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The closing windows of minority
opportunity
They tell us that Nero fiddled
and danced during the destruction
of Rome, 100 many Black
Americans are preoccupied with
the state of their stereos, the thrills
of the street, and the fleeting
images of fame and status-while
true progress eludes us.
Luck, fate and opportunity have
allowed many of the talented
among us to express our natural
and learned skills, but the tragedy
of our times is that too many of us
are not ready for prime time.
The windows of opportunities
for Black and minority partic
sipaton in the communications/en
tertainment industries may be
closing.
Who is to blame?
What is the cause? Is it white
America?
Is it racism?
Or could it be faults of our own
making?
Blacks and other minorities in
this country cannot in good faith
blame the system for where we are
or where we are not, unless we
can legitimately be satisfied that
have exhausted all means of
preparing ourselves for the exercise
of power and participation in this
society.
In . 1984, Black America
produced 300 state legislators, 21
members of Congress, 250 mayors
and more than 400,000 business.
Black America in 1983 spent
more dollars than the gross
national product of Canada or of
140 other countries throughout the
world.
But in spite of this laudable
progress and apparent wealth,
Black America can lay claim to
ownership of less than 1 percent of
the prime vehicles of news, infor
mation and entertainment in this
country.
Take television, I agree with
Lionel Wilson, president of the
New York Media Coalition, who
said: “We have to get Black
Americans to realize that they need
io take an active role in the media”.
“An active role” can take many
Black Americans
Talling behind’
WASHINGTON In vir-
tually every measure, of economic
status-income, poverty status, and
unemployment levels-Blacks are
worse off today that they were in
1980.
This “not-so-startling” fact was
revealed officially recently by new
analyses based on the latest data
from the Census Bureau, the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, the
Congressional Budget Office, the
Urban Institute, and other nonpar
tisan sources.
The new data were reported and
analyzed in a study called “Falling
Behind.” Much of the data, which
has become available only within
the past 60 days, reveals that the
status of Black Americans today is
bleaker than has commonly been
believed.
This decline of Blacks extends
throughout the Black population
and is not limited to Blacks who
are poor. The typical middle class
Black family has a lower standard
of-living today than in 1980, just
as the typical low income Black
Civil Rights Act to be
introduced again in 1985
WASHINGTON, D.C. The
proposed new Civil Rights Bill
which was defeated by conser
vative Republican senators after it
was overwhelmingly passed by
Democratic members of Congress,
will be the first new legislation in
troduced in the House of
Representatives a coalition of lib
liberal Black and white
congresspersons pledged this week.
“Shame on this body.. Shame on
this body!,” shouted Sen. Edward
Kennedy after the Senate voted
to table any vote on the bill so it
could vote on spending ap
propriations for the government in
final actions before adjourning to
forms. Speaking as a represen
tative of the broadcast industry
through the National Association
of Broadcasters; and speaking as a
Black with a conscience and with
dedication toward encouraging
parity and participation for
minorities in the media, my
prescriptions for action may be
different than those of the Black
media coaliton. But the results
maybe the same.
Preparedness, persistance and
professionalism must be the stan
dards for progress that each of us
emloys in his quest for success in
this business.
According to Topper Carew,
one of our most successful Black TY
film producers, over the past 15
years, .0086 percent of TV net
work shows were produced by
Blacks or other minorities. Far less
than one percent.
If that doesn’t grab you, know
that if a Black production com
pany were engaged by one of the
networks to produce a weekly one
hour dramatic show for a prime
time schedule, that company
would, have a contract worth $22
million. And you wonder why
everybody in New York and
Hollywood wants to be a
producer. It should also come as
no surprise that everything you
view on network television is
produced by no more than 15
nonminority producers.
My purpose is not to indict the
networks, the system of those
highly favored producers. It pains
me that there are no more than
four Blacks with adequate produc
tion skills and experience to take
advantage of the opportunities
that still exist.
Many of us constantly complain
mat television fans to reflect real
and positive images of Black
America. Yet we continue to place
emphasis on the careers and
achievements of the few Black on
air personalities and movie stars
who have made it.
The result is that while we are
family does.
The principal finding of the
report include the following:
*By contrast, the top 60 percent
•New data from the Urban In
stituteshow that the average Black
family in every income stratum
from the poor to the affluent-suf
fered a decline in its disposable in
come and standard-of-living since
1098.
•Hit hardest were Black two
parent families in which one parent
works and the other takes care of
children. These families experien
ced an average loss of over $2,000
apiece in disposable income from
1980 to 1984.
•By contrast, the top 60 percent
of White population experienced
income gains. The Urban Institute
found a consistent pattern of
widening income inequality bet
ween Blacks and Whites since 1980
-and reported for nearly every type
of Black family, “real incomes
declined both absolutely and
relatively to the income of
Whites.”
campaign tor reelection.
But Rep. John M. Conyers (D-.
Mich) blamed the defeat upon Sen.
Howard Baker (R-Tenn) and
President Reagan who refused to
speak out for the bill during the
filibuster by Republican Senators
Orrin Hatch (Utah) and Jesse
Helms (S.C.).
House Bill Number One in the
99th Congress will be the Civif
Rights Act of 1985 introduced next
January, Reps. Don Edwards (D-
Minn), Pat Shroeder (D-Colo),
Augustus Hawkins (d-Calif) and
Cofiyers announced following the
almost victorious action in the
closing weeks of the 98th Congr-
perpetuating generations of star
crazed youngsters for the fame of
the Max Robinsons and Billy Dee
Williamses, scores of young whites
are toiling in the shadows, learning
the less glamorous skills of scrip
twriting, camera work and
lighting.
