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People are helping tackle the racial disparity in wealth, health

By ERNEST HOOPER
Published January 28, 2005

There is nothing wrong with a community group getting together for socializing and networking.

When someone says party, I'm usually the first in line.

But it's nice to see organizations strive for a higher purpose, and the 100 Black Men of Tampa Bay are certainly doing that.

On Saturday, the "100," as they are known, will have a free economic empowerment seminar in the Ybor Room at Hillsborough Community College's Ybor campus from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Cedric Powell, the group's chair of economic development and a Northwestern Mutual Life financial representative, will be among those speaking about money management, building credit and home ownership.

"Instead of being a slave to the dollar, let the dollar work for you," Powell explained. "Invest in things that appreciate in value instead of things that depreciate in value. Do you think Bill Gates has rims on his car or platinum jewelry?"

You can register by calling 245-2227 or going online at 100bmtb.org. Attendees will receive a magazine detailing the different aspects of the seminar.

The seminar's housing session should be particularly interesting. Black Enterprise magazine noted in its January issue that African-Americans have the lowest home ownership of any ethnic group: 47.5 percent versus 71.8 percent for whites, 54.7 percent for Hispanics and 48.2 percent for Asian-Americans.

But that trend can be reversed. Just ask Bernar Jones, a 20-year-old program manager for the Columbus House juvenile center in Brandon. Working through the Corporation to Develop Communities of Tampa, Jones and his wife, Jasmine, recently purchased a new home being built in Jackson Heights.

"I know it's the best way to go these days," Jones said. "I've always been educated that building equity in a home is better than living in an apartment where your rent goes nowhere."

Jones said he went through a home-buying program that helped him gain greater understanding of the financial requirements. Many programs are available in the area, including one at the CDC of Tampa.

At his age, I was more worried about buying lunch than buying a house, but Jones traced his maturity to his involvement in the Central Street YMCA's Youth Opportunity program. He once served as a president and vice president of the YMCA program, gaining valuable mentoring skills.

See what can happen when we get them young.

Wealth disparity is one concern for our nation. Health disparity is another.

In a lecture at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center Wednesday night, Dr. Sean S. Tedjarati brilliantly tied today's health disparities with a failure to realize the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The death rate for African-Americans diagnosed with cancer is 30 percent higher than whites. Tedjarati, Moffitt's international cancer liaison, said challenging the disparity will become part of the institute's legacy.

"We will not falter, we will not flinch, we will not fail on this principle," Tedjarati said emphatically. "We could be the one to lead on this issue among all the other cancer centers."

Insurance and health care access are contributing factors to the disparity, he said. There also is a lack of trust in clinical treatments because of historical occurrences, such as the Tuskegee Study, a four-decade experiment that examined black men with syphilis but did not treat them.

But Tedjarati said even when the insurance coverage is the same, African-Americans die at a higher rate. He challenged researchers and doctors to challenge internal perceptions that are contributing to the disparity.

"This issue has to be raised to be erased," Tedjarati said.

Borrowing liberally from Dr. King's speeches, Tedjarati was eloquent, funny and passionate. His goal was to make many of the Moffitt staff in attendance uneasy, but I drew comfort from the fact Moffitt is making the health disparity issue a priority.

As Tedjarati said, it makes no sense to find discoveries if you don't deliver them to everyone.

That's all I'm saying.

Ernest Hooper can be reached at 813 226-3406 or Hooper@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 28, 2005, 00:20:16]