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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 18, 1979)
Page 2 P o rtlan d O bserver O c to b e r 18. 1979 EDITORIAL/OPINION No junk food here Congratulations are in order for Harvey Scott Elementary School and its principal, Harold Kulm. The school has been on a campaign, since the beginning of the school year, to eliminate “ junk foods" from the students' school diets. The campaign is the result of Kuhns reading that too much sugar can make some children hyperactive, yet many children seemed to live mostly on candy. Of course the sugar also added to obesity problems and poor dental health. Through a concerted e ffo rt, parents are cooperating by sending natural foods for class treats fruit, popcorn, juice, etc., rather than the usual candy, cake and cookies. The PTA is collecting low sugar recepies. The School Board has wrestled for years with the problem of whether "junk food' should be sold in the schools' vending m achines and student stores. Although some schools have at tempted to provide a choice between sweets and more nourishing foods, the Board has been reluctant to act decisively on behalf of better nutrician. Harvey Scott has demonstrated that with a Rhodesia: Conference stalemate unresolved little inconvenience and much effort - it can be done. The health of the District's children would be far better if the Harvey Scott program were extended to all of the schools. Call out the Marines! The Marines have landed at Guantanamo Bay to show Fidel Castro and the world that we are not afraid of two or three thousand Soviet troops stationed in Cuba. It almost makes one think of that old movie, "The Russians Are Coming", a comedy which depicts the panic caused the people of a Florida town by a stranded Soviet sub. It's unfortunate that President Carter allowed him self to be pushed in to such an em pty maneuver by Senator Church and others who are seeking his job or just to keep their own. The U S. can hardly be endangered by a small number of Soviet troops stationed in Cuba, where they have stayed peacefully for the last seventeen years. Especially is this true when the Soviet Union is surrounded by U.S. troops in Europe, Japan, etc, etc. A lot of money and energy that could be better spent. Black opportunities sink with merchant marine />v Hayard Husttn One i,l the greaiesi ironies o f our so- called free enterprise economy is its seemingly inherent tendency to wipe out more and more jobs - jobs that once ot tered young people, especially non-college youth, the opportunity to enjoy a lull life, and to support a family decently without the nagging uncertainties associated w ith un skilled, seasonal and service work. No long ago, for instance, many Black youngsters turned to the mer chant marine for a rewarding and challenging career. To be sure, the life ol a seaman is far from easy; and there are lew luxuries aboard typical merchant ships and tankers. Yet, a job in the merchant marine provided good pay, decent working conditions and a real chance for advancement to a higher paying maritime profession. Now, however, new job oppor tunities in the maritime industry have sin mills disappeared. A look at a lew statistics w ill graphically illustrate the enormous shrinkage in employment. In 1950, American shipping com panies employed over 56,000 seamen By I960, employment in the merchant marine fell to 49,(XX). Ten sears later in 1970, another I 1 .(XX) lobs vanished. And at the end of 1978 only 21,000 seamen worked on American vessels. What caused this rapid decline in jobs? l or one thing, the owners o f the ships followed the time-honored example of other businessmen: they discovered clever ways to increase their profits by hiring seamen who w ould work fo r shockingly low wages. Since American seamen, long protected by the National Maritime U nion and the Seafareres In te r national Union, refused to accept starvation wages, the shipping magnates turned to easily-exploited foreign workers. American ship owners, o f course, could not bring the thousands o f low -paid foreign workers to our nation’ s shores. Instead, they did the next best thing: they brought the ships to the foreign workers by re registering the vessels in countries like Liberia, Panama and Greece. Through re-registration, the ship owners -- inclu ding some o f the richest oil companies in the world - not only avoid paying fair wages, they also evade safety requirements, fair labor standard provisions, and last but not least, they escape many American taxes. For most shipping companies, however a lower pay is the main ad vantage o f re-registration under a foreign llag. As one might expect, the savings in labor o f a 32-man tanker or bulk carrier Hying the U.S. flag amount to $1.75 m illion. The same type ship crewed by seamen from a Third World country would have labor costs amounting to only $.33 million. To put it more simply, for every dollar an American seaman earns, his counterpart from Liberia, El Salvador, the P h illip in e s , or Korea receives something like 18 or 19 cents. In my view, this situation has two tragic aspects. First, thousands o f mercant sailors from African, Asian, and L a tin Am erican nations are being mercilessly exploited by some of the world’s largest and wealthiest multinationals. And second, this ex ploitation results in the destruction of w o rth w h ile jobs fo r some o f A m e rica ’ s poorest people, most notably Blacks and Hispanics. Since well over 55 per cent o f all Am erican merchant marine crews consist o f m inority seamen, Black people have a special responsibility to demand an end to industry and governm ental policies that place exorbitant profits before the needs o f Black and Hispanic workers. Unless Black organizations begin to focus some attention on this sometimes forgotten issue, I fear that we may be permitting thousands o f desperately- needed o p p p o rtu n itie s fo r Black youngsters to sink with the already endangered U.S. merchant marine. by Vernon Jordan If we as a nation wanted to give all our young people the skills training and jo b experiences they need, we would do so. L et’ s look at some o f the sup posed causes o f youth unem ployment. One is that the economy isn’ t creating enough jobs for all. That’s true. But it is creating enough jobs to provide work for many. And Blacks lag in getting that work -- with Black youth at the end o f the line. A n othe r supposed cause is the m inim um wage. I reject that ab solutely. A fte r the last hike in the minimum wage white youth unem ployment declined while Black rates went up. If the proponents o f the minimum wage argument were right one would expect rates for both races to rise. They didn’t, which suggests that race is a bigger factor than the level o f the minimum wage. The minimum wage argument is not really concerned w ith Black youth; it is part o f a general effort to restrain the gains o f labor. A split- level minimum wage would be the breach in the w all o f protective legislation that surrounds working conditions. I ’ m opposed to driving holes in that wall. A n othe r cause is the attitudes found among many young people today. It is hard to make a clear distinction between the negative at titudes o f some and the experiences in the workplace that reinforce those attitudes. The behavior patterns that pay o ff in status on the street are the op posite o f those that pay o ff in the work setting. The schools have failed to assist those kids in making the City hearing brings no-show are honest and sincere people who have an interest in helping. I am Black and the first person who steps up and indicates that he is “ my leader” will be in for a surprise. I am appaled at the lack o f par ticipation in the gut issue concerning education and employment. Some fo lk seem to make the headlines when little effort is needed to be a spokesperson i.e. school boycott. Where are those same people when Quality and Effective education and employm ent preparedness is the most important objective? W here are those same people right now when the schools need visible live people to assist with discipline and tutoring? For those who want Black History taught, why can’t you offer your pert assistance voluntarily on the A t the end o f last week, Britain, acting as the chairman to the prickly negotiations aimed at resolving the Rhodesian p roblem , gave the Patriotic Front guerrilla alliance an ultimatum: accept the constitutional proposal offered or else...The PF was given first 24 hours, later exten ded to 48, in which to accept the pact they had rejected and which the M uzorew a-Sm ith clique had ten tatively accepted. The “ or else...” was never spelled out, but it was clear to all fa m ilia r w ith the situation, that Britain had very few if any options, to carry out any threat. That same conference is scheduled to resume this week and still the PF has not “ changed its mind or recon sidered” as ordered by Britain. W hile Britain still insists on PF acceptance of her draft resolution, the PF for its part, is insisting on the opening o f the more substantial negotiations: control of the army and the question o f pen sions. The constitutional d ra ft Britain had presented skirted over the issue o f c o n tro l o f the armed forces because both sides (Muzorewa and the PF) had put fo rth hardline policy: the PF insisting on a com plete dismantling o f the present army to be replaced by a Peoples Arm y and Muzorewa and Smith just as adamantly insisting on the retention o f the arm y in its present fo rm . When Muzorewa “ came to power,” Zimbabwe just cannot afford to pay o ff millions o f dollars to people who will most likely not invest it in the country. More than likely, the bulk o f this money would be spirited out to wherever they decide to flee. In 1975, then Secretary o f State, Henry Kissinger, had proposed a $4 billion fund to help whites who do not wish to live under a majority government set up elsewhere. The Africans rejec ted that plan then saying, this money, which was to be provided by the U.S., should instead be given to the government o f Zimbabwe to help it along on its long road to nationhood. These two issues: control o f the