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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 1980)
» Page 2 Portland O bserver February 7,1980 EDITORIAL/OP1NION South Africa: fallout from Rhodesia By N. Fungai Kumbula Boise community control In southern A frica, the so-called “ domino theory” is back at work again. The theory works something like this : at one point not too long ago, there were several white m inority regimes: Bot- swane, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, M alwai, Zambia, Angola and Rhodesia. As one by one the m inority regimes were top pled, beginning with Zambia and Malawi in 1964 then Lesotho, Bot swana and Swaziland in 1964 and finally, Mozambique and Angola in 1975, pressure kept m ounting on those regimes that were left. Just like dominoes, each m inority white regime that was toppled seemed to topple the next one in turn. school would be operated by a committee of persons representing organizations that have a demonstrated interest in education, com munity members, residents of the Boise atten- dence area, parents and students. This com mittee would have the authority to select the principal and w ith him the staff; control the budget; design the curriculum; determine discipline policies; etc. It would be directly responsible to the School Board. This committee would, of course, have to work within the policies and regulations set by the School Board, which has responsibility for operating the schools. Can it be done? It has always been the philosophy of this country that citizens can and should control their schools. School Board are made up of lay persons - not educators - and the rights of local school boards have been jealously guarded. If the residents of small towns across the country can run their schools, why can't Blacks? Both of the desegregation plans proposed by the School Board and the education plan to be presented by the Black United Front leave Boise Elementary School as a Pre-K-eight or a K-eight school. Boise's student body is about 90 per cent minority, with a large concentration of Cam bodian children and some Indians, Chicanos and students from other minority groups. The school has the opportunity to become an exemplory multi-ethnic school with a strong bi lingual component. About ten years ago the Model Cities Education Committee advocated community control over one school and desegregation of the others through pairing. Of course, the School District violently rejected both ideas. In the meantime, little desegregation has oc- cured and little improvement has been made in the education provided Black children. The Board has the opportunity to make Boise a pilot community Control sghool. The Now, the only three countries left in southern A frica are Rhodesia, South A frica and Naimbia. The war in Zimbabwe (Rhodesia) as we saw recently, finally pushed the whites to accept the very same settlement they had rejected for fifteen years. Later this month Zimbabweans o f all colors w ill go to the polls to choose the country’s first democratically elected, Black m ajority government. So, barring some last minute hitches, to all in tents and purposes, another white m inority regime has toppled. Now all that’s left is Namibia and South Africa. Letters to the Editor More jails not the answer C oncerning the e d ito ria l 12/27/79, " N o More Prison.” In essence, our foreign policy today s till remains a shackle on the liberation struggle in this nation. A ro un d this nation, caucasoid youth are already in motion by the tens o f thousands led by hundreds o f skilled organizers and tacticians who recognize Vietnam and Cam bodia as the fuses which may yet light a world holocaust. We shall make a q u a lita tiv e change in A m e rika when the laggard caucasoid workers stop looking in fear at the com petition potential Black workers represent, and find men who will lead them in concert with Blacks, their allies, to establish peace and justice, based on a system which w ill distribute the vast fruits o f their joint labor. D r. K in g s c o n trib u tio n to Am erika and the w o rld was his willingness and determ ination to confront a sick, insane and vicious Ainerikan system. He confronted A in e rika ’ s national sickness w ith her own health chart-the U nited States C o n stitu tio n . He marched under the banner o f the C o n stitution, and was jailed, beaten and finally killed. A ll the while M artin Luther King confronted A m erika with the haunting question: can a nation whose rights are so clearly defined and so loosely interpreted expect to survive? Throughout history men in power have always feared the man who could control the minds o f youth. Socrates was forced to drink the cup o f hemlock by the system to prevent him from further “ poisoning” the minds o f youth w ith wisdom and truth he learned on the continent o f Alkebu-lan (A frika). But somehow such attem pts to d iscred it and destroy have a way o f widening a m an’ s fo llo w in g . The cup o f hemlock destroys the very person who orders its consumption. And truth prevails. It’ s plain hell around this nation. People are pushing dope, they’ re in to p ro s titu tio n , and th ey’ re into mugging. It’ s not because they want to do this, but dammit, there is little left for them to look forward to. To deprive a person o f w ork is to negate a p o rtio n o f his or her h u m a n ity. The d ivision s o f A in e rik a n society, ra c ia lly and economically, also contribute to the problem o f organizing the unem ployed, making more d iffic u lt the development o f a common interest, a shared political consciousness and program. One group is pitted against the next and is led to believe that the benefits gained by others necessarily occur at their own ex