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Blacks Must Control Their Own Community
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VOLUME LXXIII NUMBER 24—SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013
PUBLISHED SINCE 1940
25 Cents and worth more
Government Shutdown harder on Black Workers By George E. Curry NNPA Editor-in-Chief WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Although the shutdown of the federal government that began Tuesday is affecting all Americans, a disproportionate portion of the 800,000 furloughed federal workers are African Americans, according to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Because government jobs have been more available to Blacks than private sector employment over the years, especially under de jure segregation, Blacks, who comprise 13.6 percent of the U.S. population, make up 17.7 percent of the federal workforce. Overall, people of color represent 34 percent of the federal workforce. Latinos are 8 percent of government workers, Asians are 5.8 percent, Native Americans are 2.1 percent and Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders are .40 percent of federal employees. People of color are 37 percent of the U.S. population, a figure projected to grow to 43.3 percent as soon as 2025 and 57 percent by 2060. Federal workers considered non-essential to the functioning of government were instructed not to report for work as of Tuesday, the first day of the new fiscal year, because Congress failed to pass a permanent or interim budget in time to prevent a federal shutdown,
THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN occurred despite President Barack Obama’s meetings and phone calls to those who wanted to tie the budget to de-funding the Affordable Care Act. the first in nearly two decades. ers to the White House for a late afternoon movement on the part of President Obama or After being criticized by Republicans for meeting Wednesday. Top Democratic and House Republicans. Obama has maintained “sitting on the sidelines” as the government Republican leaders in both chambers were ex- his position that Congress should pass a clean shutdown moved into its second day, Presi- pected to attend. budget bill for fiscal 2014. House Republi(Continued on page 3) dent Obama invited House and Senate leadEarlier Wednesday, there was no sign of
Obamacare in Chicago confusing to Blacks By Wendell Hutson Now that President Barack Obama’s national Affordable Care Act (ACA) plan is off and running many Black Chicagoans said they are more confused now than when the enabling legislation was passed in 2010. Sandra Foster, a single 47 year-old South Side resident, has been without health insurance since 2009 when she lost her customer service position due to her employer downsizing. “I have gotten sick three or four times since I lost my job,” she recalled. “I went to Stroger Hospital on the West Side and waited in long lines to register and finally see a doctor. But it did not require a lot of expertise, just patience. I tried registering online for ‘Obamacare’ but it was too complicated so I left it alone.” However, Foster’s story was repeated Tuesday when health insurance marketplaces became active for consumers to shop for insurance plans based on their income. Reggie Perkins is a 49 year-old part-time employee with a wife and two children,
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA, in getting the Affordable Healthcare Act passed was able to achieve what several previous presidents could not do.
ages 14 and 17. He lost his full-time manufacturing job in 2011 and said he has not been able to find full-time employment that would allow him to have health insurance. “Everyday I wake up praying that no one gets too sick that they need to see a doctor. This national health insurance mandate is right on time,” he said. “I have never really been a ‘computer guy’ so I called to get helping enrolling. I was on hold for 20 minutes before I hung up.” The Illinois Health Insurance Marketplace launched its website, www.getcoveredillinois.gov, October 1 and allows consumers to review various health insurance plans and costs until December 15. Actual coverage won’t begin until Jan. 1, 2014 and the federal government would help cover monthly premiums for low-income and unemployed individuals. Still, the state’s new insurance market stumbled out of the gate with computer glitches, long hold times and an online en-
INSIDE THIS ISSUE CHICAGO CRUSADER PUBLISHER Dorothy R. Leavell shares her experiences with students at the Pritzker Elementary School. Leavell joined other HistoryMakers recently who visited several Chicago Public Schools. (See story and more photos on Page 11)
rollment delay for small businesses. Illinois, however, was not alone when it came to implementing the Affordable Care Act. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, it was a rocky start for many government-run insurance exchanges across the country as computers froze and online enrollment was postponed for several hours. And at a Tuesday, October 1 news conference Governor Pat Quinn acknowledged that some problems occurred on the first day, but insisted things would improve so that 1 million people in Illinois currently without health insurance could soon be covered. “While there may be bumps along the way, this is a turning point in our nation and the state as we strive to provide decent health care to all,” Quinn said. “We are (Continued on page 3)
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