Page 2 Portland
O b a a rv a r October 26. 1979
EDITORIAL/OPINION
Brouhaha over PLO
by N. Fungai Kumbula
School Board ethics
Is it the "old board” or the "new board". The
new school board is beginning to act much like
the old -- preferring to operate in secret.
The fact that the school board would like to
discuss as controversial a subject as school
desegregation in private is understandable.
Flaming headlines in reaction to prelim inary
reports and ideas could raise Dublic concern.
Also, some board members find it difficult to
function in front of the press, giving way to post
uring for the TV. On the other hand, fear of ex
posure can hamper free discussion.
That is one of the problems of the democratic
process. It is difficult ot discuss emotional issues
in public but after all it is the public's business.
And in Oregon we have the open meetings/open
records laws. Perhaps those who are afraid to
reveal their opinions before those who elected
them should reconsider their interest in holding
public office -- or their ambitions to seek higher
office.
For those whose concern about publicity is
genuine
those who fear scare headlines might
hinder their work, they need to carefully review
the events of the recent past. Not only do we
have the ultimate example of secrecy in govern
ment Nixon's attempt to steal the government
but we have the continuous successful efforts of
the Portland school district to evade school
desegregation and minority rights.
The desegregation committee not only avoids
the press and public by confusing meeting dates
and failing to make required public notice, but the
desegregation committee even refused to share
inform ation w ith other board m embers. It
allowed its Superintendent to refuse to provide
public information to school board members --
his bosses.
up their activities in school desegregation and
minority rights.
The members of the "new board" were elected
and selected on a platform of open government
and citizen involvement. What does it do as it ap
proaches its first big decision?
Although the intentions of some of the com
mittee members might be pure, its actions and
their results are not. Open discussion, available to
an aware and informed public will bring far better
results than the rumors and suspicians th a t
secrecy breeds.
I he desegregation committee should consider
the cause of its concern. If the suggestions put
fo rth by their Superintendent were so
unreasonable as to inflame the white and the
Black com m unities, w hy not reject those
suggestions? Or better yet, why not reject the
Superintendent?
Wayne Morse used to say that it is improper
and dangerous to use an unjust procedure to
pass a good law, because that same procedure
can be used to pass a bad law. In other words -
does the end justify the means?
Letters to the Editor
Witnessing police brutality
11) the editor:
( buries Iordan finds no evidence of
local police brutality according to his
statement I uesdas on the Channel 2
evening newscast.
I nknown to Iordan, police were
busily creatring evidence on my neigh
bor Kandy Valentine around 9:30 last
I riday esening. A police siren alerted
som e D neighbors out to their porches
in time Io see an officer pull out a gun
on Kandy and also to witness him
being knocked down hard into the wet
puddled street lot no obvious reason,
lie was booked for speeding and
eluding at olficer, and was taken off
to tail
\ tasi delivered him home 24 hours
later barely able to walk, cut wrists,
throwing up blood and unable to sleep
that night because of massive pain.
It it is not enough evidence that we
all saw Kandy’s unmarred face before
he was taken downtown, we have on
at 9 p.m.
The o ffice rs claimed they were
justified in throwing Randy down in
the street because they “ had to chase
him for four miles at nearly 100 miles
an hour.” Randy’s story is that he was
only a few blocks from home.
Is an officer ju stifie d in throw ing
tra ffic offenders around? Isn’ t Ran
dy's fine ol $300 -t- enough o f a pinch
w ithout having a body racked in pain
as a vic tim o f policem en's power
games? Should officers o f the law add
to the judgm ent o f the law by
mutilating fellow human beings?
Randy has personally filed a protest
against his treatment, but that protest
w ill not reach the public. Right now
the majority o f the public sees the sub
ject o f police brutality the way Jordan
describes it: without evidence.
