Page 2
P orti and /O bserver Thu reday January 25, 1973
As I See It
The
Editor’s
Desk
by Lenwood G. Da vis
White newspapers
and the Black community
Black people must keep
abreast of what la happening
not only on the International
level but also on the national
and local levels as w e ll. We
must not only read t l« W bite
newspapers tut also tl« Black
papers. One only has to ob
serve the meager amount of
space devoted to Blacks in
the White papers a ll over the
nation to see how much space
is devoted to tl« Black Com
munity.
T radition ally
the
White
newspapers have usually re
ported only two aspects of
Black life - diabolical and
exceptional acts. The news
papers mostly e a rn e d stories
about Blacks who allegedly
raped, murdered, robbed, o r
assault someone,
o r when
Blacks won some ra re p riz e .
ALT RED LEE HENDERSON
WE SEE THE WORLD ,
THROUGH BLACK EYES.
Unity for Victory
The time has come fo r Black people to unify our efforts and
work together toward a common goal.
There is enough talent, enough training and education, enough
ambition and aspiration in the Black community of Portland to
have lifted it to higher achievements than we now see.
No national o r ethnic group has ever achieved victory without
a united e ffo rt. We have seen this in the marches and the
" s i t - i n s ” that brought about a revolution in civil rights in
this country.
What we now need in Portland is unification of all of the
diverse groups and factions so that together we can build our
community and can develop the political and economic muscle
to persue our needs and desires effectively in City Hal! o r in
the State Capitol.
The professional person must rem em ber that although he
has achieved some successes, he is still subject to d iscrim ina
tion — he is s till Black. He must assist those who have been
less fortunate and are more tightly held by the forces of oppres
sion. On the other hand, those who may be laborers, w elfare
recipients, persons who have worked hard but achieved little ,
must be careful not to be c ritic a l and condemning of those who
have succeeded. Tearing down the few who have made a dent
in the system is not the way to change the system. Fighting
over the few positions of prestige of influence w ill not help
the g re a te r masses of our people obtain a little m ore.
Only when all Black people are w illing to work together and
help each other and the community, w ill we see any real pro
gress that w ill affect the lives of our people.
What priorities now?
The w a r is over.
F o r nearly ten years the people of the United States have
paid fo r an illegal and imm oral w a r. Now we are told the w ar
is over and we may turn our attentions back to the problems
at home.
F o r ten years we have been told that the United States could
not afford the programs it needed-to make the living conditions
fo r its people bearable. We have been told there were not suf
ficient funds to provide quality education, retraining, adequate
w elfare subsidies, transportation, low-income housing, medical
care and medical research, social service, and child c a re .
Prog ram s such as the W a r on Poverty. Headstart, Model C ities
w ere all but abandoned because we w ere told that the w a r and
the resulting defense costs held highest p rio rity .
Now the w a r is over. Yet the Nixon administration is rapidly
cutting back and witholding funds from the programs that were
designed to better the social conditions of the country. We w ill
now have the opportunity to assess the p rio ritie s of the nation.
Was the w a r just an excuse?
MEMBER
Oregon
Newspaper
Publishers
Association
A
MEMBER
,NPA
NMWA l PE r
Association - Founded 1885
The Northwest's'Best Weekly
A Black Owned Publication
The White presses all over
the country, from tl« largest
cities - Los Angeles, New
York. Chicago, etc. - to the
sm allest hamlet - K ickville.
Jam esville, Supply, e t c . - s t i l l
do not adequately cover t l«
news In the Black community.
And when the White presses
LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON
LBJ in retirem ent: W ithdraw n but calm
[EDITOR'S NOTE:
The fo llo w in g
e d ito ria l was
p u b lis h e d in th e PORTLAND OBSERVER o n O ctober 5,
1972.]
Those w h o have ta lked to President Lyndon B
Johnson lately say he is ca lm ly g e ttin g his a ffa irs in
order fo r an e a rly dem ise.
It was my pleasure, w h ile p astoring in Pacoima
C a lifo r n ia ,
to
have
W arren
Hughes, a
classmate o f L.B.J. as a m em ber o f the Parks Chapel
A.M.E. Church. W arren Hughes was also a re la tiv e of
Judge Sarah Hughes, w h o g a v e President L B J the
oath o f O ffice in D allas a fte r J F K s assassination
Warren gave me d e e p insight into L B J.'s life He also
predicted that L B J. w o u ld passm ore C ivil Rights Bills
than any o f his predecessors.