They are Spielbergs, the Lucases,
the Jon Peteres and Michael Doug-,
lasses of the entertainment industries
whom many of us should be setting
our sights to overcome.
Late last year, Congressman
Mickey Leland met witha group of
powerful Hollywood TV producers
in Norman Lear’s home to discuss
the state and future of minority
images on the tube.
Needless to say, the producers
were excited about the prospect of
diversifying television program
ming with more minority actors
and workers behind the scenes.
But why this unexpected burst of
willing enthusiasm?
Was it the fear of Mickey
Leland, the FCC, the public?
No, the truth of the matter is that
they know what’s ahead. They
know the American public is bored
with television today. They see the
handwriting on the walls of the
mansions of power.
The windows of opportunity
have widened to accept something
new, something different--and
they want to provide it. Whether
you like it of not, experienced,
well-connected and well-paid white
writers for decades have been
feeding America and the world
their view of the minority ex
perience in America. And unless
we—the only hopes for change—do
something about it, the status will
remain the same.
Let's stop wasting our energies
screaming about how much we
hate The Jeffersons, Benson,
Gimme a Break, Different Strokes
and Mr. T.
The truth is that we love them
all. The American viewing public
loves and laughs through every
half-hour of this so-called tedium
and exaggerated TV fare.
Blacks and other minorities
deplore the lack of balance in the
images, the representations of our
existence in this nation. We want
and we need to be in the business
of creating minority and majority
images for American television.
In the words of one of many
Black colleages, it’s okay if whites
produce positive minority
programming. The issue and
challenge before us are whether we
will rise to the occasion to produce
our own images and some of theirs
too.
More than a decade ago, Percy
Sutton, then borough president of
Manhattan, speaking in Harlem
observed that Black faces on TV
and the silver screen were rare. He
further warned that a “white
owned and white-controlled com
munications system is not going to
let employees use the white media
to do that measure of educating
and informing...as is needed for
Black liberaton”. Percy was right.
The challenges of the 50’s, 60’s
and 70’s are still the challenges of
the 80’s for minority Americans.
But the agendas have somewhat
changed. The objective must be
qualilty over quantity. The stan
dards must be preparedness, per
sistence and professionalism.
Only when we are truly ready for
prime time can we hope to urge
with confidence through the
closing of windows of oppor
tunity.
ess during the Congressional
Black Caucus legislative weekend.
The 1984 proposal was passed
by a 375-32 vote in the House of
Representatives and it had 63
Senate co-sponsors before it was
blocked by the fillibuster and over
150 amendments to various spen
ding bills to bring the government
to a halt by the conservsative
Republicans.
However, the civil rights act was
supported by a growing new
coalition of the CBC, the Hispanic
Caucus, the Caucus of Disabled
Persons and the new Women’s
Caucus.
Poverty begins to increase again
Whites Below Poverty
1983 CLL... 112.1% I
1979 ■■■■■■■9. o%
1969 r~~ 19 5%
959 ■■■■■■■MHHHMH 18.1% I
Blacks Below Poverty I
1983 I- - ""
1979
1969 332."", ; ~ 132.2%
1959 I
Persons of all Races Below Poverty
1982 L. | 15.2% I
1979 ■■■■■■■■■ 11.7%
1969 L 112.1% ■
1959 ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ 22.4% ■
Rate of poor persons has not decreased since 1979
From the Sacramento Observer
The population below the pover
ty level increased from about 12
percent of the population in 1979
to over 15 percent in 1983.
1979 was the last year in which
the poverty rate did not decrease
significantly, between 1979 and
1982 the number of persons classifi
ed as poor increased by about
8 million,
One reason forthjswas the high
rate of inflation in this period
although that would not explain
the more recent increase in pover
ty which appears to be a con
tinuing national trend.
A second factor was the sluggish
economy and an economic
recession that began in 1981 and
persisted through most of 1982.
This was accompanied by a sharp
rise in unemployment.
In the last few years a third fac
tor which may have contributed to
the poverty rise was the tightening
of eligibility standards for some
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The Augusta News-Review October 27,1984
government aid programs. It
should be noted that the Bureau of
the Census has pointed out that the
poverty statistics are not effected
by changes made in noncash
programs which aid the well-being
of recepients.
The 1979-83 increase in poverty
was widespread, affecting most
segments of the U.S. population,
as indicated by the three bar
graphics shown.
Poverty for whites grew from
9 percent to over 12 percent while
poverty for Blacks increased from
31 percnet to 36 percent, as in
dicated by Bureau of the Census
data. Poverty rates also increased
for persons of Spanish origin
during the same time span. The
poverty rate for children rose from
16.0 percent to 21.3 percent bet
ween 1979 and 1982.
The percent of persons in pover
ty in families headed by a female
increased from 31.0 percent to
35.7 percent in 1983.
In sharp contrast, the only
group which has experienced a
continuing decline in poverty has
been the elderly poor. The rate of
poverty for this group decreased
from 25.8 percent in 1969 to 15.2
percent in 1979 to only 14.1 per
cent in 1983. This has been partly
due to Social Security and Sup
plimental Security income which
are indexed to reflect price level
changes.
There have been some changes
in the geographic distribution on
poverty although it has increased
in all major geographic areas.
Despite a decline in the total
population residing in central cities
there appears to be increasing
poverty in these areas. Regionally,'
the South seems to be improving
i relatively in that its proportion if
the nation’s poor has dropped
from 46 percent in 1969 to 41 per
cent in 1982.
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