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Portland Observer
Thursday. March 18, 1976
We see the world
through Black eyes
No rate increase
Join campaign now
Portland G eneral Electric is asking for another rate
increase. If the pattern is to continue, a fte r a series
o f hearings in w hich public o p in io n is sought, the
com pany w ill receive its increase.
Electric rates are already at the point w here they
are u n fa ir to most consumers. W e must not lose sight
o f the fact that in our society electricity is an essential
fo r life . There is already evidence o f e ld e rly citizens
becom ing ill or d ying from hypotherm ia caused by
prolonged exposure to im proper w arm heating. It is
getting to the point that persons on w e lfa re , social
security or w ith lo w incomes just cannot pay housing
and u tility costs and still have enough m oney left for
food.
U tilities is a regulated industry. This state, through
setting o f rates, guarantees a p ro fit to the com
panies.
The utilities are faced w ith higher wages and
nationa l costs and w ith b u ild in g for the future. But a
com prom ise must be m ade. Perhaps a reasonable
solution w ould be to decrease the profits and not pay
stockholders dividends in this period o f depression. If
the stockholders have fa ith in the capitalist system,
they w ill hang tig h t and look fo r future gains.
Perhaps the nuclear plants should be b u ilt by the
fe d e ra l governm ent as the dams w ere, and a llo w the
u tilitie s to purchase and distribute pow er. This seems
to be a less costly arrangem ent.
If the utilities cannot fin d a w ay to provide their
services at a reasonable cost the u ltim ate answer
w ill be federal ow nership. The fate o f the private
u tilitie s lies in th e ir ow n hands.
The d e a d lin e for candidates filin g fo r o ffice has
passed w ith no great suprise. The hotest races w ill
be fo r M ayor o f Portland, Secretary of State, State
Treasurer and State Attorney G eneral.
N ow is the tim e for those persons w ho are
interested in p o litica l participation but d o n 't know
Every
how to get " i n " to becom e involved.
candidate needs help -- from w ritin g speeches and
talking to perspective voters to stuffing envelopes
and d e liv e rin g law n signs. Not only is cam paign
w ork necessary but it can be exciting as w e ll. And it
is the best w ay to m eet people and get on the inside
o f the po litica l systems.
O regon is an open state p o litica lly. N either party
is a closed society. Both are alw ays looking for
workers and it is surprising how easy it is to m eet and
know the candidates and the o ffice holders. O rego
nians have no excuse fo r th inking they can't
participate or that they " d o n 't know the right
p e o p le " to gain influence.
This w eek the M ultnom ah County Dem ocratic
Central C om m ittee is considering its new A ffirm a tiv e
Action program . The object o f this program , w hich is
a n a tio n -w id e endeavor, is to bring m inorities and
w om en into the party and to insure that they
participate at a ll levels o f decision m aking. The
party needs and w ants m inority participation. Let us
no longer say that Blacks are " le ft o u t", but let's take
this opportun ity to m ake our voices heard.
Another Point of V iew
PMSC looks forw ard
Tw elve years ago a young president saw that
m any o f his people w ere not sharing the benefits o f
the richest nation on earth and declared a W ar on
Poverty.
One o f the first to join that w ar was the Portland
M etropolitan Steering Com m ittee. PMSC was con
ceived to reach the poor o f Portland, to assist them to
receive the tra in in g and social services they needed
to bring them selves out o f poverty, and to attack the
self-perpetuating culture o f poverty.
Victorious in a ll its m ilita ry pursuits, the w ar on
poverty was a new concept to Am ericans. It was a
w ar that was m ore d iffic u lt to w age -- one w hich
required new d rive and fle x ib le approaches -- one
that expected to change the w ay o f life , the goals
and even the ideals of its citizens.
The battle was w aged not only against the target
o f poverty, but it was continuously w aged in the halls
o f governm ent as a variety of politicians, from
Richard N ixon to O regon's ow n Edith Green,
attem pted to destroy its pow er.
Tw elve hectic years have passed, years of
mistakes, o f petty arguing and fig h tin g , o f neighbor
hood clashes, but PMSC has survived. Through these
years, although torn by strife w ith in and harassment
w ith o u t, PMSC has kept its eye on the goal and has
provided the means fo r m any thousand persons to
fin d a new life.
PMSC has been the means through w hich services
w ere provided that help citizens m a in ta in their ow n
homes, rem ain independent and ga in skills to
becom e self-sustaining.
