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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 8, 1979)
Coming up: Congressional showdown over Rhodesia EDITORIAL/OPINION by N. Fungai Kumbuta Another child care rip-off I if 4-C (Community Coordinated Child Care, gets its way, state funds now going to the Albina Ministerial Alliance Family Day and Night Care Program will be absorbed by 4-C. A M A Family Day and N ight Care was established in 1970, as part of the Model Cities Child Care package. This package also included six child care centers and an emergency center. AM A provided care for approximately 450 child ren, mainly infants to three years, in certified family day care homes. Although the largest pro gram of its type, two similar programs operated in the tri-county area — Volunteers of America and West Tualatin in Washington County. 4-C was bom and bred on Model Cities money. As the contracting agency for all of the Model Cities child care programs, 4-C not only got a rake off on all Model Cities funds and additional federal and private money generated by Model Cities funding, but got staff positions, materials, and equipment. The war in Rhodesia has been going on for the better o f six years. It started out very quietly and, matter o f fact, used to be the subject o f derisive jokes in the white press and the white communities. ’ They’ ve got to be crazy if they think they can take on the Rhodesian a rm y .’ Sm ith, brimming with overconfidence and brash arrogance, publicly declared: ‘ M ajority rule? Not in a thousand years.’ The past few m onths have, however, brought the ‘ bush w ar’ very much out into the open. Now, a fu ll third o f Zimbabwe is firm ly in the hands o f the guerrillas and, they roam almost at w ill in about 80% o f the rest o f the country. The joke has suddenly become grim reality. The racists are not laughing any more. Life, which fo r them had been a paradise, has suddenly become an endless nightmare. As soon as Model Cities was terminated, the Albina area programs were abandoned. 4-C policies as well as changes in state funding procedures closed all but two small centers and stripped those centers of the ability to operate as quality child development centers. So most of the community based programs; which w ere operated by com m unity organi zations, employed community residents and de livered quality services are gone. In recent years A M A has provided supportive services for 400 day care homes — the state funds coming through 4-C. Now 4-C has decided to keep the money and operate their own programs. This is a clear-cut example of white operated agency using federal and state funds designated for the Black com munity to build their own kingdom and then rip off Blacks. When they declared independence from Britain in 1965 in an effort to The once strong community based child care fo re sta ll the Black independence network is gone and the Northeast community drive, they had clung together and has no control over its own destiny. Letters to the Editor No automatic support for Black politicians To the Editor.- T n th e F d it n r - ’ Herb Cawthorne’s article in your last edition probably disappointed some people because he openly criti cized a Black politician. 1 do not share that disappointment. His letter should alert all local Black politicians that you are terribly mistaken and ill advised i f you feel you can make decisions that hurt or ignore the interest o f most Black people and still expect our support or our silence. The misery among our people wor sens daily, there is more unemploy ment, more hunger, more misedu- cated children, more dope, more police brutality, and more Black people in jail. You who are in posi tions to help us, and who fo r political expediency choose not to, w ill no longer find that your smiles and smooth words w ill soothe our suffering. Black politicians that have worked to help us are to be congratulated, we understand the precarious position you arc in. Those that feel they can exhibit only fleeting allegiance to the Black community may quickly find themselves in “ political no man's land.” Excuse me make that “ poli tical no person’s land.” Yours In Struggle. Ronnie Herndon Give NAACP leadership a chance To the Editor: I agree with Herb Cawthome that it ’s time we gave those community members who step forward to serve a chance to demonstrate their talents and commitments before we jum p to criticize their contributions. I have also heard the rumblings about what Lucious Hicks is and is not doing as the newly elected leader o f the local NAACP. I t ’s too bad that we spend too much time picking apart the ef forts o f those individuals who have shown a sincere willingness to ad vocate on behalf o f the community. Leading any organization like the NAACP is not an easy job as I ’ m sure leaders such as Reverend John Jackson who have come