Blacks have big stake in Social Security

By Fred Gaboury

NEW YORK - They came from across the country - men and women of all ages, each enthusiastic and determined that the NAACP would continue its historic role in defense of the Black community into the 21st century.

Jonathan Miller, 16, of Dallas, sees police brutality "in all its aspects" and equal opportunity as the cutting edge issues of the day.

For Damitajo Ogbuji, an auto worker from Ohio, the issue is education. "Without a decent education [my 14-month-old son] will never have a chance," she told the World.

For 79-year-old Marie Cumberbatch, wearing a cap identifying her as a member of the Union of Needle Industry and Textile Employees, the issue is unity, within the NAACP and between the NAACP and other people's organizations.

"The combination of labor and the Black community were key to winning the election battle of 1998 and that same unity is required in the battles people face today," she said. "Defense of Social Security can be the unifying issue." We had just entered the hall where a workshop on Social Security was already underway.

Among the several panelists was Cecelie Counts Blakely, an AFL-CIO representative, who told participants, "There is no demographic group that has a bigger stake in the Social Security battle than African Americans."

She said that although the Social Security program itself was "carefully designed" to be gender and race neutral, institutionalized racism prevented Black and Latino workers from benefiting from Social Security to the same extent as white workers.

Since Social Security benefits are based on earnings, the average Black retiree receives a smaller Social Security check than his/her white counterpart.

Since African Americans have a significantly shorter life expectancy, they draw benefits for a shorter time.

Since Black workers end up in the "hottest, heaviest, hardest" jobs, they are more subject to on-the-job injury or illness that results in permanent disability. Thus, while only 12.5 percent of the population are African Americans, nearly 18 percent of the workers drawing Social Security disability benefits in 1996 were Black.

African American children account for nearly a quarter of all children under 18 who receive survivors' benefits from Social Security. They make up 23 percent of the children of workers drawing disability benefits under the program.

One-third of older African American households depend on Social Security for all of their income; 75 percent depend on it for more than half their income.

A leaflet distributed to the workshop by the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists warned that every major proposal to "save" Social Security by privatizing all or part of it also calls for deep cuts in benefits, raising retirement age and reducing cost-of-living increases - all of which would have serious consequences for African Americans.

On another front, a workshop dealing with voter registration, education and turnout continued discussion of the issues raised in the earlier speeches of NAACP CEO Kweisi Mfume and Board Chairman Julian Bond.

Again some numbers:

Although 12 million new voters registered since 1996, 1998 voter turnout was the lowest ever.

On average, members of Congress who consistently oppose NAACP priorities won by only 5 percent in 1998.

92 percent of African American voters supported Sen. John Edwards who defeated ultra-conservative Lauch Faircloth in the North Carolina Senate race in 1998.

Voting among African Americans increased by 16 percent between 1996 and 1998 in Alabama and 26 percent in Georgia.

Hollis Watkins, director of Southern Echo in Atlanta, called for a clear-cut program of issues as well as acquainting people with voting records.

"We have to give people a reason for voting," he said. "If we do that we will have the ability to make things happen or prevent them from happening."