These services include
senior adult program s, nutrition program s, child
care, counselling, hom e repair, legal help, job
tra in in g and placem ent, and perhaps most im portant
o f a ll, a means to determ ine w hat services are
needed and how they should be provided.
As it celebrates its tw e lfth anniversary PMSC looks
to the future. It now has the opportun ity to create a
unity that has not alw ays existed -- a unity o f a ll of
Portland's com m unities w o rkin g tow ard one goal --
that o f a fu ll and fru itfu l life fo r every in d ividua l.
The Kremlin looks at Africa
taken from the C hicago D efender
In his speech to the 25th Soviet C om m unity Party
Congress, C om m unist Party leader Leonid Brezhnev,
hailed the successes o f Krem lin foreign policy. He
said the Soviet U nion w o u ld pursue detente w ith
"re d o u b le d e n e rg y " w h ile also continuing to support
nationalist m ovem ents, as it has in Angola.
There is much to be read, especially in the
Krem lin's com m itm ent to nationalist m ovem ents. It is
a w a rn in g to the W estern powers w ho d id not go to
A ngola's a id w hen it needed it, and to the United
States in p articular w hose fo re ig n policy has pushed
A frica aside as a non-entity in the po litica l w orld,
that M oscow intends to continue to he lp A frican
lib e ra tio n forces attain their leg itim a te objectives.
The U nited States has fa ile d to conceive of A frica
as a nascent w orld pow er. It has looked upon the
Black continen t as a collection o f poverty-stricken
states w ith leaders lacking in capacity and vision to
guide th e ir destiny into a future m ore akin to the
impulses o f Western civiliza tio n than a continuity of
internal w a rfa re at the tribal level.
This m isconception has v irtu a lly cancelled out the
Am erican influence in the land south o f Sahara.
Russia ap p a re n tly entertains a d iffe re n t perspective
of Africans. It sees them as having v ita lity and a
great potentia l for econom ic grow th and cultural
orientation.
In Brezhnev's speech one can see a determ inatio n
to help A fricans becom e masters in their ow n house.
Africans w ill accept that help w ith o u t com prom ising
their autonom y and th e ir ow n p o litica l ideology. This
can be done w ith o u t endan gering the peace o f the
w orld.
Portland Observer
Published every Thursday by Exie Publishing Company, 2201
North Killingsworth, Portland. Oregon 97217. Mailing address:
P.O. Box 3137, Portland, Oregon 97208. Telephone: 283-2486.
Subscriptions: $7.50 per year in the T ri County area, $8.00 per
year outside Portland.
Second Class Postage Paid at Portland, Oregon
ftLFRED L. HENDERSON
!*
Editor/Publisher
The Portland Observer’s official position is expressed only in
its Publisher's 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 necessarily reflect
the opinion of the Portland Observer.
MEMBER
il
Oregon
Newspaper
Publishers
Association
MEMBER
na
ewal PER
Aaaontabon - Founded »865
Ist Place
Community Service
O NPA 1973
* THIS IS r u e YEAR feMRV W CANDIDATES ARE DIVINE SLACKS A
NEU'HlHtMAJJSH'UNPER THE SUPPOSITION THAT THE PMGRAHSOE
THE ¡9bDg DIDN'T UDRK. SD LESS ISTOSE DONE FOR SLACKS
THANM O RE'
VtHNON F. dOttMU
extcvr/vs dm tcron,
NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE
VxOxx*-
Abortion: A false issue
by Kenyon C. Burke
W hile watching the customary jockey
ing for position and attempts at manipu
lating public opinion that accompanies
Presidential and Congressional races, one
wonders why we continue to fall prey to
false issues.
Law and Order, crime in the streets,
bussing, and now abortion is being
offered up by some special interest
groups as a major campaign issue.
Most people in our country today are
looking for executive and legislative
leadership capable of dealing effectively
with such gut survival issues as high
unemployment, poor schools and health
care, inadequate housing, fear of personal
safety in our own neighborhoods and the
affect of racism and discrimination.
We are searching for leaders who can
understand and act upon complex prob
lems of the energy crisis, a sagging
economy, along w ith working toward a
world that has more peace than w ar and
more humanity than inhumanity.
One thing we don't need in our survival
game plan is another false issue to
distract us from keeping our “eyes on the
ball.” W hile abortion and its physical and
psychological ramifications are not to be
taken lightly, access to medically super
vised abortion does bring about signifi
cant health advantages to individuals and
their families.