W arren Hughes was rig ht! D w ight Eisenhower left
45 social program s in the books, costing just $10
b illio n a year W hen Johnson departed, there w ere
435 program s w ith ye arly price tags o f m ore than $25
b illio n .
L.B.J. pushed through John Kennedy's voting
rights law , w hich e n fra n c h is e d m illio n s o f blacks in
the South. Johnson started M e d ic a re for the e lderly
and M ed ica id fo r the needy. He started also the War
on Poverty and the M od el Cities program to cure
urban ills.
Today, Johnson at 64 is very q uiet. He is setting
his house in order, since in his heart he know s he has
been a good president. He sold the fa m ily TV interest,
sub|ect to g o ve rn m e n t a p p ro v a l, fo i a bo ut 9 m illion
He has c o m p le te ly w ih d ra w n fro m the spotlight of the
W hite House
He w o n 't talk to the press, w on't
respond to attacks, w o n 't p e rm it his frie n d s to d ra w
him into a discussion of n o tio n a l a ffa irs He is through
w ith p rivate business. He is o n ly m a kin g sure that his
heirs w o n 't have a ny problem s. He fe els that the
Johnson m en d o n 't have a lo n g life expectancy
It must be very p a in fu l fo r the fo rm e r President to
w ith d ra w A m an w h o has been on the Washington
scene since the e arly 30's and w ho d o m in a ted
W ashington for fiv e years must fin d it d iffic u lt to
become silent
It is re a lly u n b e lie v a b le and it is a
mystery. H ow ever, re m e m b e rin g w h a t W arren
Hughes to ld me a fe w years a go in Pacoima, it gives
me an insight into this strange, n ew Johnson w ho is
still g o in g through severe w ith d ra w a l pains but
rem ains calm .
It is no surprise that I have in m y scrapbook a
letter from President Johnson He answ ered the eb’ e
and the poverty victim s p erson ally. M any Vietnam
soldiers received letters fro m L.B.J. that he answ ered
personally He was a President w h o re a lly cared He
was m isunderstood by m any over the V ietnam War,
but no one every m e n tio n e d h ow he w o u ld stay
a w a ke m any nights to check on A m e rica n casualties.
M any reporters and newscasters w ho re a lly d id
not understand L B J a nd le a k e d o ut b itter criticism of
him should k n o w that it hurts the o ld m an's insides He
has served his co un try w e ll -- he was a great
President if not the greatest o f a ll tim es. He sits silent
now , letting history be his Judge. W e are told by one
o f his friends, L.B.J. hears a nd fe e ls the pains o f his
critics, but he w ill n o t fig h t nor d e fe n d his record H e
Simply w ill turn the Other cheek " He is listening to a
Distant D ru m m e r1 The Distant D rum m er says "W e ll
done L B J W ell d o n e the good a nd fa ith fu l servant
A mystery m an? Yes and No L B J has simply
adopted the p h ilo s o p h y that his frien ds need no
explanations a n d th a t his e n e m ie s w o u ld n 't believe
him anyw ay.
That is the recpon he stays on the ranch and out of
the spotlights o f W a sh in gton , D C He ,s satisfied with
his record o f service a nd the o n ly question he is
concerned w ith is, ''is the M aster sa tisfied w ith h im ’ "
Binyon Optical
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DISPENSING O PTIC IA N
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O ptom etrist
Soft a n d
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BRIGGS, H A T TE N , M IL L E R 8. STENGER
?
<
A
of the Freedom 's Journal,
Those words are s till mean
ingful today, one hundred and
forty five years la te r. Name
ly, out of necessity. Blacks
must have th eir own news
media. If anyone believes that
White iwwspapers w ill report
news objectively in tl« Black
Community, 1« must 1« suf
fering from C ancer of tl«
brain and diarrhea of mlndt
by B e n ja m in E. M a y s
A great deal has teen said
about w elfare abuse from
President Nixon on down. A
long a rtic le appeared in the
Atlanta Journal and Constitu
tion, December 25, 1972 on
abuse In t l« w elfare program .
A multifaceted program has
leen launched in Georgia to
cut down on atxjse and to pun
ish those who cheat.
A state law for Georgia is
being sought to set penalties
fo r fraud. Deputy Com m is
sioner J im Parham has e s ti
mated that the annual loss to
the state in W elfare fraud
amounts to m illio ns.
E .W , (»wan, d irecto r of tl«
office of legal services of the
Human
Resources [ « p e r t
inent, says the state of Georgia
has recovered more than $70.
000 since July 1. H alf of the
fraud is found in tl« abuse
of t l« use of food stamps.