pense. It is clear in whose interests it is to keep ethnic groups divided, just as colonialists o f a former era main tained their dominance through a policy o f divide and control. The inecitable pathway for untold numbers o f these poor and unem ployed people leads to lives o f crime, drugs, and hustling-trying to beat the system that all too frequen tly chews them up. W ithout decent remunerative jobs, the generational cycle o f poverty is given another spin and society picks up the tab in increased crime, welfare, and urban decay. The crim inal justice systern- the police, prosecutors, courts, and k o n c e n tra tio n kamps (p riso n s)- aggravates and com pounds the problem s o f Black and p oo r caucasoid people which steins from the racism and p o ve rty that surround th e ir lives. Rather than re h a b ilita tin g y o u th fu l offenders, the system o f crim inal justice rein forces c rim in a l b ehavior in the m anner in w hich it selectively punishes p oo r caucasoids and Blacks. Alongside the schools, it conspires to keep poor people in their degraded status on the pain o f rem oving them fro m society altogether. 1 believe, a successful attack on rising crime rates must consider the employment problems facing poor and unemployed people. What can be done, in the context o f the failure o f our moral and political systems, to provide jobs and a decent stan dard o f livin g fo r all Ainerikans. The most im p o rta n t and pratical measure that those outside o f government can take is to begin to apply massive political pressure on all institutions o f government. U ntil a movement fo r economic justice arises, "d e m o c ra c y " w ill remain a meaningless aphorism and “ equality” an empty slogan. From South A fric a ’s point o f view, the "lo ss” o f Rhodesia is going to be especially costly. The “ loss” o f Rhodesia, in the eyes o f most analysts may trigger what south A frica has feared for the last three hundred years: a Black takeover. As happened in Zim bab we after the Portuguese were over thrown in Mozambique, the war in tensified to the point where the whites were fu lly forced to concede defeat, so now in South A frica it BUF proposes community middle schools PORTLAND OBSERVER The Portland Observer'» 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 nec.es serily reflect the opinion of the Portland Observer 283 2486 ALFRED L. HENDERSON Editor / Publisher National Advertlaing Representative Amalgamated Publishers Inc. Naw York ■ 5th Place Best Editorial • ONPA 1973 J Honorable Mention Herrick Editorial Aware NNA 1973 2nd Placb Best Editorial 3rd Place Community Leadersh > ONPA 1975 3rd Place Community Lemtershn ONPA 1978 Reports o f attacks on rural farms, border areas and such like have in creased almost tenfold w ithin the past few months. More significant too has been the number o f inciden ts reported in the cities and town ships. A few months back, twelve Black men stood trial in Pretoria ac cused o f attacking a police station in Soweto, Johannesburg where two Black policemen were killed and another two wounded. The same group o f twelve was also being charged with receiving training abroad and bringing weapons into the country for the purpose o f over throwing the government. Last month tw o Black teenagers, armed with machine guns, burst in to a bank in Pretoria and seized about a dozen hostages. For the release o f the hostages, they deman ded the release o f Nelson Mandela, president o f the A N C (A frican National Council) who has been in prison o f Robben Island since 1962. He was sentenced to life imprison ment for his advocacy o f equality o f all south A fric a ’ a people. Police stormed the bank and killed the two youth including one o f the hostages. This is the kind o f thing that sen ds shivers down the spine o f apar theid. South A frica is armed to the teeth and prepared to meet any in vasion just as Rhodesia was. A guerrilla war, however, is a horse o f very different color. As Rhodesia found out, all those sophisticated weapons are cirtually useless when you cannot even see the enemy, there w ill be no massive invasion o f South A frica. The Africans have found the simplest answer to the whites superiority in weaponry: guerrilla war. It worked in Vietnam, it worked in Mozambique, Angola, Guinea Bissau, Algeria, Zimbabwe and it is going to work in Namibia and South A frica. Even the nuclear bomb that South A frica is rumored to have w ill be o f no use unless the apartheid regime decides to blow everybody in that part o f the w orld, themselves included, to kingdom come. It is this fear in South A frica that had prompted the apartheid regime to prop up Smith fo r the last fifteen years. Even as we go to press, there are still an estimated 2,000 or so South A frican troops in Rhodesia that had been fighting alongside the Smith- Muzorewa forces in a vain e ffo rt to stem the Black liberation tide. Now that all o f that has failed South A frica is trying to influence the o ut come o f the elections. I f Muzorewa were to win, Ian Smith urged all whites to support Joshua Nkomo. He realizes that Muzorewa does not stand a chance so he is now trying to back Nkomo in another desperate e ffo rt to stop from winning out right. The thinking in Petoria is that, while Mugabe would no doubt throw his unconditional support behind the liberation o f South A frica , Nkomo would exercise a lit tle caution. Either way, with all these Black governments now staring her hatefully in the face, the future does not look too rosy. Once again, the question being asked is: “ how long can South A frica last?” Independence in Zimbabwe w ill also free Zambia, Mozambique, Angola, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland from dependence on South A frica