Since the 1973 Supreme Court decision
gave legal sanction to abortion, the
maternal death rate and infant mortality
rates have m aterially declined.
Any
attem pt to interfere with a woman's right
to personally make a choice on this
crucial m atter would reverse that trend.
The price oi illegal abortion in the days
preceding the Supreme Court's abortion
decision was paid in the currency of
women's dignity, women's health and
even women's lives.
Though many paid the price, none paid
it more often or more cruelly than
minority groups and the poor. M ore than
nine out of ten of those who died at the
hands of incompetent practitioners in the
days before abortion was legal were
Notice
Prison reform and community centered
corrections programs will be discussed at
a 7:30 p.m. March 19th, Friday Night
Special at St. Andrews Community Cen
ter, 4940 N .E. 8th.
Je rry LaBarre, an attorney and in
structor in criminal justice, and Rita
Clinton, director of the Portland YW CA's
Women’s Prison Project, will be the
featured speakers.
This is the third in a series of six
“Friday Night Specials” at St. Andrews to
inform parishioners and community mem
bers of issues and to lead to community
organization and action.
Black and Spanish-speaking.
As serious and important as this
subject is, we find it difficult to under
stand how and why a Presidential or
legislative candidate's stand on abortion
has anything to do with almost over
whelming problems of survival that we
face today.
Indeed, in a pluraliste society such as
ours, w ith many cultures, sub-cultures
lifestyles, special interests and values we
ran expert differences of opinions.
However, we must be alert to those
who are single issue folks and would
impose their value on all and keep us
from focusing on the real issues.
Beware of false prophets among us for
they are riding the abortion horse in our
rurrent Presidential and Congressional
campaigns.
Questions for candidates sought
The loague of Women Voters of
Portland and Oregon Common Cause are
organizing a series of forums or press
conferences for Presidential Candidates,
at which they will be asked to respond to
questions on issues of concern to the
widest range of Oregon citizens possible.
This is part of the Common Cause
Campaign 7 6 activities, and the League's
Issues not Images program. Because in
recent years, doubting that their con
cerns w ill be answered by any candidate,
many citizens have turned away from
politics and voting. The organizations are
undertaking this program in an effort to
change the conduct and content of politi
cal campaigning and to introduce new
standards of integrity, responsiveness
and accountability into campaigns.
A coalition of interested groups in the
community have been asked to join with
us to form the “Oregon Asks" Committee.
M em b e rs include: C h am ber of Com
merce, World Affairs Council of Oregon.
American Association of University W o
men of Portland, Agri Business Council of
Oregon. Ecumenical Ministries of Ore
gon, Junior league of Portland. Schools
for the City, A FL-C IO , Oregon Consumer
Iyeague, Oregon Environmental Council.
O regon Education Association and Asao
ciated Oregon Students Lobby.
Participating groups are being asked to
submit the priority questions of their
members. Newspapers, television, and
radio stations will ask their readers,
viewers and listeners. “I f you could ask
just one question of the Presidential
candidates, what would you ask?“ The
question* will be compiled into a repre
senUtive list best reflecting the mood of
Oregon citizens. These will be used to
question Presidential Candidates who
come to Portland in A pril nd before the
May 25th Primary election.
ßalloi
If you could ask the Presidential Candidates just one question, what would it be?
“W e ask what you ask", says a non partisan group of Oregonians who wants to
know your questions.
W e'll ask the Presidential Candidates to answer the questions Oregonians want
answered. W e'll compile them into a representative list reflecting the mood of
Oregonians by A p ril 1st and release them to the media.
W rite: "Oregon Asks", Box 02458, Portland 97202.
"Oregon Asks" participating organizations are: Common Cause of Oregon.
Ijeague of Women Voters of Portland. American Association of University Women,
Junior Iieague of Portland, A gri Business Council of Oregon. Chamber of Commerce
of Portland, Schools For The City. World Affairs Council of Oregon. A F L -C IO of
Oregon, Oregon Consumer League. Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon. Oregon
Environm ental Council. Associated Oregon Student Iiobby. and Oregon Education
Association.
The question that I would like to ask the Presidential Candidate ia:
Is t Place
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O N PA 1973
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Best Editori«*
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Honorable Mention
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Community leadership
O NPA 1975
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