A ll this is well and good.
1 am against fraud and d e a l
ing.
But I wish the c ritic s
would take a broader view.
A ll w elfare programs are de
signed p rim a rily to keep peo
ple on w elfare by giving them
the m inim um , barely enough
for them to eke out a poor
dying existence.
Husbands should not desen
th e ir fam ilies, but many of
them desen because they have
no jobs, cannot find jobs and
If they are caught at the house
not working, welfare w ill 1«
cut off. The welfare system,
t l« way it works, encourages
dishonesty.
In most of the violent at
tacks on fraud in w elfare, it
is not pointed out that tl« vast
m ajo rity of tl« cases on w el
fare are honest cases. This
suie of the story is seldom
brought out. It often doesn't
get the lea d lin e . Yet we 1«-
come witch hunters indicting
or casting reflection on all
people on w elfare. 11« m a jo r
ity of t l» people are on wel
fare because they cannot help
It and not because tin y want
to be there.
I wish we were equallycon
cerned about m llllonalresw ho
pay no Income tax at a ll.T h e y
find legal ways to avoid It.
liven tl« federal government
passes no laws to close this
loophole. Nolxxly cares that
there are fan n ers on w elfare
being paid $50,000 o r several
hundred thousands a year for
not planting. These are right
l«op le on w elfare. It is the
tax money of those of us who
pay Income fax.
Nobody knows just how many
I) 52s have leen shotdownover
North Vietnam over t l« last
three weeks at t l « time of
this w ritin g , one repo it e r has
said that 29 fj 52s have heen
shot down, each one cost eight
m illio n dollars o ra totsl$2.12,
fXXJ.(XX). This, we say is,
not waste. It IS In the In
terest of national defense,
D e c e m te r 12, 1972 allnited
Press artic le stated that we
have spent $26,6 billion on tl«
maned space program in tl«
last 15 years. The scientific
value of this program to tl«
survival and welfare of man
Is yet to Ic known.
Thia
amount of money would endow
26 u n lv e rs lt« s with a billion
d o llars each and if there are
2,000 institutions of higher
learning in tl« I nite I States,
each one could 1« endowed by
$ 13,(XX),(XX) with $26 billion.
It Is a fact that the per
centage on welfare is highest
among
Negroes.
F o r this
reason we w ill crack down on
w elfare cheaters because (hey
are black. Unfortunate lo t
true.
With Ron Hendren
A YOUNG VIEW OF WASHINGTON
THE $10 BILLION TREASURE CHEST-PART II
By Ron Hendren
\pplication to m ail at second-class postage rates is pending
at Portland, Oregon.
D isp en sers of Fashion E y ew e ar
Lenwood Davis
Nixon abuses welfare
Published every Thursday by Exie Publishing Company
2201 N . Kdlingsworth, Portland, Oregon 97217
M ailing address:
P.O . Box 3137
Portland, Oregon 97208
Subscriptions - $5.25 per year - T ri-C ounty area by mail
6.00 per year - Elsewhere by mail
Telephone: 283-2486
ALFRED LEE HENDERSON
P u b lis h e r -
E d ito r
do report t l« news, It Is us
ually reported erroneously.
Hence.
out of necessity we
must have our newspapers.
The firs t known Black i» w s -
paper, Freedom 's Journal,
owned and edited by Samuel
Cornish and John B . Kuss-
w u m i, appeared in New York
C ity on M arch 16, 1827. It
should 1« pointed out that the
Journal appeared four years
le fo re W ill lam I.loyd G a r r i
son's I.ite r a to r .
It's firs t
editorial stressed one of its
purposes:
The interesting
fact that there are five hun
dred thousand free persons
of colour, or« half of whom
might peruse, and the whole
he henefitted by tl« publica
tion of the Journal; that no
laiblication, as yet, has leen
devoted exclusively to their
Improvement that many selec
tions from approved standard
authors, which are within the
reach of few, may occasional
ly be made - and more im
portant s till, that this large
body of our citizens have no
public channel - all serve to
prove the real necessity, at
present, fo r tl« appearance
Another Point of View
Black comedy of error
CHICAGO D EFEND ER
The black RejTUblicans who
went all out fo r reelection of
F resident Nixon, must be har
boring dark thoughts while
wringing th e ir hands in con
tritio n . Thus far, th elreffo rts,
tim e and money have yielded
no commensurate rewards.
A ll the juicy plums have been
palmed out. There is nothing
left Ixit crumbs, and even the
crum bs are being scooped up
by second rate white Southern
ers and the hard-hats who cast
th e ir ballots last Novem ber
fo r Nixon, although some of
them can hardly read.
