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: