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