W ill Jordan see any “ evidence” in
Randy Valentine’s abuse?
two rolls ot film what he looked like
when he returned.
f ollow ing is Kandy’ s account as
he told his wife, Margaret: “ Down
town the officers bashed Kandy’ s face
into Ihe elevator wall, and after being
beat up he was taken to the hospital to
have his face stitched up.
When Kandy later asked the officer
in the booking room if he was a trustee
(because he wanted a cigarette), the o f
ficer said, “ N o !" and told him to shut
up.
He then opened the cell and grabbed
Kandy and started hitting him. Then
another officer came and they threw
him to the floor and stuck their knees
in his back. A fte r having stitches on
his face Kandy found the officers had
made them bleed again. W hile they
were beating him they tore his coat up.
Then the tw o o ffice rs to o k him to
another cell where he was finally left
alone and things were calm the next
day (October 20) when he was released
Eunice Jean Nance Mitchell
Affirmative action officer joins PSU staff
(C ontinued from page 1 col. 6)
M o rris says he w ill try to create a
warm perceptive o ffic e . He w ill
teach out and be in contact with the
P o rtla n d c o m m u n ity . No one
usuallv comes to see him unless they
need his service, or the employer
w a n ts to stay out o f trouble. The
PSI
A ffirm a tive Action officer
says, the conflict puts him in a
situation o f jeapordy. His main ob
jective is to make sure everyone is
-civ cd due process, honesty and
equality and normal recruitment ef
forts are carried out.
Among M o rris' many diversified
skills, he hopes to use his teaching
skills at PSU as well as the city o f
Portland. He has worked with
teachers and administrators in the
area
of
m ulticultural-non-sexist
curriculum . He says America is made
o f many types o f people who have
contributed to society, so there is no
single American culture to follow .
He enjoys helping people to learn
a b o u t c u ltu ra l d iv e rs itie s , w hich
u ltim a te ly helps to im p ro v e the
educational system in America. This
education helps provide m in o ritie s
and the p o o r w ith a sense o f
ch o o sing
and
sa m p lin g
of
professional careers. Black children
m ust be ta u g h t to lo o k to m ore
exotic fields. A ll children must be
given the opportunity to grab hold o f
th e ir lives and choose th e ir ow n
destinies. Too many m inorities, he
says, especially young Blacks, feel
they are not a fu n c tio n in g part o f
this society.
PORTLAND OBSERVER
The Portlund Observer IU SPS 959 6801 is published every Thurs
day by Erie Publishing Company, Inc , 2201 North Killingsworth.
Portland. Oregon 97217, Post Office Box 3137, Portland Oregon
97208 Second class postage paid at Portland, Oregon
Subscriptions $7 50 per year in Tri County area: $8 00 per year
outside Tri-County area P o s tm as te r: Send address changes to
the Portland Observer, P .0 Box 3137, Portland. Oregon 97208
The Portland Observer's official position is expressed only in its
Editorial column. Any other material throughout the paper is the
opinion of the individual writer or submitter and does not neces
sanly reflect the opinion of the Portland Observer
283 2486
ALFRED L. HENDERSON
Editor/Publisher
N atio n a l A d v ertis in g R ep re s e n ta tiv e
A m a lg a m a te d Pub lishers, In c.
N e w York
1st Place
Best Ad Results
ONPA 1973
5th Place
Best Editorial
ONPA 1973
Honorable Mention
Herrick Editorial Award
NNA 1973
2nd Place
Best Editorial
3rd Place
Community Leadership
ONPA 1975
member
VIM8O-
Assona'.on ■ founded
1st Place
Community Service
ONPA 1973
3rd Place
Community Leadership
ONPA 1978
IM S
Subscribe Today
$7.50 per year—Tri-county
$8.00 per year —Other
NAME ____________________________________________ _
ADDRESS
'
CITY-------------------------------- STATE____________ Z IP ______
Mail to:
Portland Observer
P.0. Box 3137
Portland, Oregon 97208
Andrew Young was forced to re
sign as Ambassador to the U N over
his co n ta ct w ith the P alestine
L ib e ra tio n O rganization and since
then, the P LO has become a cause
celebre among Blacks in this coun
try. Young had argued that only by
talking to the P LO can thre be any
hope o f lasting peace in the M iddle
East. The o ffic ia l US position paral
lels that o f Israel which refuses to
recognize the PLO and so refuses to
engage in any dialog w ith them.
