4
Portland Observer
Inside the Rhodesian border war
by Rath B. Miater
(P N 8 ) Maputo, Mozambique - Eater
Judieio, her wizened Black face showing
Uttle emotion, stood patiently beside the
graves oi her sister and nephew and
answered reporters’ questions: The
planes were Rhodesian. They came in the
middle ol the night. Besides her sister
and the child, three others of the tiny
hamlet died. They tried to hide but
couldn't. She herself was wounded.
W ere Zimbabwe guerrillas (Rhodesian
Black nationalists) there?
No. She knew of only the Mozambican
soldiers. They helped to drive off the
Rhodesians that night when her sister
died. She and a couple of others stayed in
the hamlet, but most of the people had
fled the border area to the interior town
of Mapai. where there was a hospital, a
school and shops.
But mostly, Mapai was a safe place -
away from the frequent border clashes
between the Mozambique-baaed guerril
las and the Rhodesian forces. T h a t was
last spring.
I t was not safe for long. Four months
later. Mapai, 60 miles from the border,
was bombarded and assaulted by Rho
desian air and ground troops In the first
deep penetration into Mozambique in the
course of the widening w ar between Rho
desia's white-m inority regime and Black
nationalists fighting for m ajority rule.
Unlike the recent Rhodesian assault on
an alleged guerrilla base In Mozambique.
in which 340 soldiers and civilians died.
Mapai was not a m ilitary target. The
night it was attacked there were only 12
Mozambican soldiers in town, three of
whom died instantly as they slept in one
of the buildings first hit by bombs.
Mapai was the economic hub ot a large
rural district. The attack coincided with
celebrations of the first year of Mozambi
can independence, which has drawn
school children to the town from outlying
hamlets. Some of them, sleeping in the
school in the center of town, died in the
onslaught.
The Ngala Transport Co., a vital link
between the town and rural areas, was
nearly wiped out by the bombs. Garages,
vehicles, equipment, several canteens
and the clubhouse, all in the center of
town, were destroyed.
Shops were raided and looted. People
scrambled to the bomb shelters and to
the brush to try to escape the nightmare
of exploding bombs and the ground
forces.
Besides the three soldiers. 16 civilians
died, making it the largest single civilian
casualty reported to date.
To these peasant people, the damaged
buses and trucks are a great loss. Though
small boats still scuttle among the shoals
to cross the shallow Limpopo River, the
trucks that carried sacks of corn and
other produce to m arket no longer come.
Nor are there trucks to take the men to
South Africa to work on contract in the
by the 1973 legislature to protect em
ployment rights of injured workers, and
physically and mentally handicapped per
son*.
W illiams filed a complaint w ith the
Bureau of Labor on A p ril 29th. 1974
charging that Montgom ery W ard denied
him a position as appliance salesperson
because he had suffered a heart attack in
1968.
Stevenson stated th a t the issue in this
___ ( waa w hether Williams' physical con
dition would or would not perm it him to
perform the job he sought, and w hether
there was a reasonable expectation of his
being able to render continous service.
The commissioner found that Williams'
physical condition was sufficient for con
tinuous performance aa an appliance
salesperson. Extensive testimony was
considered in the case, including that of
Williams' physician, a heart specialist
who ha* monitored the performance of
Willaims' cardiovascular system at regu
lar intervals since hi* heart attack.
Stevenson awarded W illiam * damages
in the amount of $14,711.72 for lost earn
ing* during 1974 and 1976 and $2,000 for
mental anguish. In addition, the commis
sioner required the company to offer the
complainant the next available position aa
Citizen ot the Week
S up port lo r G u e rrilla *
Though the attack on Mapai was deep
er inside Mozambique than previous a t
tacks, it was not unexpected. Back in
March, when Mozambique’s President
Samora Machel announced the closing of
the Rhodesia border in support of the
Page 8
Zimbabwe guerrillas, the people of Mapai
were already digging bomb shelters.
In numerous interviews, Mozambicans
recalled that during their own struggle
for independence - still fresh in their
minds Zambian and Tanzanian borders
were also violated by colonial Portuguese
troops. Despite the incursions, Tanzania
and Zambia remained firm in support of
Mozambique's F R E L IM O guerrillas.
Now. they say, they too will support
the Zimbabwe guerrillas - whatever the
cost. Just one week after the raid on
Mapai a support rally was held in the
capital city of M aputo and $260,000 was
given to the Zimbabwe fighters from the
Solidarity Bank.
Public broadcasting ranks low
Montgomery Ward guilty of discrimination
In w hat may be considered a landmark
case. Labor Commissioner Bill Stevenson
found Montgomery W ard and Co.. Inc.
guilty of employment discrimination be
cause of an applicant's physical handicap.
