Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 23, 1978)
Page 10 Portland Observer Section II Thursday, February 23. 1978 Democratic Party in 1968; the Freedom Now Party in 1963; and the Peace and Freedom Party in 1968. Professor Walton, in 1972. con cluded: "Summing up. then, until recently the American Black poli tical party has for the most part neen a by-product of the one- party system prevalent in many- Southern states, just as national third parties have been by-pro ducts of the national two-party system. Black parties so far seem to be much more successful on the local and district levels than on the national and state levels. Mainly instruments for protest. Black parties express the desire of Negroes to be included in the mainstream of American political life. Unique primarily in their almost totally ethnic composition, they are ba sically small third parties created because of the miscalculation or neglect of the major parties. Like other third parties, they will arise when the need presents itself, call attention to the diffi cutties and aspirations and goals of the excluded, and then per haps...if they fail to overcome internal or external organiza tional difficulties, fade from the political scene. Black political parties, like third parties in general, are part of a continuing phenomenon in our political sy stem and will probably appear now and again for some time to come.” Black Nationalist Another recurrent organiza tional thrust in the Black Ameri can experience has been the persistence of Black nationalist groups. Since the early 19th Century, Blacks have debated the wisdom of leaving this coun try and attempting to set up a nation of their own, either on the African continent or in the Carib bean. Some relatively recent groups, most notably the Repub lic'of New Africa and the reli giously-oriented Nation of Islam, called for certain states in the United States to be relegated to Blacks. These groups have not been optimistic that Blacks would be able to achieve their full measure of social, political and economic dignity as long as they were a subordinated part of the Ameri can society. Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association, founded in 1916. was undoubtedly the largest such organization in the history of Black Americans. Highly Black nationalist, the UNIA ultimately envisioned a sovereign Black African empire, a free homeland for Black peoples throughout the world. At one point in 1926, Garvey put his fellowship at six million, although precise figures remain unknown. He advocated pride in being Black. Black com munity control of political and economic structures, and a “back-to-Africa" goal. Always careful to point out that he was not preaching hatred of whites, Garvey simply concluded that white and Black could not live together as equals in the same country. He foresaw extensive cooperation am ong d ifferen t races of the world, but only when each racial group occupied its own sovereign territory. The UNIA established the Uni versal Black Cross Nurses, the Universal African Motor Corps, the Black Eagle Flying Corps, and the Black Steamship Line in 1923. Garvey was indicted on the charge of using the mails to defraud and in 1925 he was found guilty and sentenced to five years in jail. President Calvin Coolidge pardoned him in 1927 and ordered him deported as an undesirable alien. He died in London in 1940, never regaining the organizational heights he had attained twenty years earlier. Black Power "Black Power" became a major rallying cry for many Blacks in the late 1960s. Although not a new concept, it was seized upon by some Blacks in an effort to emphasize the necessity to con solidate racial focuses. "Before a group can enter the open society, it must first close ranks." was an important point made by some Black power advocates. They understood this to be a viable political and economic strategy employed by other ethnic groups in the American pluralist society. These advocates were not con cerned with leaving the Ameri can society, but rather with developing organizational stra tegies that would make the Black Americans' struggle within the society more meaningful. Several consequences came from this thrust: Black caucus groups We salute ftlack. History Mouth Star Productions 4815 N.E. 7th Ave. Ituk Hiktovf 7/iontk Herman Plummer Real Estate 4845 N.E. Union Ave. 288-8442 developed in labor unions, among Black students, in professional societies, in the military service, and in several other areas of activity. Their primary goals were to see that Black people organized and ran their own organizations, pushed for public policies that protected the politi cal and economic interests of Blacks on jobs, in schools, in housing. A prominent and vis able example of this approach was the development in the early 1970's of the Congressional Black Caucus, consisting of the 17 Black congressional represents tives. B E S T W IS H E S Weimers Hardware 3946 N.E. Union Ave. Comficowdi Points to Ponder The Bicentennial celebration of American Independence was the occasion for considerable discus sion of the concepts of freedom, justice and equality. The story of the political status of Black Americans stands in stark con trast to those concepts. One might justifiably ask the ques tion: what manner of logic sus tains a society that pronounces one set of standards “for all" and performs another "for some?" is it not the case that what Gunnar Myrdal once called “The Ameri can Dilemma" is, in fact, “The American Betrayal?" What would the history of this country have been if white Americans had, in fact, been required to compete openly with a vast seg ment of Black citizens for the political rewards and benefits that a truly democratic society should offer? The fact is that, politically, the United States has never been a free and open society. Various white groups obtained entrench ed political power positions without having to compete in an open field. At the point that the Lewis Adames of the Black community were beginning to learn the process and partici pate in it, they were effectively shut off. Black people were sent to the courts not to the club houses. How much more effec tive and viable would Blacks be in American politics today if they had not been diverted by deceit and racist state constitutions? Black Americans are the only citizens in the history of this country who had to endure death (literally) simply to establish the constitutional right to vote. (This was certainly not the his tory ol the women’s suffrage movement). Even after the passage of the 15th Amendment in 1870, it stood 95 years before the Voting Rights Act of 1965 moved Black suffrage perceptib ly forward. (After the passage of the 19th Amendment giving wo men the right to vote, there was no such subsequent history of struggle.) The American Bicentennial was a time when many Ameri cans reminded themselves of ma xims they preferred to think they lived by and have built their society on. One such often repeated maxim is “law and order". Unfortunately, the his tory of this country's treatment of Blacks in terms of politics is not a history that upholds the belief in “law and order”. South ern states, after the 1890's, pro ceded to enact constitutions of and laws in clear violations of the 15th Amendment. The records are filled with the language of Runyan’s 8 8 ( Store 3716 N.E. Union Ave. CARL T ROWAN \ IN I9b4 PRES JOHNSON NAMED HIM CHIEF OF THE U S INFORMATION AGENCY(MIA),WITH A STAFF OF I I 000 HE DECIDED10 LEAVE GOVERNMENT SERVICE IN » 6 5 AND RETURN TO HIS CAREER,AS A SYNDICATED NEW SPAPER COLUMNIST AND A MAGAZINE FEATURE W R ITER HE HAS W R ITTEN SEVERAL BOOKS INCLUDING- GO SOUTH TO SORROW Reese’s Minority Vendors A Supply, Inc. Reese’s Oil Company 3933 N.E. Union Ave. 503-287-2121 Thoro'a n o th in g w ro n g w ith |wat h a n g in g looao. Bot n good m ind gooa to w oato If not p v t to vao. If you know someone who could qualify, the Navy knows the wav to train him in one of 60 skills while he s earning decent pay. The rewards are as great as the training is demanding; while he earns, he learns, so his mind is still expanding. We also pay for room and hoard, plus 30 days vacation. And he’ll have the opportunity to continue his education. The Navy has the answer he’s trying to find, ’cause in the Navy he can make good use of his mind. Bob Andrews Chief Forty Officer Navy Recruiting Station 6735 N. Basin Ave. (503, 285-6561 NAVY. ITS A MIND-GROWING EXPERIENCE.