before Hicks would agree. It is largely a delicate task o f trying to address and balance all the competing interests within the Black community and still present a united front to the white power structure that demands atten tion. There is seldom praise for what has been done w ell, and always criticism for things that others feel could have been done differently. I t ’s easy to stand around talking about what isn’ t right, but it’s much more difficult to take the initiative to act upon what’s wrong. Maybe that's why so many o f us continue to do nothing but talk, we don’ t have the commitment or the courage to act. I f thankless job in many ways. No mat ter how well-meaning our intentions may be, there are always those who w ill stand on the sidelines and accuse us o f not taking care o f business. This is the price Black people pay to contribute their ideas and their ser vice to the improvement o f their community in a racist society. Oftentimes we judge other Black people’ s contributions not on the merits or facts o f their service, but on how much they deviate from our own personal biases about how they should serve the com m unity or handle a particular issue. Before we are too quick to judge what others aren’t doing in the community, we should first reflect on our own in dividual community service records. I f we are not actively involved in trying to solve community problems ourselves, we have no rig h t to criticize the sincerity or the value o f another’ s efforts. Lucious H icks is young, he’ s energetic, and he seems committed to making the local N AAC P a viable and active force in Portland. I ’ ve been impressed with his efforts to date. He is trying hard to lend a new vision and voice to the organization. For his effort he deserves our praise and active support. He’s bound to we dared to get involved in the com m unity’ s affairs, we would quickly learn as so many have that it is a make some mistakes as he shapes a new contingency. We shouldn't hold these against him. Our duty is to p o in t them out and o ffe r our thoughts on how things can be done better. Every day, as we stand around in our little circles talking about each other, there are new and disturbing examples o f the injustice, the disre spect and the insensitivity with which the larger white society treats Black people. We w ould fu rth e r our mutual aims o f equity, justice, and co m m u n ity development by the positive acknowledgem ent o f all good-intentioned efforts to serve the community regardless o f whether we agree with the style. We didn’t get where we are today by putting down the honest efforts o f those who step ped forw ard to work fo r and on behalf o f the Black community. We have always appreciated and built upon every individual’s service. We must follow this historical example o f cooperation i f we want to make further progress as a race o f people in this society. Respectfully, Jeana Woolley LUTHER " you By B ruim ic Brandon understand ’ < nyepse proportions , LUTHERP 1st Piece Comm unity Service ONPA 1973 PORTLAND OBSERVER 1st Place Best Ad Résulte ONPA 1973 PutoleAed every Thutedey by E m Pubketeng Company. 2201 North Mkngeworth. Portierd, Oregon 97217 Mailing eddreee P .0 Box 3137, Portland. Oregon 97208 Telephone 283 2486 6th Piece Best Editorial NNPA 1973 Subscription« »7.50 per yeer in the Tri-County eree *8 00 per veer outside Portland Second Claea Poetage Paid et Portland. Oregon ALFRED L. HENDERSON Editor/Publiaher Honorable Mention Herrick Editorial Award N NA 1973 V * P™ lr u l ' t o * ” ' ' official position .. expressed only in its Publisher s column (W e See The World Through Bieck Eye.I Any other material throughout the paper is the opinion of the individual writer or «ibmrtter and does nol necessarily reflect the «tumor, of the Portland Observer 2nd Place Beet Editorial 3rd Piece Com m unity Leadership ONPA 1976 National Advertising Representative Am algam ated Publishers. Inc N ew Vork 3rd Place Comm unity Leadership ONPA 1978 ,.o«i l T î ' rd4 ««A,, mlmrer Assoc.alren - Pounded 1996 « 1 MiMat* ill ■ ■ '• iB [O r e g o n I Newspaper (Publishers l I Association I turned up their noses at the rest o f the world. In this country, this was at the height o f the C iv il Rights movement. The liberals were “ in ,” having swept the conservatives under the political rug. The United Nations imposed a trade embargo against Rhodesia thus forbidding member states, the U.S. included, from trading with the rebels. That was in 1968 and these sanctions were in tended to crip p le the Rhodesian economy and bring the ‘colony’ back to legality. We now know that, while these high sounding pronouncements were being made in the UN chambers, equally fra n tic and much more sinister plans were being made in corporate board rooms in the U.S., B rita in , France, West Germ any, Italy, Israel, Holland, Japan, etc. to circum