Stevenson issued a final order in the ease
of James M . W illiam s vs. Montgomery
W ard and Co.. Inc., which is the first case
requiring a commissioner's order to be
considered under amendments adopted
mines. And the buses that regularly
shuttled people about the rural areas are
infrequent now.
Still, the people have their feet. Once
again, they are harvesting, hauling
w ater, preparing food, attem pting to get
back to the daily routine. In Mapai, re
construction has begun, aided by funds
from the national Solidarity Bank, to
which all Mozambicans regularly contri
bute a portion of their earnings.
Thursday. August 19th, 1978
salesperson in any of its store* in the
Portland/Vancouver metropolitan area.
He furth er required the respondent to
pay tor lost wages during 1976 and sub
sequent year* until such time as W illiams
is offered suitable employment.
"The intent of the 1973 legislature waa
to guarantee to physically and mentally
handicapped person* the fullest possible
participation in the social and economic
life of the state, including the rig ht to
employment where the handicap has no
bearing on the person's ability to do a
given job," said Stevenson, who was a
member of the Oregon State Senate in
1973.
“W illiam s' case obviously falls w ithin
state policy and law because his physical
condition would not preclude job perfor
mance as an appliance salesperson," con
eluded Stevenson.
Many of the public broadcasting sta
Üons included in "Public Broadcasting
and Equal Employment O pportunity Re
gulation - W here Does The Buck Stop?
and considered to be that industry s
cream of the crop are the subject of equal
employment opportunity
complaints,
agreements initiated by citizens groups
to eliminate exclusionary personnel and
programming practices, special reporting
conditions applied to broadcasters by the
Federal Communications Commission,
and broadcast license denial by that same
agency.
The study, by Citizens Communies
lions Center, a public interest law firm in
Washington, D.C.. examined 1) the EEO
performances of public radio and televi
sion stations, which are partially funded
by federal dollars; 2) the Corporation for
Public Broadcasting (the major funding
Murder try net* ten years
by Ron Sykes
Circuit Court Judge James Ellis sen
tenced Robert Louis Sm ith to ten years in
prison Tuesday for the attem pted murder
of his wife on M ay 1st.
Sm ith had earlier been found Smith, a
T ri-M e t bus driver, of 4319 N . Borthwick,
agency for public broadcasting entities)
and it* role in assuring it * grantees oper
ate in compliance w ith various E E O and
anti-discrimination laws and policies, and
3) the lack of responsibility assumed by
the FCC, U.S. Departm ent of Health,
Education and W elfare; the Equal E m
ployment Opportunity Commission, and
the Civil Rights Division of the U.S.-
Justice Departm ent in assuring T itle V I,
T itle V U , T itle I X and other nondiacri
mination law compliance among the grant
recipients.
The examination also includes a statis
tical review and analysis of available 1976
employment data obtained from the in
dividual stations, reporting forms on file
with the F C C s Research Branch of the
Broadcast Bureau. O f the 186 individual
television stations receiving CPB grants.
78.4% show questionable 1976 employ
ment statistics regarding the stations'
compliance w ith FCC E E O rules and
policy. O f the 172 radio grantees 83.8%
show questionable m inority employment
* small pocket knife.
According to police reports. Sm ith cut
hi* wife a fter she had told him that she
was leaving him.
Officers found a note, signed by Smith,
near the bed where his wife was attack
ed. The note allegedly told of his plans to
kill the woman.
practice*. In fact, some 16 radio station
grantees reported to the FCC as having
fewer than five full-tim e employees,
thereby making them ineligible for a CPB
grant. Overall, only 2.7% of all CPB
grantee* employ minorities at the same
percentage rate as minority representa
tion in the respective service areas.
27.9% of all the granteqg employ no
minorities full time. And 20% of all the
grantee* are delinquent in filing then-
annual employment report to the FCC,
which was due M ay 31st, 1976.
These subjects w ere discussed in the
two-day hearing conducted by the House
Subcommittee on Communications, chair
ed by Congressman Lionel Van Deerlin
(D-Calif.) this month. Conclusion: all the
agencies involved assume that someone
else other than th eir agency has the ma
jor enforcement authority, and all have
conceded some duplicated efforts as well
as some overlooked responsibilities. The
study title then, “. . . W here D oe* The
Buck Stop?" is quite appropriate.
Joe Joseph
Now York Life Ins. Co
guilty of cutting the woman’s throat w ith
ttMHOWlOW; toJU uf
Attorney* join Association
Six Portland. Oregon attorneys have
been accepted for membership in The
Association of T ria l L aw y e r* of America,
A T L A president Robert G. Begam an
lY X I'i r
V iir in i
nounced today.
T hey are Philip H. Lowthian. John S.
Marandas, M ark McCulloch. W illiam F.
281-3680 3933 N. E. Union
Schulte, Richard A . Bly. and S te w a rt M .
W b ipple.
The association, w ith headquarters at
Cambridge. Mass., is dedicated to the
^ m inistra tio n of justice for the public
good and preservation of the trail-by-jury
ROZELL’S
system.
R mw U' s wUl give 10% af y ew
nrice to your church or charity
in groups of tea or i
| Black activism
Berna Plumm er is Oregon's only Black delegate to the Republican
P a rty National Convention in Kansas C ity. She received acclaim b at also
m et the w rath of some delegates when she proposed th a t Black delegates
withhold their votes unless the candidates met w ith them.
M t, Plum m er is an affirm ative action officer for Multnomah County and
has previously been a teacher.
She has long been involved in the Republican P arty, serving as a member
of the C entral Comm ittee. She was cochairman of the Oregon Black
Committee to re-elect Richard Nixon and was an unsuccessful candidate for
County Commission in 1974.
Ms. Plumm er currently seek* election to the Oregon Legislature.
Use all you need
but save all you can . . .
The People at Pacific Power.
Advertise ment
for proposals
(Continued from p. 2 col. 6)
party regular*. Elem ents of machine poli
tics are rapidly corroding a* evidenced by
the number of presidential prim ary can-
causes a form of political isolation. No
other identifiable group practice* this ex
clusionary pattern, which negates the
opportunity for Black Republican inais
tence for inclusion on th a t party’s "bal
»need ticket", or for Black population
ratio "fair share" of political patronage.
B L A C K S M U S T BE
R E C O G N IZ E D
The failure of presidential candidates
to address the subject of racial justice
during this year’s prim aries can in part
be attributed to the Black voters’ failure
to indicate a flexibility in exercising their
voting strength.
A * an example, in N ew York C ity, in
the borough of M anhattan, Black voter*
produce from one third to one half of the
majorities won by the major candidates
on the Democratic ticket. Y e t this year,
m inority separations from municipal
employment, under a Democratic admin
The State Housing Division seeks proposals for the
construction or rehabilitation of multi-family rental
projects for lower income households. Approved pro
jects will receive mortgage financing and rent subsi
dy payments through the Division.
The area and number of units for which the Division
»king proposals is listed below:
Area: Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington
Counties. Units Available: 20 two bedroom units, 40
three bedroom units.
Sponsors are encouraged to submit proposals for
projects which combine bedroom types. Any size o f
multiple-unit project may be acceptable provided it
does not exceed the total units available for the area.
Preference will be given to rehabilitation projects,
small projects to be built and owned by local sponsors,
and projects which maximize the use of local labor
equal housing
and suppliers.
The Division is an equal opportunity lender. All units
financed and subsidized by the Division must be
rented without regard to race, creed, religion, sex, or
national origin of the potential tenants.
f
Labor and Industries Building, saiem, uregon
telephone 378-4343.
t
/ h v ,
Visit Roseli’» - y o » eoauBunity
istrstiqp was 36 per cent Black, (Black
females Wees, reduced 65 per cent) and
hispanics 51 per cent.
The lack of Black political activitists is
a reflection of the fact th a t American
political organizations do not encourage
activist participation. Machine politics
requires a leadership, unchallenged by its
didates. Y e t not since the days of Adam
Powell have the political aspirations of
Black America been eloquently demand
________ Bar-B-Q, Boa Feed,
Patate PU, Shakes aad Sait lee Crema.
N Æ . U N IO N A T A IN S W O R T H
Opea
10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m„ Sun-Thurs
10:06 a.m. to 12 midnight. F ri & Sat
5949 N .E . U pU a
ed.
L E A D E R S H IP V O ID E X IS T S
A void exist* today in Black political
leadership. In too many instances, Black
appointed to political advisory posts
share in common a tim idity to challenge.
I can not identify a Black political leader
who can dream and accomplish the im
possible, who can forge solutions for the
varied complex needs of our nation’s
minorities, who is unwilling to perpetuate
the mythology of the affluent, while the
neglected masses continue to cry for a t
tention.
Y e t this is Black America's urgent
need. Equal opportunity, or equitable re
lationships. will only be achieved as the
result of sustained and equitable alloca
tion of society’s resources and energies.
And this can not be accomplished without
a national com mittm ent to fashion a solu
tion to the massiveness of poverty
through jobs, equitable business oppor
tunities and income maintenance for the
DENTIST
/if» Good
to/faow
•
NONE OF MY HELPFUL
DENTAL HEALTH
POLICIES HAVE CHANOEO
NO
Appointment
diaadvantaged.
D r. Toote, the highest ranking Black
woman in the Nixon administration, se
conded the nomination of Ronald Reagon
for the presidency at the Republican
Party's National Convention this week.
\
Ovethiof i t i
C m * e u ie a e r
j