armed forces and “ compensation” for the whites, promise to doom the conference and there does not seem to be a middle road either. And all the time, the war is taking its toll: at this writing, there is an outbreak of measles brought about by the closure o f nearly all health facilities in the rural areas. Thousands o f refugees have set up shantytowns outside o f the main cities and that is where the epidemic has hit the hardest. How do they spell RELIEF? The overthrow o f the Smith-Muzorewa Clique. STOP PRESS: The PF has finally rejected B rita in ’ s plan,so, now B rita in is talking o nly to the Muzorewa group--a prelude to recognition o f the bankrupt regime- that can only mean more war. he inherited the army intact, com plete with its white officers-the same people who have trampled the A fri cans u n d e rfo o t fo r the last nine decades. The other equally contentious issue revolves around the question o f pensions. Britain is proposing that whites who have been in Rhodesia since 1964 (UD I was 1965) should be guaranteed “ their” pensions. Under their system, white workers were en titled to pensions while Blacks were not. Britain claims to have inserted this condition in consideration o f the contributions whites have made in Rhodesia. As was to be expected, Muzorewa accepted this condition and the guerrillas rejected it. For one thing, what the whites have stolen from the country over weighs whatever “ c o n trib u tio n s ” they are supposed to have made. For another, most o f them came to Rhodesia empty-handed and made th e ir fortunes in Rhodesia; par tic u la rly o f f e x p lo itin g the in digenous Africans. What o f the con tributions o f the Africans? They ac tu a lly c o n trib u te d more to the development o f the country because they did the actual work. Why are they not being offered any compen sations? A n o th e r argument against this racist c o n d itio n , centers on the financial drain this would pose, for the fledgling nation o f Zimbabwe. Employing Black youth Letters to the Editor To the editor: Whs are certain Black persons continually identified as “ leaders” , within the Black community and for Black people? I have participated in many groups sessions and asked per sons of other ethnic groups who were their leaders and spokes persons for them and the answer is always, No one. As long as we are tentatively catergorized as having leaders, we will never integrate fully within the main stream o f life. True there are many outstanding Black people, but they simply are doing that which is the best thing for them to do to assist our future generations. There are many out standing people who arc not Black- who are equally assisting Black people and they are not leaders. They by N. Eungai Kumbula weekends or after school at one o f our churches? I’m sure those who are sear ching for identity can find it through the assistance of these volunteers? On October 6, 7:30 p.m., at King facility, there was a forum on input for the revision o f the City Charter. One o f the concerns was employment within the City for minority (Black) people. There were less than ten people attending the session. I saw no one there who voiced a concern for the hiring o f Black people and ideas as to how our people could find employm ent w ith in the C ity . However, everyone did miss seeing a very dynamic Black Female who is serving on the Advisory committee, Ms. Ethel McWilliams. Walter F. Morris, Jr. tra n s itio n , and employers often don't want to. I f the need for labor were to ex pand, we would find that many o f the attitudes employers find objec tionable would no longer constitute an excuse to avoid h irin g young people. We would find instead, that em ployers would make greater efforts to train youth, to overcome their suspicions and hostility, to provide the services alienated youth need to break through their protective ar mor, and to treat those young people with respect and dignity. The remedy for youth joblessness is simple: create jobs in the public and private sectors. I favor a national full employment policy that guarantees jobs to r all who want to work. 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Poa, 0 ff.ee B o, 3137 Portland Oregon 9 /2 0 8 Second class postage paid at Portland, Oregon 5th Place Best Editoria! O NPA 1973 The P ortland O b v r v r r t off.c,al position is expressed only in its Editorial colum n. Any other material throughout the paper is the opinion ot the individual writer or submitter and does not neces eerily reflect the opinion of the Pnrlland Observer 283 2486 ALFRED L HENDERSON Editor/Publisher M MMM • NH^A L PER A«tOCf«r*Off ■ fo u n d e d »MÄ ■ fO r p q o r J M ' ■ M ® MM P u tii s h p rs Association H V 2nd Place Best Editorial 3rd Place Community Leadership O NPA 1975 3rd Place Community Leadership O NPA 1978 DENTIST Park TREE u n io i tor M«3ra (orncts also in s » u w & tuemf) — MoeeisoNi . . . . . . i- , . . : . — n~2 ~ Subscribe Today ! $7.50 per year—Trl-countv $8.00 per year —Other 1 Dxr.=..- Honorable Mention Herrick Editoria! 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