vent these very sanctions. Smith had known all along that when it came to a showdown, his “ brothers” around the world would not abandon their “ kith and kin.” More than ten years have passed since the passage o f these sanctions and, thanks to this outside help, Smith is still alive and oppressing. But now that the C ivil Rights ‘ fever’ is over. Smith’s ‘ brothers’ can come out in the open in broad daylight. And they are back with a vengeance. A ll across the country, in recent elec tions, liberals have been falling like ninepins. The 95th Congress is the most conservative since pre-C ivil Rights days. Prospects for the future don’ t look any brighter either. W ith this in m ind, the conser vatives are gearing up fo r another m a jo r push on Rhodesia. Their ultim ate goal is to recognize the illegal Ian Sm ith regime, resume trade with Rhodesia and prevent the Africans from taking over the coun try and turning it into the Democra tic Republic o f Zimbabwe. Maybe, when he was winning the war, there was no need to come to Smith’s aid but, now that he is clearly losing, the conservatives feel they have to prop him up. Now that he is surely in danger, fighting a war that he cannot win, a war that is costing in excess of $1 m illion a day, with the economy already in shreds and facing an un precedented white exodus (20,000 le ft in 1978 alone — and th a t’ s almost two percent o f the white p o p u la tio n ), the conservatives in Congress feel it ’ s time to pitch in again and derail the Black Freedom train. Again led by Jesse Helms and S.I. Hayakawa, they are pushing for a repeal o f sanctions and enforcement o f the Case — Javits amendment passed last year. This amendment binds the President to lift sanctions within ten days if, it has been deter mined that the interim government of Rhodesia has made genuine efforts at convening an all parties conference (which would include the guerrillas) and if free and fair elections have been held. Rhodesia's ’ elections’ are scheduled for A p ril 20th. A repeal o f sanctions would mean massive infusions o f foreign (mostly American — your tax dollars again!) aid to rescue the tottering Rhodesian economy. It would also open the doors for the regime to buy all the weapons it so badly needs to fight the guerrillas. It would also open the doors for the regime to buy all the weapons it so badly needs to fight the guerrillas. It would also somewhat “ legitimize” the role o f American mercenaries who are now busy killing Zimbabweans who only wish to be free. Once the U.S. recognizes Rhodesia, it would make it easy for these animals to claim they are aiding a ‘ frie n d ly ’ co u n try fig h t com munism. Though this would in no way halt the guerrilla campaign, it would de fin ite ly deal it a severe blow . It would be a major setback. It would undoubtedly prolong the war. The for ------r the present is that, a at . • prognosis - -------------- ----- it ’s present rate, the guerrillas should win overall control in a year or two at most. The longer the war con tinues, the more blood is split and, so far, up to 70% o f the blood split has been civilian. To this end there w ill be a push to have a vote in the Senate Foreign Re lations Committee to authorize a U.S. congressional observer team to go and monitor the Rhodesian elec tions. I f this team (which w ill cost the American taxpayer an additional $175,000) determines the elections arc ‘ free and fa ir,’ then Carter will have no choice but to repeal sanc tions. The observer team is sup posedly to be ‘ impartial* but, as Bill Sutherland, American Friends Ser vice Committee Southern Africa rep resentative points out: “ How impar tial can this team be when it will be tra v e llin g througho ut Rhodesia guarded and escorted by the Rhode sian arm y?" The guerrillas have in dicated they w ill disrupt these ’sham’ elections. Sutherland sees it as another con servative plot to force the guerrillas to observe a self imposed cease fire for fear that, i f they carry on, they might hit one o f the congressional observers. That would definitely hurl th e ir cause. Sutherland fu rth e r argues that the elections cannot be ‘ free and fa ir’ when the outcome has already been pre-determined. Whites are to vote for whites and though they o n ly make up 3% o f the population, they have been guaran teed 28% o f the Congressional seats in the new government, a set number o f cabinet positions, continued con trol o f the army, the police force, the civil service and economy. Also, since a 75% vote would be required for any constitutional amendment, they w ill have veto power for at least the first ten years. W ith this elaborate conservative plan in the works, it’s time for us to start mobilizing too to prevent them fro m sabotaging the Zim babwe freedom movement. I t ’s time to start preparing to contact our respective congress-people and letting