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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 16, 1972)
Page 2 As I See It Implications of the recent elections for Blacks MUST «W by Lenwood G. Davis 706ETHEPFVfJ FULL ANP EQUAL EMPLOYMENT. T h u rsd ay. N ovem ber Perhaps the only bright spot in the recent elections fo r Black people was the elect ion of three Blacks to Con gress - Barbara Jordan,Con gresswoman from l e x i s Y v o n n e Brathwaite, Con gresswoman from C alifornia, and Andrew Young,Congress man (rum Georgia. H e re were numerous Blacks elect ed to state and local positions all over (he country (m ostly in (lie South), Many Blacks obviously did not vote in (lie elections for various reasons. Apparently the Republican Party did bene fit from (lie Black vote. About 11% of the Black vote w as cast (or the President ascompa led to the 5% that M r. Nixon re lieved in 1968. 1 would not he surprised if President Nixon appointed a Black to his cabinet. He also w ill probably appoint a number of Blacks to numerous Sub- Cahmet positions. M r.N ixon w ill not te making these ap pointments because le has a change ol heart. Rattier he- 1 6 .1 9 7 2 The N orthw est’s Best W e ekly A Black O w ned Publication Published every Thursday by E x » Publishing Company 2201 N . ^lllin g sw o rth, Portland, Oregon 97217 M ailing address: P.O. Box 3137 Portland. Oregon 97208 Subscriptions - $5.25 per year - Tri-C ounty area by mail 6.00 per year - Elsewhere by mail Telephone: 283-2486 Application to mail at second-class postage rates is pending at Portland, Oregon. A IN P A ALFRED LEE HENDERSON, P u blisher/E ditor The Observer's official position is expressed only in its Publisher’ s Column (The Observation Post) and the E d ito r's Desk. Any other m aterial throughout the paper is the opinion of the individual w rite r o r subm itter and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Observer. Any erroneous reflection upon the character , standing ot reputation of person, firm o r corporation, which may appear in the Portland Observer w ill be cheerfully corrected upon being brought to the attention of the E ditor. 'Y P h a .t C i v i i C a f& P ' cause tie dues "o w e " us more consideration ui this elect ion than in t l * I9r8 election. Black support was definitely more visible in this recent election. I t * President, no doubt, would like to change his image ol lelng insensi tive to tl» needs and aspira- lons of Black people in t l * United States. I predict that we w i l l see a "changed" Kichaid M . Nixon ui tl» next four years. We historians and political observers had not given M r. Nixon a high rating as a P resi dent. And no President,obvi ously. wants to goduwn ui his tory w ith a mediocre image. M r. Nixon is well aware of his s t a n d in g with historians. Therefore, he w ill try and change his image. He m o s t definitely wants history to treat him kindly. Fortunately, he has four more years to change his image. We histo rians w ill 1« observing ami recording his actions closely. M r. Nixon's foreign policy w il l! « treated kindly by lus- to ritn s . Ills domestic policy leave something tu le d e sire d . Hence, l e must devote most ol his resources to ileal with II- race relations, p o v e r t y , inflation, unemployment, wel fare, c iv il Id e itie s , co n li- .lence in government, govern mental spending and surve il lance. NOTE: P art II ol " Im p li cations ol tie Recent I lections (or B lacks" w ill continue text week. You can The Editor’s Desk ALFRED LEE bENDERSON Civil rights phantom M r. Ktm H. Whitmore, Adm inistrative Assistant to Attorney Lee Johnson, in his le tte r to the editor printed below, im p l» s that M r. Johnson is not what we said he was — that he is not "s ittin g on" c iv il rights cases. Then we ask, "Who is ? " Maybe the guilty one is the phantom! F o r, if such a phantom " s it te r ” does e xist - - Who is he? It is the duty of the Attorney General to w rite charges on cases ce rtifie d to him by the Bureau of Labor. If the phantom can delay the process fo r six months without the Attorney General even being aware that he is d e re lict in his d u t» s, he is a power ful phantom. If he can speak with the Attorney General's words in advising blacks to drop th e ir cases without the Attorney General hearing, then he is an ingenious phantom' Black people and the people of Oregon need to know what has happened to these cases. In the name of Justice, c iv il rights cases should receive top p rio rity 3ince they involve the jobs, homes and lives of individuals. Maybe the Attorney General is not the ‘'S itte r” , but someone in the office certainly is . We call that person the c iv il rights phantom. It is he who has accomplished the sheer genius of taking over the Department of Justice. This should not be al lowed to happen in the State of Oregon, founded by free men. So we urge M r. Whiteman to come forward and identify the phantom o r give the Oregon State Police information to aid the search. The phantom must be found! The phantom can surely not be the Attorney General who was elected to be the Champion of Justice, the defender of the Law and the guardian of the T ru th . Catch the phantom and convert him fo r Justice's sake' Hotline Northeast is a telephone service fo r people in Northeast Portland to receive emergency help, infor mation, and personal counseling. The hotline is open during hours when most c ity agenc»s are closed. We answer calls during the following hours: Monday - Thursday 5 p jn , - 9 p jn . Friday 5 p jn . - 1 a jn . Saturday 9 p jn . - 1 a jn . Sunday 4 p jn . - 11 a jn . Call 288-9145 for help. Hotline Northeast is actively seeking community people to train and serve as volun teers fo r the hotline. Contact Joyce Pedersen, volunteer coordinator fo r further information. Sell it! The Notional climate has changed since '68 by Benjamin E . Mays When M a rtin Luther King, J r. came out against the Vietnam War just a few months before he was assas sinated in A p ril, 1968, most people were shocked and stunned that M artin Luther would dare c ritic iz e his coun try in this manner. He was the fir s t national character to do this. Now senators, governors, edu cators. m inisters and candi dates fo r the Presidency are saying, "G e t out oiViecnam.” Some black leaders were I among the firs t to c r tic u e M artin Luther. But by the time the national campaign came off in the fall of 1968, Vietnam had become an issue in the campaign and it was respectable to c r it i cize Johnson fo r his conduct of the war. There is no doubt in my mind that H u fe rt Hum phrey was defeated in part because he was accused of being Johnson's man in the conduct of the war. He did not repudiate John son's conduct of the war to Letters to the Editor satisfy (he large number of people needed to make him a w inner. Then too tie Chicago Democratic National Conven tion le ft a bad tas(c in tie people's mouth. Nixon took advantage of the situation and promised the people 1« had a secret plan to end tie war, which has not teen revealed sufficiently to end the war in almost four years. In 1972, people are not up set about Vietnam. Nixon's law and order platform has not reduced crim e . Un e m p lo y m e n t had not de creased, inflation Is s till with us, and the National d ’ fic lt continues to increase. The clim ate has changed. Why? Although the war has not ended, the President has led the people to believe (hat 1« is doing his best to end the w ar and that the war Is near the end. He Is convincing because all ground soldiers since 1968. Nixon could con tinue tie w ar indetinitely. A lte r a ll, tie («ople who are being bonded are not white. It might make a difference were (he North Vietnamese white. except 27,000 haxe teen taken from V » tn a in . The people do not see that on ttie sea and in the a ir 0 * war has been escalated with some 100,000 a ir men. Navy nxl Ma n r» men s till fighting the war and Hanoi is being de stroyed. There are also some43,000 engineers and technicians on the scene. It amounts to this: not as many Americans are being killed and what happens to North V etnani the vast m ajority of America couldn't care less. The President is so sure ol his ground now that le can boldly say that tie cannot say just when the bombing w ill cease - - certainly not until our prisoners of war are re leased, others accounted (or and the invasion into South V»tnam stops. The American mind has changed radically on the war There is a conservative trend in t l * nation. 11* con servative trend expresses It self In tie attitiale toward the war, losing, unemployment, the hiring of (»ople on their m e rit despite inequality in opportunities, tl« decrease in concern about pruvslng te tte r housing (or all tie people, and lie appointment ol con structionists to lie supreme Court Bench. with a P-O Person-to-Person W ant Ad Call 2 8 3 -2 4 8 7 II this treml continues (le ie w ill le a great reaction In (1« years alead. T ie nation (ends to take on (he attitude ol the President of tie United States. Johnson innocent? Dear M r. Henderson: Having been an interested reader of your newspaper fo r some months now, I was con cerned by the treatment the Attorney General was afforded in your recent news story and e d ito ria l. Y our news story headline reads: "S m ith accuses John son: C iv il Rights d e la y," No where in this "news story” does the re p o rte r present M r. Johnson’ s views in response to the Smith ac cusations, Generally, even the most blantantly biased "n e w s " presentations give a few column Inches in response to admitted accusations. The second treatment which concerned me was the fact that, to our knowledge, your office never asked M r . John- son If he would like an edi to ria l interview. Againgener- ajly speaking, newspapers endorsing candidates fo r p o litica l office interview both party representatives as a m a tte r of courtesy. Hopefully someday you and M r . Johnson could get to gether and listen to each others views. 