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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 11, 1975)
I P«fe I I Portland Observer H i ureday. December 11, 1975 Total amnesty essential by Vernon Jordan W e see the world through Black eyes Portland needs HRC CR Movement lives The C ity C o u n cil is c o n sid e rin g the fa te o f the M e tro p o lita n H um an Resource C om m ission — sh ou ld it be re ta in e d or sh ou ld it cease to exist? It sh o u ld be cle a r to a n y o n e th a t a H um an Resource C om m issio n is n e e d e d in P ortland. In just th e past y e a r w e have had the s h o o tin g o f Rickie Johnson, d isturba nce s a t R oosevelt H igh School, c o n tin u in g p o lic e harassm ent, the crisis in d o w n to w n housing. D iscrim in a tio n a g a in st m in o ritie s is s till strong in P ortland. There a re m a n y subjects o f concern th a t c o u ld w e ll be addressed by the C om m ission - d is c rim in a tio n in e d u c a tio n , th e lack o f lo w -in c o m e h ou sin g, p o lic e p ro ced ures a n d practices, e m p lo y m e n t d is c rim in a tio n , to n a m e a fe w . M uch needs to be d o n e in research a nd in e d u c a tin g th e p u b lic on h um an values. A n y o f these p ro b le m s a n d m an y m ore — in c lu d in g d is c rim in a tio n a g a in st sexual m in o ritie s , a nd in c lu d ing gun c o n tro l a nd the shotgun q ue stio n — a re le g itim a te ly th e concern o f the HRC. These p ro b le m s w e re b ro u g h t to the C om m ission by citizens. W e w o n d e r h o w m a n y c it C om m issioners have sought a nd used th e services o f the HRC. If th e C ity C ou ncil b e lie ve s th e C om m ission has been m isd ire cte d or th a t has se lected the w ro n g p rio ritie s , it sh ou ld o ffe r g u id e lin e s . W e w o u ld suspect, h o w e v e r, th a t the fiv e C ity C om m issioners w o u ld h a ve a hard tim e a g re e in g on w h a t the p rio ritie s a n d g u id e lin e s sh ou ld be. Rather th a n c ritic iz e the HRC fo r the e ffo rts it has m ade, th e C ity C o u n cil should b e g in by e s ta b lish in g it as a p e rm a n e n t b od y ra th e r th an o ne th a t exists o n ly a cco rd in g to the w h im s o f the C ity C ou ncil. Then the HRC c o u ld turn its a tte n tio n to th e p ro b le m at hand. O I! R THE BLACK P R E S S F R E E D O M D E P E N D S ON The Presidential Clemency Board, created a year ago to help Vietnam war ’-eaiaters clear their records, is no longer in existence. My experience as a member of that Hoard had a great influence on my thinking about how best to heal the scars left by the war in Vietnam. IT ! The m o d e rn d a y C iv il Rights M o v e m e n t that beg an tw e n ty years a g o w h e n a Black w o m a n refused to g iv e up her seat in a M o n tg o m e ry , A la b a m a bus is s till a m o v e m e n t to d a y w h ic h a pp ea ls to the U nite d States to re je c t its selfishness, gre ed , h ate a n d v io le n c e . On D ecem ber 1st, 1955, Rosa Parks w as arrested fo r re fu s in g to g iv e up her seat on a c ity bus to a w h ite m an, to u c h in g o ff the b o yco tt th a t lasted 381 days a nd b ro u g h t Dr. M a rtin Luther K ing, Jr., to n a tio n a l le a de rship. M uch progress has b ee n m ad e since the b lo o d y tu rm o il o f the e a rly years. M o re th a n a m illio n a n d a h a lf Blacks h ave re g is te re d to v o te in the South, a nd m o re than 1,700 Black e le c te d o ffic ia ls a re h o ld in g o ffic e . M a n y o f the Black e le c te d o ffic ia ls see th e ir roles as an e x te n fio n o f the C iv il Rights M o v e m e n t a n d are a tte m p tin g to in je ct a sense o f e thics a n d m o ra lity in to the body p o litic . They a tte m p t to re d ire c t the p rio ritie s a n d resources o f the n a tio n — n ot to oppress but to u p lift; n ot to d iv id e , b u t to b rin g to g e th e r; not to enclose, b ut to set free. A lth o u g h progress has b ee n m a d e , the p ro b le m s a re as g re a t to d a y as th ey w e re tw e n ty years a g o — w ith abuses o f g o v e rn m e n ta l p o w e r, c o rru p tio n a n d secrecy in g o v e rn m e n t, v io le n c e a n d c rim e in the streets, p o ve rty, racism a nd d ru g abuse. In the South today, the seeds o f h o p e a n d ch an ge coexist w ith d isco n te n t a nd fru s tra tio n ; a n d in the N orth v io le n c e is increasing. W