hnological
glitz, inv ntion and comm r­
dally driven brain power, Black,
technology is n ar the bottom of
the list.
C1'�"AAJ"'''''''C tETE
Europ and oth r dvanced na­
tio reached th ir presen lev­
els 0 respect and dominations
by advancing in chnology and
m nufacturing. By producing
prac ical product ,MADE IN
AFRICA and us by Am ri-
I'� 'It I n4,8n
\/� \rish �/� La·hr1o
,
\/I� rrench .... �
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Do �N '{ EX-.N.
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OUR �V1C0S t\ERIT
about how the specific and stag­
gering needs of people of color
will be addressed by any of th
reform plans. This mus be ' � ,
part of any plan which focus
on the health of all the people of
our country.
WHAT WOULD THE ideal
health care plan include for peo­
ple with such critical health
needs? Such a plan would be
universal - everyone should
have access to health care from
birth, regardless of employment
status (remember people of color
are more likely to be unem­
ployed or underemployed).
The ideal health care plan
would be single-payer - all
would be enrolled autcmatically
in a national health plan, with­
out the massive insurance in­
dustry as middleman.
The American College of Sur­
geons is one of the few groups
which has had the courage to
support a single-payer program
which it believes preserves the
right of patients to choose their
own, doctors and is simpler to
implement than the managed
competition appro ches which
other plans advocate.
The Congressional Budget
Offi issu dar port in Decem­
ber which suggested that the
single-pay r plan would result
in a $100 billion administrative
avings. That i a significant
savings which cannot be ig­
nored.
The ideal plan would be cog-'
nizant of th pecific and critical
health care n of people ,of
color. It would take into consid­
eration, for example, the educa­
tional, cultural and language
barri rs, It would take s riously
h n for faci Ii ti to be 10-
cat d near th p ople ince
many poor opl la k rans­
portation.
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Dr. Manning Marable is Profj or 0(
H iAlxJry and Political Science; and Direo­
tor, Institute for R rcA in AfrUxm­
American Studia, Columbia Un.iwnity.
If Along the Color Line" app«lT8 mooer 250
publications and broadcast by 75 radio
tatioa internatwnaUy.
atch
•
epowe
By JaIIles E. Alsbrook
o
, Europeans an h , Af-
ricans would ha proof of abil­
ity to contribute us ful tools and
id as to the pro -ori nt
world of th ' oncoming 21st Cen­
tury. With ut this p f of abil-
, ity to ompete mechanically,
th Industrial Age, minist
ev ry Sunday would int to
wealthy persons lik Vand r ilt,
Astor, Rockefeller, Cam gi nd
Ford. They told th ir chur hgo­
ers that th men were pro per­
ous because they produced
things that helped othe nd
improved human Ii
ct that de loped over
for nations that pro-
While Am rica w
ntering
DURING
peet
in shamble. America feared
th t Europe, Japan and Asia
would go communi t if th peo­
ple mained too poor too long,
so America used billions of tax­
payer dollars and thousands of
experts to help r build Europe
. and J pan. Th n Americans
bought products MADE IN JA­
PAN, MADE IN GERMANY,
MADE IN ITALY.
In recent years, billions of
Am rican dollars have been
spent on products MADE IN
MEXICO, MADE I HO G
K G, MADE IN KOREA,
DE 1 I GAPORE and
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