W ith Young gone, his cause has
been taken up by quite a few other
Black leaders. Dr. Joseph Lowery o f
The Southern Christian Leadership
Conference (S C LC ), D .C . delegate
Rep. Eauntroy and Reverend Jesse
Jackson o f Operation PUSH have
led delegations to the M iddle East, in
recent weeks, in e fforts to get the
PLO and the Israelis talking. They
met with such leaders as Anw ar
Sadat o f Egypt, Hafez o f Syria, King
Hussein o f Jordan and Yassar
A ra fa t, leader o f the PLO . Each
delegation also visited Israel in an at
tempt to talk to Israeli government
o ffic ia ls b u t, a p a rt fro m M oshe
Dyan who met w ith Jackson, Israeli
officials shunned them all.
Back in the US, these various
Black leaders seem to have incurred
the wrath o f other Black leaders and
this gives the illusion o f a r ift in the
Black leadership. Vernon E. Jordan,
president o f The N ational Urban
League, has let loose a barrage o f
vituperations against “ those Black
leaders who w ould cavort w ith
terrorists.” He went on to castigate
them fo r meddling in foreign policy
matters, instead o f grappling with
such immediate Black problems as
unemployment and crime. This same
sentiment was echoed by Bayard
Rustin, o f the A . P h ilip Randolph
Institute, who has since led his own
delegation to Israel to “ reassure the
Israelis that not all Blacks back the
terrorists and bomb throwers,” The
message that
all
three
Black
delegations that visited the Arabs
passed on was basically the same.
Stop the killin g and start talking. A ll
stressed the importance o f peace
and, at worst, their efforts would
leave the present Mid-East situation
as is. A t best, they could get the
warring factions together because as
Young put it; How can there be
peace when the two sides are not
even talking?
It seems, therefore, that the Jor
dan and Rustin vituperations were
ill-fo u n d e d , ill-co n ce ive d and ill
executed. To say that Blacks have no
business meddling in foreign policy
is about as myopic as one can get.
A nything Blacks can do to aid in the
cause o f peace anywhere in the
w orld, they should feel free to ex
ercise th is rig h t. A re they not
Americans like anybody else? Is
foreign policy any special group’ s
business? This is the dangerous kind
o f th in kin g that has kept Blacks
uninvolved in foreign policy matters
fo r so long w ith the tragic result that
A rica has been relegated to a very
low p rio rity .
Jordan and Rustin are entitled to
their opinions about the PLO-Israeli
issue but fo r them to trv and muzzle
o th e r B la ck leaders is u tte rly
ridiculous. I f these Black delegations
that went to the M iddle East had
condoned the violence being per
petrated by either side, then Rustin
and Jordan w ould have had a
legitimate beef. O nly when Blacks
get involved in foreign policy issues,
such as this one, w ill they be taken
seriously enough fo r their interests to
be taken into account when this
country deals w ith A fric a , the
Caribbean and o th e r parts o f the
world populated by our people.
This is the second tim e 1 can recall
that Jordan has come up w ith egg on
his face. As president o f the National
Urban League, he also sits on the
board o f several m ajor corporations,
some o f which are very much in
volved in South A fric a .
Several
months back, one o f these cor
porations asked its board members
to vote on whether they should w ith
draw fro m S outh A fr ic a . N ow
anybody who has follow ed events in
South A frica knows
that the
Africans have been urging foreign
companies to get out o f South
A frica , and thus, aid in the Black
struggle fo r liberation. One o f the
few Blacks in a position to cast such
an important vote, Jordan voted for
this corporation to stay on in South
A frica.
A dding insult to in ju ry , the
statement he made to the press
regarding his vote demonstrated a
disturbingly high degree o f insen
sitivity. His statement read: “ I could
not eat three meals at home
everyday, then come in here and vote
those people out o f a jo b .” To
somebody who does not know the
issues involved, I could forgive this
kind o f ignorance, but not Jordan.
He knows the dollar was more im
portant and those brothers and
sisters languishing under South
A fric a ’ s slave system be damned.
Since Israel is now emerging as one
o f South A fric a ’ s foremost trading
partners, could Jordan’ s anger at
Black “ in tru s io n ” in to fo re ig n a f
fairs have been prompted by this bit
o f intelligence? Is he afraid lest his
bosses get upset?
The political vision of Africa's top leader
(Continued from page I col. 6)
becomes a sort of ’’benevolent"
rationale for continued W estern
involvem ent in Zim b ab w e - to
prevent civil w ar. W hat do you
think of this outlook? And the
civil w ar projections?
NYERERE: I must say that it is a
great concern for me. I w ill confess I
don’ t like the fact that there are two
armies fighting in Zimbabwe. No
liberation - no country -- has had
tw o armies. You can’ t have a coun
try w ith two armies! But you know
Z A P U and Z A N U are fond o f the
British parliam entary model. I say to
them, “ Look, if you follow the
British model, then you must have
only one army because B ritain has
only one arm y.” I have told them
they must overcome this problem,
and we have discussed it u n til I think
they don’ t even want to hear from
me anymore. But the situation has
not changed. I am concerned about
this, and I think i f the West is con
cerned about this as well, then this is
a good concern on the part o f the
West. It isn’ t a ju stifica tio n to med
dle in the country’ s affairs, but it is a
reason fo r concern.
Q.:
Before w e look at the
rational course of developm ent
In the post-colonial period, I
w onder if w e could look at
developm ent gone astray. W here
do the Idi Am ins and Emperor
Bokassas come from ? W hat do
they represent historically in
term s of post-colonial develop
m ent for Africa?
NYERERE: Sometimes I think I,
also, am a racist. When a Bokassa
behaves as a Bokassa I feel bad.
When A m in behaves as A m in I feel
bad. There is a sense in which I am
also like those blessed racists who
point to Bokassa or A m in and say,
“ A h ! look at Black A fric a .” But
they don’ t point to H itle r and say,
“ This is a white m an.” Or to Salazar
or Franco and say, “ This is a white
m an.” They simply say, “ This is
H itle r. This is Franco. This is
Salazar.”
But w ith A frica they generalize.
They say, “ See what is happening in
A frica ? ” I could just as easily point
to Portugal and say, “ See what is
happening in Europe?”
So you say what does Bokassa
represent? Bokassa is a tyrant. A m in
is a tyrant and the w orld has had
tyrants. They never started in A frica .
Bokassa's hero was N apolion. A m in
quoted H itle r. So what is peculiar
about the tyrant in Africa?
T o put it the other way around,
also, I would be claiming a superior
position fo r A frica i f A frica never
produced any tyrants at all. I d o n 't
claim any superior position
A fricans. We’ re not saints.
produce tyrants.
for
We
M y real p ro b le m -w h a t I ’ ve been
complaining about, is the tendency
among A fricans to feel shy in front
o f these tyrants, to not denounce
them as tyrants. A n A frica n feels
ashamed when he sees a tyrant in
stead o f being angry.
So I d o n ’ t think i t ’ s a development
issue in A fric a any more than in
Europe, La tin America, Asia. A ll
these continents have had their
tyrants. These are not racialist ty r
ants. They are just tyrants o f history!
W ell, we are doing very well this
year. A m in is gone. Bokassa is gone.