e o fte n th in k it is hopeless. H ow can a sm a ll g ro u p o f co nce rn ed p e o p le , e s p e c ia lly p e o p le w ith o u t p o w e r a nd resources, in flu e n c e the g re ate st n a tio n in the w o rld . Little d id Rosa Parks k n o w that her act o f resistance w o u ld be an in s p ira tio n to the oppressed a ro u n d the w o rld . The oppression w e n o w fa ce is n ot m e re ly a by p ro du ct o f the racist m e n ta lity , it is a co n sp ira cy o f the h ighest e che lo ns o f g o v e rn m e n t. C h a ng e w ill re q u ire n e w le a d e rs h ip , the in v o lv e m e n t o f n e w g e n e ra tio n s in the strug gle , fin a n c ia l a n d m o ra l support, a nd aggressive a n d im a g in a tiv e ideals, g oals a nd program s. When I was appointed to the Hoard, I agreed with its basic mission to sift the records of war resisters, deserters and others and recommend alternate civilian service to earn Presidential clemency. It didn't take too many weeks of service for me to see that there was alot more to it. The conventional image of the spoiled rich kid who ran away to Canada to beat the draft just didn't hold true for most cases The great majority of cases before the Hoard involved young people who were denied their rights as conscientious objectors, who deserted for compelling personal reasons unrecognized by their superior officers, or who simply should never have been drafted to begin with. The typical case involved someone who was poor, not rich; who was victimized by arbitrary and unfair rulings by his officer, or who could not articulate the views that got other, better educated young men. deferments. Most were individuals who were helplessly caught up in the snares of a g iant bureaucracy and, rig h tly or wrongly, chose to escape their situation in ways that the law defined as illegal. Now a few cases involved men who had served at the front and only after returning to the United States or Europe, deserted for personal reasons. And we only have a fraction of the cases still on the books. Many men just didn't believe their resistance to an im moral war was wrong, and refused to ap ply for clemency. Others resented having to do alternate service, feeling they'd al ready paid their dues by being forced underground for such a long time. So while the Hoard is no longer in existence, amnesty is still a hot issue; the long awaited national reconciliation won't take place until it is dealt with. And hovering in the background of the discussions about clemency is the univer sal realization that the W ar was wrong. It's time to finally end the war by declaring complete, immediate, universal and unconditioned amnesty. In my year on the Hoard I learned that the case by case treatment just won't work. Ix>t's wipe the slate clean and end the war still being waged against the draft resisters and offenders. While most of the public's attention has been focused on 50. (XX) or so war resisters, total amnesty should include the more than 200.000 Vietnam era veterans who hold less than honorable discharges, which amount to lifetime penalties keeping them from government and many private sector jobs, and from rights and benefits enjoyed by the veterans. Had discharges carry penalties ab surdly inappropriate to the real or imagined offenses, often minor, that have sometimes been imposed for racially - inspired reasons. They continue to dodge the lives of men who did serve and who risked their lives only to be busted out of the service for a host of reasons that would earn no penalty at all in a civilian setting. The system is rigged against these men from the start. The discharge process is shot through with abuses of servicemen's rights and many bad discharges are given unfairly. These abuses are compounded when veterans try to ap|*eal their bad discharges and again, when they try to apply for Veterans Administration bene fits where the VA has authority to assess their discharge. In both the clemency cases and the less than honorable discharge rases, indi viduals have been caught up in a heart less system that penalizes them unfairly. The vast majority of both groups have paid dearly for either not complying with the nation's error of going into Vietnam or for running afoul of irrational military regulations and procedures. We should have a policy of total amnesty for both groups, and a reformed system of granting and rating discharges Human