1 suggest this because I am confident that at the conclusion of any such session you would be plea santly surprised. V ery tru ly yours, Kim H. Whitman A dm inistrative Assistant (EDITORS NOTE: Our news story of November 2, 1972 — SMITH ACCUSES JOHNSON: C IV IL RIGHTS DELAY was not based e ntirely on our conversation with M r. Smith and the documents 1» pro vided, We have watched M r. Johnson's actions over the past four years and have talked to Belton Hamilton, Ruth Spencer, Ruaa Rogers and others who were eith e r involved with the C iv il Rights D ivision o r were complain ants In C iv il Rights matters Our opinion of M r. Johnson's handling of the cases as well as his attitude toward equal rights is the result of the long term study, not of one discussion with M r, Smith. During this election and the P rim a ry we did not make a practice ot contacting can didates fo r editorial inter views. We interviewed those candidates who were in terested enough in the Black community and In the black voter to request an ln te rv» w . We did see most of the can didates fo r ti« m ajor offices, usually both o r alt candidates fo r elect office.) Thank you D ear Rev. Henderson: 1 wish to extend congra tulations from the Staff of MEDIA on your second anni versary of the Portland Observer. Although new to Portland, I have learned that your paper has provided a much-needed service to the community. I look forward to reading the Observer in the future and wish you continued suc cess. Sincerely, Joseph W. Bostic Thanks Dear M r. Henderson: Congratulations! So glad you have made It. Have en joyed the paper this pest year. Pray the Lord w ill help you to be God's Channel for right In this community. Sincerely, Evelyn Collins With Ron Hendren A YOUNG VIEW OF WASHINGTON DR. JEFFREY THE SOUTHERN STRATEGY: IS IT REALLY WORKING? By Run Hendren RALEIGH, N .C .-lf there is one area in the country where President Nixon’s coattails appear to have been long on the surface, it is this southern state which elected a Republican governor for the first time since Reconstruction and a Republi can U S. Senator for the first time in 72 years. The President earned North Carolina by a better than tw o-ioone margin, pretty much as expected even though the state is considered as progressive as any in the South. (Perhaps best known among its recent leaders is former Governor Terry Sanford, himself a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President this year. Now president of Duke University, he was the first southern governor to come out for John F. Kennedy in I960, and was nationally acclaimed for his contributions to progressive education in the state in the early 1960’s.) This year, however, North Carolina elected conservative television commenta tor Jesse Helms to the Senate. A man who is so far to the right he thinks President Nixon is a liberal. Helms none theless, turned prodigal son and embraced the President religiously in the closing weeks of the campaign, a move which many say was the prime cause of Demo cratic candidate Nick Galifianakis' defeat (“ If you’re going to vote for President Nixon, it makes sense to send Jesse Helms to the Senate," his ads proclaimed.) But even here, the President’s pulling power was not what it appears to be at first glance. In the May Democratic pri mary, Galifianakis, a young congressman, defeated Senator B Everett Jordan, who had held the seat for nearly fifteen years and is one of North Carolina’s best loved political figures in recent history. A pro gressive (earlier this year Jordan voted for the end-the-war amendments and op posed the Lockheed loan, something few southern senators dared dream of doing), Jordan gave Galifianakis no issues other than his age he is 75 and the fact that he had undergone cancer surgery about the tune the campaign was gearing up. Neither issue was valid The Senator’s strength, physical and mental, was and is remarkable, and his operation was an unqualified success Nonetheless, Gallfi- anakis ran on the age-health issue and many North Carolina voters became con vinced that Jordan was a sick man Thus Galifianakis won the nomination, but alienated many Democrats in the process by his tactics And even though Jordan magnanimously supported his former op ponent, financially and otherwise, it wasn't enough. Too many voters just didn't bother to split their tickets and give Galifianakis the "penance vote” he had counted on. Now, many observers are convinced that Jordan would have beaten the Re publican candidate even though the state went so heavily for Nixon. Some even think Jordan might have carried in the Democratic candidate for governor, who instead went down to defeat along with Galifianakis, something which has not happened in this heavily Democratic state for a century. Thus the President’s pulling power, while it undoubtedly played an important role in North Carolina, was quite likely not the deciding factor. The state is Democratic at heart and is likely to stay that way, the President’s Souther Stra tegy notwithstanding. And North Carolina, traditionally a leader in the South, is likely to resume that role four years hence by electing a Democratic governor. As for Jesse Helms, the man who thinks Nixon is a liberal, he is likely to be one of (hose rare southern phenomena in politics a one-term Sena tor ©Copyright 1973 by W A S H IN G T O N W l I K EY, Inc. All rights reserved. DR. JEFFREY BRADY DENTIST M M U I BUILDING $ .W Jrrf A Mor n«on P srtlo n d O r»q o n P h on e: