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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 9, 1978)
Pnge 2 Portland Observer Thursday November 9. 1978 Rhodesia: The unholy alliance breaking up? We see the world by N. Fungal K ambula through Black eyes "resp o nsib le.” U p to this p o in t, both Sithole and M u zo rew a were regarded as to o , too radical and so Sm ith figures out a w ay to neutralize them . T h a t's w hy he dreamed up the idea o f the fo u r m an Executive C o u n c il. H e d id not have to w orry about C h ira u — he had created h im , he could just as easily destroy h im . M a tte r o f fact, he (C h ira u ) was even m ore conservative than Sm ith, dem anding less fo r the Blacks th an S m ith was w illin g to give! So, Sm ith fo rm ed fo r him an " o rg a n iz a tio n ” Z U P O (Z im b a b w e U n ite d P eo p le s O r g a n iz a t io n ) — pro bably just rounded up a dozen “ supporters.” W h e n the ' ‘ in te rn a l ag re em en t” Opportunities for decision making overlooked Another election has come and gone and about sixty percent of the registered voters par ticipated. Thousands of eligible voters did not register. As is customary, the older, more con servative, middle and upper class citizens vote while the poorer and younger do not. Do the people not vote because they don't care or because they think voting doesn t mean much — that big money buys elections or that the big decisions are already made? Other avenues of citizen participation — that perhaps could have more direct and more visible results — also go unused. The neighborhood association, which could yield a great deal of power in controlling neighborhood planning and the use of federal funds, are poorly attended and the responsibility falls to the same few people year after year. Then those few people are criticized when their decisions are wrong or when they cannot muster the energy or resources to fight City Hall. The Albina Action Center is seeking applicants from its Board of Directors. This is another program that handles large amounts of money and provides many needed services, but the same few people are left with the work year after year. New ideas and new energy are needed. The NAACP is approaching its semi-annual election. Most members do not participate in the election — in fact they never attend a meeting. But they are quick to criticize when the Branch "doesn't do anything." Now is the time for those who would like to see a strong and active NAACP to get involved, help select the leaders and then stay around to help do the work. Although citizen participation often seems futile — school boards and public officials seem to look the other way — it is one of the few methods to have even minor influence on public decisions. Change for the better is always slow — and sometimes non-existent — and it is easy to give up or wear out. But where would we be if a few people hadn't sacrificed and suffered to try to hold the line? Maybe a few more should share the burden. 'Joint o¡ Uitu Government corruption fro m the A tlanta Inquirer Pick up your daily newspaper any day of the week and you're likely to see an oft-repeated story about corruption in politics. It sometimes comes through as "unethical" conduct on the part of some elected officials around the country, but emphemizing won't change the facts: too many of these officials are obviously using the power of their office for financial gain. What's even worse, they don't seem to think there's anything wrong with what they're doing, and can't seem to understand why the people who elected them to office should be concerned. The Congressional Quarterly, which analyzed the 1977 financial disclosure reports of the House and Senate, recently found in a study that at least 30 senators and 60 representatives have been or are not involved in situations that "could raise several ethical questions." Largely, the situations of Congress have financial interests — stocks, bonds, real estate or extra income in the form of honoraria-from organizations that could be af fected by legislation passing through their com mittees. Among those 30 senators cited in the financial ethics study is Georgia's own Senator Herman Talmadge, whose name has been in news almost constantly in recent weeks, usually in connection with questionable financial practices. The earlier charges now being studied by the Senate Ethics Committee suggests that Senator Talmadge and his family pocketed some $13,000 from false Senate expense vouchers and that he used his position to influence federal grants and contracts that raised the value of property in which he held an interest. The recent disclosure in the financial ethics study mentions that "some of the most prominent members of Congress deal almost daily with legislation that could have a direct im pact on their personal finances." Senator Russell Long of Louisiana, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Senator Talmadge, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, are mentioned in the report as exam ples of those Congressmen in the previously mentioned category. Russell, who reported owning over a million dollars in oil and gas leases; Talmadge, who owns Georgia farms valued be tween one and two million dollars; and a host of other members of Senate and House Agriculture Committee reported farm ownership. Moreover, it is difficult to find any Congressional committee on which the same conflict of interest doesn't exist. There are even cases where the unethicaf conduct is magnified by the fact that Congress men have such conflicts in connection more than one committee. Talmadge, for example, is a member of both the Agriculture Committee and the Finance Committee. The story goes on — members of the House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdic tion over bank tax legislation, have financial in terests in banks; Banking and Urban Affairs Committee members own stock in banks or other financial institutions — but the one that really sticks out in all this is Representative John Flynt of G riffin, a member of the defense ap propriations subcommittee, who has financial in terests in Mobil Oil Company, General Electric and IBM. Flynt just happens to be chairman of the House Ethics Committee. With that disturbing bit of information, we are left with this hopeless thought: As soon as all the investigative noises have been made, everyone w ill return to "business as usual." Already it has been reported that Senator Talmadge, in spite of his trouble with the Senate Ethics Committee, is not likely to have any trouble gaining re-election in 1980. Can't you just hear the rest of the Congressmen, after being ''cleared'' of unethical conduct charges, saying something like, "Now, where was I before all this started?" PORTLAND OBSERVER Published ever) T h urtd a) by Exie Publishing Company. 2201 North kiliinssworth. Portland. Oregon 9^217. Mailing address: P .O . Box 3137, Portland. Oregon T 20* Telephone: 283-2486 Subscriptions 17.JO per year in the Tri-County area. M OO per year outside Portland Sac on d Class Postage Paid at Portland Orsflon ALFREDL HENDERSON Editor Publisher The Portland Observer't official porition is expressed only in its Publisher s column (W e See The World Through Black Eyesi. Any other material throughout the paper is the opinion of the individual writer or submitter and doe' not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Portland Observer National Advertising Representative Am algamated Publishers Inc New York 1st Place Community Service ONPA 1973 lat Placa Beat Ad Résolu ONPA 1*73 pj K per Anoociefron * Founded f MB S m ith , it seemed the o nly way to preserve m in o rity privileges in the face o f a m ounting Black resistance that he could no longer ignore. It was a way o f ushering in a Black puppet regim e th at he could still c o n tro l w hile at the same tim e convincing B rita in , the U .S . and the U . N . to lift sa n c tio n s a n d re c o g n ize th e new regime. H a d this succeeded, it w ould also have m o llifie d his w hite critics who w ere ru m b lin g th at he was giving aw ay to o m uch. F o r Sitho le, it was pro bably the only way left to him to m ain tain some semblance o f political via b ility . H e had just been ousted as P re s id e n t o f Z A N U ( Z im b a b w e A fric a n N a tio n a l U n io n ) w hich he had fo u n d e d some fo u rte e n years previously. F o r the first tim e in his political life , he found him self out in the cold. Honorable Mention Herrick Editorial Award NNA1B73 2nd Place Beet Editorial 3rd Place Community Leadership ONPA 1975 3rd Pleca Community Leadership ONPA 1«7B goes that his fath er used to be the “ houseboy” in the Sm ith household. A p p are n tly, he had provided many years o f " f a it h f u l service” and, as a rew ard . Sm ith decided to m ake his son, J e re m ia h , a c h ie f. A n y b o d y w ho tells you that these chiefs are elected by the A frican s is a lia r — they are ap p o in ted by the govern m ent so as to m ake sure they arc A ,, t t/) tft£ was just as hostile. T his past w eekend, he seems to have reached another critical stage in his short but tu m u ltu o u s p o litic a l career. W h ile in L o n d o n , he was q u o te d as s a y in g th a t i f S m ith reneges on his promise to hold elec tion s by the end o f this ye ar, he w o u ld q u it th e “ in te r im g o v e rn m e n t .” F ie p ro b a b ly has been loo kin g fo r a w ay out o f this em- barassing situation ever since he botch ed the H o ve a ffa ir. A lot o f us feel th a t, had he q u it then, he might have been ab le to salvage som e o f his c r e d ib ilit y . E v e n th o u g h q u ittin g now w ould have an im pact, he has alre a d y lost so m uch face having stuck w ith the sinking ship fo r so lo n g . B esides, S m ith a n d a ll th e whites now know that he cannot stop th e w a r as th e y h ad o r ig in a lly thought he w ould. T h e significance o f this develop ment though is th at, this is the first tim e there has been a schism in the intern al governm ent. A ll along, they had clung to each other fo r dear life. W h a t w o u ld his d e p a rtu re m ean? F o r one thing, since even w ith his lim ited p o p u la rity, he was still the most in flu en tia l person as far as the Blacks are concerned, it w ould m ake the irre le v a n t in te rim g o vern m en t even less relevant at hom e and less credible a b ro ad . It could possibly, ju s t p o s s ib ly re p a ir som e o f th e dam age d o n e to his re p u ta tio n . A n d it w o u ld d e fin ite ly strengthen the hand o f the guerrillas since the d e p a rtu re w o u ld be an o pen a d m is s io n th a t w a r was th e o n ly recourse left. H o p e f u lly th e n , th e c o m b in e d pressure provided by a united Black fro n t w ou ld hasten the im pending doom o f the Ian Sm ith regime and its relentless bloodletting so we can start to b u ild a fre e , p eac efu l an d in dependent Z im babw e. W hatever the case m ay be, it seems next W e d nesday we w ill see the 13th and the last anniversary o f Rhodesia's “ in dependence.” x"5 /. Death penalty hits wrong people T o the E d ito r: T h e P o r tla n d O bserver is to be com m ended fo r its excellent editorial o f O ctober 12, 1978 against the death penalty. But few voters are aw are o f the grave m istake made by the drafters o f Ballot M easure N o . 8, the unin tended result o f which is to allo w the p e rp e tr a to rs o f th e m o st c o ld b lo o d e d a n d b r u ta l m u rd e rs to escape the death penalty. Ballot M easure 8 makes no change at all in the penalty fo r those convict ed o f “ aggravated m u rd e r,” a new crim e under a tough 1977 law . T h e sentence f o r th o s e c o n v ic te d o f “ ag g rav ate d m u r d e r ,” w h ich en compasses the m ost heinous m u r ders, is life im prisonm ent w ith the provision that either 20 o r 30 years be served before the person can be considered fo r release o f any kind. B a llo t M e a s u re 8 a llo w s f o r the possibility o f the death penalty only fo r those convicted o f the o rd in ary crim e o f “ m u rd e r.” This is so grossly u n fa ir that even those w ho support the death penalty in p rin c ip le should vote “ n o ” on B allot M easure 8. Sincerely yours, Stevie Rem ington Executive D ire c to r, A m erican C iv il Liberties U n io n o f O regon Rocky Butte: Yesterday, today and forever T o the E d ito r: Y o u r article on Rocky Butte was a g oo d p o r tra y a l o f the co n d itio n s ■there. 1 was there eleven years ago and the conditions were the same. I f Rocky Butte exists eleven years from n ow , it w ill be the same. I t ’s a sad fact, but a fact none th eles s, th a t c o n d itio n s a re n o t going to substantially change in any correctional fac ility in O regon until the "C o rre c tio n s ” Division alters its th in kin g. C o n dition s are made by the personnel w orking jails and prisons, and a ja il or prison is as relatively good or bad as its w arden. I t ’ s a shame there isn’ t a m andatory tu rn over o f guards and wardens: it might erase some longstanding prejudices. A n d maybe it w o u ld n ’t take eleven years fo i the s ta ff to confront a daily problem . N o th in g changes as th e p u b lic sleeps. T en years ago there was a rio t. In s a n e c o n d itio n s w ere described There were a few changes made to bring the O regon Peniten tiary into the 20th century. A few , too few A couple years ago there was a court battle over a group o f prisoners in here who the ad m in istratio n dub bed “ T h e F a m ily .” A tro c itie s by guards were detailed. A few guards were moved to d iffe re n t jobs. Last year the Prisoners' Legal Ser vices o f O regon brought a suit con cerning guards b eatin g , to rtu rin g , ta u n tin g p riso n ers. A few guards were reprim anded. T h is y e a r, O c to b e r 2 7 th , tw o lovers got into a fight in one o f the big cell blocks. In any other prison. the incident w ould pass fo r exactly w hat it was, a fig h t between tw o p riso n ers. B ut in this p ris o n , the prejudice o f the ad m in istratio n has blow n it up until the State Police are co n sidering b rin g in g an a tte m p ted m urder charge against one o f them . I f it goes to court, the ad m in istratio n w ill again be shown in the same light as ten years ago, a couple years ago, last year. A n d certain s ta ff members w ill be reprim anded as last year, a couple years ago, ten years ago. But nothing w ill change, the prisoners that w ork corrections resist change, be it at Rocky Butte or O .S .P . A new line o f thought is needed c o n c e rn in g “ C o r r e c t io n s .” T h e re v e n g e /re h a b ilita tio n m o d el th ey are using should be replaced. Sincerely, D o n ald D an ford Action Center Boord seeks candidates T h e A lb in a A ctio n Center is now h avin g ih e ir a n n u a l D e ce m b er 2, 1978 election . T h e A lb in a A c tio n Center is now seeking new applicants area wide fo r low -incom e represen ta tiv e s a n d c o m m u n ity a t la rg e representatives. T h e cut o f f day for accepting applications for sectors o f low -incom e and com m unity at large Oregon Newspaper Publishers I Association The b ig g est s u rp ris e was M u zo rew a. H e did not need to sign th a t a g re e m e n t a t a ll. H e h ad e s ta b lis h e d h im s e lf as th e m o st popular leader in the history o f Z im babwe. H e m ay not have had an arm y as such but, most o f the guerrillas fighting under the banners o f both Z A N U a n d Z A P U ( Z im b a b w e A fric a n Peoples U n io n ) were know n to be loyal to him and ready to rally to his side should he call. Sm ith also knew that M u zo rew a was the big fish — w ith o u t h im , he m ight as well forget the internal experim ent. But p oo r, n aive, m yopic M u z o re w a fe ll in t o th e t r a p , signed th e a g re em en t, a n d w ith in weeks fo u n d his o n c e m a ss iv e s u p p o rt d w indling aw ay to nothing. W here once he had com m anded crowds in excess o f 100,000, he suddenly found him self hard pressed to attract 100. A s th e m o n th s d ra g g e d o n an d nothing changed — the firin g o f his Justice M in is te r, B yro n H o v e , the c o n tin u e d p o lic e h a ra s s m e n t, the b e a tin g s , t o r t u r e a n d k illin g s showing them th at S m ith was still very much in co n tro l — the fifty or so th a t n o w s h o w e d up a t his meetings did so only so they could p e lt h im w ith r o tte n eggs an d to m a to e s . W h e n he tr a v e lle d to B rita in and the U .S .. the reception S ign ing th a t “ a g re e m e n t” gave him the appearance o f leadership even th o u g h he n o lo n g e r h a d an o rg anization to lead. H e hastily put to g e th e r th e A N C — S ith o le (A fric a n N a tio n a l C o u ncil) p rio r to the signing. A t the tim e it was mostly a ghost o rg an izatio n but, to sign that internal agreem ent, he had to come in as the leader o f something. Jerem iah C h ira u was (an d still is, fo r that m a tte r) a nobody. T h e story 5th Place Beat Editorial NNPA 1973 NILMUER P I e U was signed on the 3rd o f M a rc h this ye ar, it was g en erally agreed that each was signing for his ow n selfish ends. N o one really trusted anybody else but each hoped to use the ot hers to fu lfill his ow n expectations. For sectors w ill be Novem ber 20th. F o r fu rth er in fo rm a tio n call the A lb in a A ctio n Center, 288-8343 be tw een the h o u rs o f 8 :3 0 to 5 :3 0 M o n d a y thru F rid ay. Let your mailman bring the Observer to your d o o r. . . Subscribe Today - $7. B0 Tri County; 08.00 Other Name____________ ___ Address___________ City State Zip. PORTLAND OB8ERVER P.O. Box 3137 Portland. OR. 9720B < 4 I