Relations Commission (Continued from p. 1 col. 4) instructed the staff to begin long range approaches to the serious inter group problem in North Portland. Ms. Schwab said she would prefer that the HRC staff be retained and that the Commission be abolished. She said she would be willing to fund the Commission for another six months to see if it could reorient itself. James Brooks, Executive Director of the Urban League of Portland, said the Commission is needed and that the attitude of the Council points out that need. He said that the N A A C P. the Urban League, and the Albina Ministerial Alliance had requested a meeting with Commissioner McCready, but did not even receive the courtesy of a reply. Brooks asked that the HRC have permanent funding: Lloyd Rosenfeldt, representing the National Conference of Christians and Jews; Richard Braunstein, a former chairman of HRC; Philip Mayer, ACLU: Nate Proby, United Minority Workers; Sue Juba, League of Women Voters; James Loving. Chairman. Model Cities Hoard; Al Green. Hildress Benson; and Naomi Riding, also spoke to the need for a human relations agency in Portland. Braunstein said that although there are many professional human relations per sonnel in Portland, the HRC is the only commission dealing with inter group problems. Ms. Juba suggested that many of the problems fared by minorities housing, education, employment are areas of concern to all citizens and on whether the realm of the HRC. Mayer suggested that if the Council were disatisfied with the staff of commission members, they could be replaced Commissioners Connie McCready and Schwab charged that the Commission and staff had spent the last six months lobbying for support rather than proving that they could function properly. Com missioner Jordan, who is the liaison to the Commissioners, said lobbying was legitimate since the most crucial thing at the time was the survival of the Commission. The matter was continued to De eember 17th. What is the SLA all about? unibiV'i-K, Sponsored by Portland Public Schools Metropolitan Human Relations Commission OBSERVE H UM AN RIGHTS WEEK DECEMBER 8 -1 2 ,1 9 7 5 BY LEARNING SOMETHING ABOUT SOMEONE OF A DIFFERENT RACE, RELIGION, H P P T H N IC BACKGROUND P o rtla n d O b s e rv e r Published every Thursday by Exie Publishing Company. 2201 North Killingsworth, Portland, Oregon 97217. Mailing address; P .0. Box 3137, Portland. Oregon 97208. Telephone: 283 2486. Subscriptions: $5.25 per year in the Tri-County area, $6.00 per year outside Portland. Second Class Postage Paid at Portland, Oregon The Portland Observer’s official position is expressed only in its Publishers column (W e See The World Through Black Eyes). Any other material throughout the paper is the opinion of the individual w riter or submitter and does not nweessarily’ A L F R E D L. H E N D E R S O N Editor/Publisher reflect the opinion of the Portland Observer. MEMBER MEMBER Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association I N e WA m AstocitHon - Founded 1885 1st Community Service O NPA 1973 1st Place Best Ad Results O NPA 1973 5th Place Best Editorial N N P A 1973 (Continued from p. 1 col. 3) The question was put to this writer: what’s it all for? why all the exposes do you sometimes get the feeling that you really don't want to know about the FBI and the C IA 'dirty tricks"?“ A primary reason for the necessity of full exposure of governmental involvement in terror and assassination is simply the necessity of preventing future terror and assassi nation. Critics of the W arren Commis sion and FBI investigations are universal in saying that such agencies have covered up rather than uncovered details surrounding assassination and terror. For a preliminary look at the SLA we have relied on four sources: the Citizen's Research and Investigation Committee (CRIC); Investigating the FBI I Bantam. 