With the exception of M rs .
Jewel Lafontant who has been
January 13, 1973
named to the post of deputy
S o licito r General - a job that
c a rrie s more prestige than
real Importance, black Repub
licans simply wasted th eir
kinetic energy on M r . M ixon.
The two-day strategy meeting
held in Washington last M ay
and which was highlighted by
a $ 1 0 0-a -p la te dinner spon
sored by black officials of the
Nixon Administration was a
grandiose gesture, never be
fore conceived by GOP blacks
In the whole history of the
p arty.
Some $200,000 w ere raised
at the dinner as a contribution
to the Nixon campaign fund.
That money could have leen
used more advantageously as
a contribution to t l« NAACP
Defense Fund, o r to PUSH’ s
Educational Fund o r to the
Red C ross.
Two-hundred thousand dol
lars Is nothing to laugh at.
It Is a respectable sum In
anybody's language. Pouring
that money Into the Republican
campaign chest without any
guarantee of compensatory
results
was
a
colossal
m istake. P olitics Is no place
fo r a ltru is m . Tbs Nixon phi
losophy h is the basic tenet of
the D lx le cra t conceptual Ideo
logy of race. It Is firs t and
last of all anti-black.
Letters to
the Editor
D e a r S ir,
In s t itu t io n a liz e d racism
and assistance In.self e x term
ination with the help of unequal
justice Is poetically displayed
In the courts and published In
the Oregon Journal d ate d ja n -
uary 19, 1973. A Black gets
two years fo r murdering an
other black and two para
graphs lower on the same
page a white gets ten years for
m urdering another white! I
wonder If tl« Black would have
gotten the same two years for
m urdering a W hite. An "u n
derstanding judge” Is giving
Blacks a license to k ill each
other as in all the states while
singing "w e shall o v e rc o m e ".
It seems as If stress on ed
ucation
and
constructive
values are the furthest thing
away from too many of our
Black adults and th e ir chil
dren.
W a lte r F . M o rris J r .
W ASIIINGTON Last October (in a col
umn entitled "The $10 Billion treasure
Chest") I reported that Ihe President had
impounded more than $10 billion in
funds appropriated by ( ongreis, money
destined primarily to aid cities and states
in regional development projects, urban
mass transit, water and sewer grants,
highway construction and rural electrifi
cation development
I noted then that the practice o f
impounding a power which has been
misused by Presidents, Republicans and
Democrats alike, since World War II
thwarted Ihe will ot Congress and further
eroded its already weakened powers, in
this case its Constitutional responsibility
to appropriale public funds.
Unni now Congress has reacted rather
passively Bui Iasi week Senator Sam I
I rvin (I)-N ( I introduced legislation
which would go a long way toward
preventing unauthorized impounding
Ihe bill, S 373, is co-sponsored by 45
other senators and thus is pretty much
assured ol Senate passage, even though
hearings are yel Io be held
Irv in s proposal would require the
President lo notify (ongress each lime he
impounds appropriated funds, and unless
Ihe legislative body specifically approved
Ihe action w ilhin 60 days, the impound
ment would cease and Ihe money would
be allocated as originally intended by
Congress Similar legislation is pending in
Ihe House
I rvin. respected as the Senate's expert
in-residence on Ihe Constilulion, intends
Io hold hearings on his proposal in late
January and early February before Ihe
Subcommittee on Separation ol Powers,
of which he is chairman He says he hopes
Ihe hill will be ready for consideration by
Ihe lu ll Senate "before the heal ol
summer has beset ihe Nation's Capital "
As F.rvin noted when he introduced S
373, the issue is not one between a
wasteful Congress and a th n lty President,
as Ihe Administration would paint the
picture The real issue is the far more
basic question o f who controls ihe purse
strings The Constitution gives Congress
the clear and undisputed responsibility of
allocating public funds And yel ihe
President, through selected impounding,
can cut hack or completely eliminate
those programs which he does not lavor,
without financial consideration, without
regard to need, and without consulting
Congress
Thus it is no accident lhal many
domestic programs have been cut hack
drastically since the President's re-elec
tion in November And even if I rvin's
proposal passes, we can look for more of
the same But al least his bill brings Ihe
issue into public focus for the first lime
in many months, and if it passes Ihe
President will finally have Io justify his
actions if he expects ( ongress to approve
additional impounding
S y n d ica l«) 19 7 1
hv W A S III N I, t ( IN W l I h l V III,
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