But these are not the only tyrants
that have gone. Somoza is gone. The
Shah o f Iran is gone. W ell! We are
doing quite well, aren’ t we?
Q.: You've chosen to follow
socialist paths of developm ent
for the Third W orld, not just in
Africa. Tanzanian socialism is
obviously d ifferen t from other
forms. H ow w ould you describe
its ideology?
NYERERE: I would describe our
ideology as socialist. That’ s all.
We’ re fighting against capitalism, all
o f us. W e're trying to establish, I
hope, just societies, healthy relation
ships between individuals.
We’ ve started
from different
bases. I am not a M arxist. I do ac
cept the economics o f Marxism. I do
not accept some o f the philosophies
o f Marxism. But even the economics
have some d iffic u lty . Classically,
Marxism is a socialism o f the rich. It
is a socialism which starts with highly
developed capitalism,
a highly
developed proletariat. A t present it is
the United States, under Marxism,
which is really ripe fo r socialism. It
has a proletariat, and this proletariat
is a product o f capitalism itself.
M y problem is, having accepted
socialism as the right development
fo r my country, whether (I should
nurture capitalism u n til I have the
proletariat. In Tanzania the dom in
ant class is not the pro le ta ria t, i t ’ s
the peasants. S o cia lism here w ill
have to create wealth here. And so
starting fro m a d iffe re n t base, our
methodology is likely to be different.
But I hope the objective is going to
be the same.
I nope we shall succeed w ith d if
ferent methods to establish humane
societies where human beings can
live as human beings and not just be
dominated by property. Property
was never intended to dominate
human beings. Property was always
intended to serve human beings.
Wealth was never intended to live
side by side w ith poverty, ever.
Wealth was always intended to
discover what light is to darkness;
where there is wealth, poverty disap
pears; where there is lig h t, darkness
disappears. But capitalism succeeds
to work out this miracle—that wealth
can live side by side w ith poverty,
because wealth is used as power.
Socialism with p o ve rty-e q u a lity
with p o ve rty-is a big problem . And
so socialists have accepted the
language o f affluence. I th in k this is
a shame. Because that is where
Europe stood. I am still using the
same kind o f language, as i f the
wealth was there. It is not there. We
have got to create this wealth.
Q: T a n za n ia has s o u g h t a
course of a g ric u ltu ra l d e v e lo p
m e n t and s e lf-re lia n c e . H o w
w o u ld you look at th e s tra te g y
th at you have been fo llo w ing so
far?
NYERERE: We can feed ourselves
because o f our land d istrib u tio n . We
do not have la n d lo rd s . We are a
peasant country. The peasants have
land, and they can grow what they
like. Therefore, i f the rains are all
right, you can trust the peasants w ill
produce all the food that they need,
and enough surplus fo r the small ur
ban and service population o f Tan
zania. So that gives us a base from
where they can move.
But structurally, farm ing has not
changed. Technologically, farming
has not changed. Therefore, our
agriculture cannot support a rapidly
growing industrialization. We must
industrialize. But i f the momentum
o f industrialization was to pick up,
become rapid, before our farming
has become more e fficient, we would
run into trouble. A nd that is our next
stage, which is making this farm ing
produce more good surplus o f food
and also raw materials fo r our in
dustries.
The problem we have now really is
the m ajor problem o f the inter
national com m unity. This year we
arc consuming less o il than we con
sumed in 1972. But we are paying
nine times as much fo r it. You can’ t
call a country “ developing” when
today it is consuming less oil than it
was seven years ago. The only reason
why we're not collapsing is also
because o f some o f our agricultural
successes I ’ ve been talking about.
Otherwise, quite fra n kly, a country
like this could just collapse But this
year I am going to spend h a lf o f our
export earnings on o il, it is not going
to be very easy to pay fo r the im
provement
of
our
farming
techniques w hich we need This is a
vital problem o f all T h ird W orld
countries, the non-oil producine
countries.