74); the Realist (Mae Brussel issues) and International Press Service lIP S ) which published “A Brief on C IA Terrorism in the U.S.A." The primary agreement among the investigative groups is that the drug oriented climate is the essential recruiting ground for the SLA and other 'government created’ terrorist opera tions. Also essential, is a controlled environment, in which behavior modifi cations, drugs clinical brainwashing can take place. Prisons and a multitude of mental institutions provide these. In the case of the SLA, it was created at Vacaville Prison (California) - that much was revealed by the New York Times (May 28th. 1974). A third ingredient for government created terrorist stew is the agent ridden 'left' swamp, provided by the Venceremos, Revolutionary Union and other Maoist groupings. The most essential ingredient is the government agents. A t Vacaville Donald DeFreeze CCin que') was “programmed" with a Black Nationalist identity, through the Blark Cultural Association IBCA) at the prison. The Maximum Psychiatric Diagnostic Unit at Vacaville was created and funded sniv-Mi n«l‘ l rills >1 - Why was the SLA destroyed? Donald Freed, an investigative w riter and head of the cited CRIC, released to the press in Loa Angeles one day before the SLA 'cremation' a 400 page preaa release detailing the extensive C IA etc. involvement in the SLA. It is universally agreed among investigative groups de voting serious attention to the SLA that the government agencies right up to the National Security Council would have been exposed if the SLA were not eliminated. Angela Atwood and Emily Harris, SLA members Atwood waa killed in Ixis Angeles May 17th. 1974 had been narcotics agents, trained in the ‘C IA think tank the College of Foreign Affairs, Bloomington, Indiana'. Other SLA members (excepting De Freeze) killed were dupes with conserva tive or drug culture backgrounds, and no police pedigree, though all were tied to the BCA at Vacaville. Agent Emily Harris was apprehended along with Patty Hearst in San Francisco. Last week at a press conference, Miss Hearsta' chief defense lawyer F. Lee Bailey said he expects to spend "up to $100,000 to defend" his client, saying “she will not spend one day in jail after ber trial." Groups such as the Citizens Commission on Human Rights fear that she may spend the rest of her life a vegetable. »••MtMWSMIMXIIHXMSMMI SUBSCRIBE NOW $5.25 Tri-County area $6.00 Other Areas 2nd Place Best Editorial 3rd Place Community leadership O NPA 1975 N am e Address IIIHH ISH W IH IIIIH IIIH I o-tlnfZ primarily to define the limits of political activity: to frighten workers from getting 'mixed up in' political organizing. The SLA is only the extreme form of the government countergang Hie second and related reason for SLA (a nil the Blark Liberation Arm y created at the methadone maintenance renter called Lincoln Detox in New York City) is the justification it provides for 'gestapo like' S W A T organizations, and the political climate necessary for the passage of legislation such as Senate Bill I which resurrects the McCarren and Smith Acta. IIIIIIIIIIIIIM M H I MOHIIHIIHIIMMMIOI Honorable Mention Herrick Editorial Award N N A 1973 A by the la w Enforcement Assistance Administration (L E A A ); the head of the BCA was C IA agent Colston Westbrook, trained in psychological warfare techni ques. Westbrook's C IA involvement dates at least to 1962 where Westbrook was an advisor for the South Korean C IA . Westbrook also worked in the C IA assassination organization Phoenix Pro gram in Vietnam, which was run by the current C IA head William Colby. Several other C IA or FB I agents were respon sible for the creation of the SLA we haven't the space to detail them all. but the cited sources are worth the skeptic's time. Joseph Remiro, Robyn Steiner. Chris Thompson, Thero Wheeler, William Harris. Wes Davis, D r. Fredric Harker all of these individuals responsible at the lower governmental level for the creation of the SLA have extensive C IA or FBI informer backgrounds, yet none have been brought to trial or before a Grand Jury. According to all accounts, Donald DeFreeze was a police agent (like Louis Tackwood and Ron Karenga) who became 'unreliable' to the Los Angeles Police Department and was sent to Vacaville to be 'recreated' through the use of clinical brainwash procedures it was a replication of such use of drugs and therapy' used by the SLA on Patty Hearst. The agency responsible for apprehend ing and investigating the SLA was the FBI, under agent Charles Bates. Bates was the man in charge of the FBI's W atergate investigation, and also the agent responsible in Chicago for the FBI inquiry of the slaying of the Black Panthers Mark Clark and Fred Hampton. The FB I had so infiltrated the Black Panthers that Hampton's bodyguard was FBI agent William O'Neill! Why was the SLA created? The investigative groups cited concur in their view that terrorism is created and Armed Services