them know that we are not fooled by all th is conservative baloney about “ keeping Zimbabwe out of'the hands o f the communists.” Let’s put an end to this madness, le t's show Hayaka et al that, everything else notwithstanding, there are still a lot o f good, honest, decent people in this country who w ill not be swept IIIIUCÏ c big Dig DUSIW under in the business rug. Weber vs. Kaiser attacks affirmative action (Continued from Page 1 Column 6) has suspended implementation o f the program at plants throughout the United States,” according to the ap peal. The Justice Department has asked the Supreme Court to send the case back to determ ine i f the Bakke decision would have any impact on the Court o f Appeals ruling, but the justices have not yet announced what they w ill do. The im pact o f the threat o f lawsuits was recently illustrated by an agreement between the New York Times Com pany and a group o f women who had charged sex discrim ination. While denying any wrongdoing, the Times agreed to pay $350,000 and start an affirm ative ac tion program. Harriet Raab, the at torney for the women, says the suit forced the newspaper to change its hiring practices. In 1970 and 1971, she said, only six percent o f the editors and report ers hired were female. In 1973, the year after formal charges were made, 47 percent o f reporters and editors hired were female. But the plan to set hiring goals for women may not go unchallenged. Recently, a white male reporter at the St. Louis Post Dis patch filed a complaint o f “ reverse discrimination” with the EEOC after a women was selected for the paper’ s Washington bureau. The flurry o f complaints by white males reflects a mood o f resistance to affirm ative action fueled by intense competition for increasingly scarce desirable jobs. Efforts to “ deregu late” affirm ative action also reflect the p u b lic ’ s m istrust o f govern ment bureaucracy and intervention. But proponents o f affirm ative ac tion argue that racism and sexism are very real elements in the selection process. Government pressure, they contend, is essential in guaranteeing equal opportunities for minorities in an extremely tight job market. The im pact o f the national mood on m in o rity adm ission was recently documented by the Association o f American Medical Colleges, which reported that m inority enrollment at U.S. medical schools has remained level during the past three years. Black enrollment declined from a high o f 6.3‘ percent in 1974 to less than six percent last year while total emollment at medical schools was increasing. The latest round o f lawsuits once again raises the issue o f how far American society must go to over come the inequities o f past discrimination against minorities and women. Recent polls show a willingness to provide more training for m inorities but a reluctance to face minorities in head-to-head com petition. Last spring, the U.S. Supreme C ourt carefully sidestepped argu ments by Bakke and his support ers that the choice in his case was between “ b e tte r” and “ less” qualified applicants, or even that "reverse discrimination” was a valid term. But racial attitudes — and ap parent differences in grade point averages — made it easy for many whites to believe that Bakke was more deserving o f an opportunity to attend medical school than a faceless group o f minorities. The issues raised in the Weber and Cramer cases may force the public to confront what some observers believe to be the real issue o f our time — too many well-qualified applicants for too few positions. The Weber case does not involve rigorous academic qualifications that were at the core o f the Bakke case. James Cram er to im prove their positions in society could well lead to a better public understanding o f what affirm ative action really is: an attem pt to redistribute a lim ited number o f opportunities among a large number o f equally deserving individuals. Too late to classify The efforts o f Brian Weber and RESOURCE CENTER ASSISTANT S914/month. Position in Washington County. Re lated social science college level course work a n d /o r 2 years exper ience working with low- in c o m e p e rs o n s . S p a n is h s p e a k in g required. A b ility to com m unicate verbally and in w ritin g ; know ledge o f career as sessm ent and job s e a rc h te c h n iq u e s ; ability to type accurately, w ork w ith figures and maintain daily operations of resource center. Be able to provide means of transportation. Need not be CETA eligible. Must be available for personal in te rv ie w . REFER TO JOB #RW-50. Resumes to M ult-W ash CETA Consortium , 806 S.W . Broadw ay, S uite 325, P o rtla n d , OR. 97205 Closos 3/15/79, 5 p.m. A n Equal Opportunity Employer SPORTS HOUR JOE’S PLACE K O I N .l. A lberta WILL DRAFT YOU FOR ONLY 15£ C oll: i « 8 . 8 7 6 , D ,” ' ,: * * ' S“ " ' —--------- , For more In fo rm a tio n