for food, markets and export outlets. So South A frica w ill be m ointoring the Zimbabwe elections with a lot more than “ Big Brother” interest. HAP employee wins civil rights suit (Continued from P. 1 Col. 6) about residential security. Tenant concerns were related to flimsy locks and doors that could and had, been broken through. Swan conten ded he was told by Londahl not to "s tir up the tenants” about security. He sought punitive damages against Londahl for her actions disciplining him after the Dekuin Court tenant meeting. HAP contended at the trial that Swan’ s statements at the June meeting with tenants were not protected under constitutional rights of free speech and association, that Swan could no longer have been an effective em ployee at Dekuin Court because he had chosen to "cham pion tenant causes" rather than to support H AP policy, and that he was not entitled to a hearing since his transfer was Dr. Jam il Cherovee not for disciplinary reasons. Lon Field Dir. Tor (CURE) dahl said she preferred to view the memos and transfer as “ feedback.” She also viewed firing an employee as “ feedback” that was, she said, not necessarily bad because someday the employee might realize it had been the best thing that could today. have happened (Continued from page 1 col. 6) “ The m ulti-cultural education in barassed that he was still employed.” child about how his ancestors in M usolf denied knowing that Herndon explained that the BUI Portland is a disgrace. I was looking hearing dates had been scheduled fcgypt contributed to the formation at a list o f multi-cultural activities membership do not consider them for Swan and stated he knew only ot mathematics. Chemistry, done by some o f the schools and it selves to be experts in curriculum, that Swan had “ requested” a astronomy, reading, geometry -- all was pathetic. Here is King school but they want the school district iz> hearing when the H A P Board o f began in Egypt. And we now that the getting a grant to study Japanese and bring in curriculum and teacher Commissioners later met to consider Egyptians were Black people with Chinese, and they have never even training experts as consultants. wooley hair. It would give the Black the issue. M usolf alleged further The proposals w ill be discusses jt that the board had concentrated on been taught about themselves. I f I child motivation if you could tell him was in charge and someone turned King Neighborhood Facility, Thur whether or not Swan was entitled to that his ancestors did this 5,000 years in a report like that, I’ d be ern- sday at 7:00 p.m. ago and so surely he can learn math a hearing rather than whether such a hearing, if held, sould be open or closed Swan’ s attorney stated that 1st Place board minutes showed otherwise. Community Service ONPA 1973 H A P attorney, Miles Sweeney, The Portland Observer IUSPS 968 6801 is published every Thurs dey by Exie Publishing Company, Inc , 2201 North Killingsworth, stated at the trial, in reference to the Portland, Oregon 97217. Poet Office Box 3137, Portland. Oregon 1st Place Dekuin Court playground issue 97208 Second class postage paid at Portland, Oregon Best Ad Results that, “ we’ d all like a park next door ONPA 1973 Subscriptions »7 50 [ » ' year in Tri County area; »8 00 per year to us.” He mentioned H A P budget outside Tri-County area Postm aster Send address changes to the Portland Observer. P O Box 3137, Portland. Oregon 97208 self, the number o f guerrilla attacks has risen dramatically since the Zimbabwe victory. cut», though on a late 1979 K O IN television program, “ Northwest Illustrated,” it was stated that H A P ’ s federal funding had in creased ahead o f inflation over the past years and that many people see cuts in social services to tenants as being due to H A P priorities rather than fund cuts. H A P agreed at the trial that services were cut and said that employee jo b descripitons, in cluding Swan’ s new job descripiton prior to the June meeting with tenants and M usolf, reflected this policy change. Attorney Sweeney questioned a Dekuin Court resident about her in come and amount o f rent paid in an e ffo rt, he said, to illustrate the benefits that thousands o f eligible families were not able to enjoy; Judge Edward Leavy refused to allow the question. In his closing statement, attorney Edstrom decried this as one "lo w p o in t” in the trial and an attempt by Sweeney to make it appear that “ single mothers receiving assistance were living the life o f Riley.” Witnesses, three from Dekuin Court and one former tenant manager at Dekuin C ourt, were denied by H A P ’ s attorney, per mission to sit in the courtroom after their testimony until the afternoon o f the tria l’ s second day. They waited in the hall " t o lend moral support.” In his closing statement, Sweeney stated that even i f Swan had been granted a hearing by H A P , it would not have been possible for him to be transferred back to Dekuin Court as he believed. Swan attorney Edstrom said that this showed what a "sham ” the whole process in that "o pe ratio n ” is, that even if Swan had been granted a hearing, the decision had already been made. He said that the ju ry , in giving Swan his day in court, should read H A P ’ s grievance policy which clearly states that such an outcome, transfer back to an employee’ s previous position, is a possible decision o f a grievance hearing. Swan, was unemployed for eight months follow ing his resignation from H A P , is now employed at Providence Medical Center as a Mental Health Therapist. A fte r college in Wyoming, he served as a VISTA volunteer in West Virginia where he worked with people in rural areas, most o f whom were retired coal miners and their families. He also previously worked at Columbia Villa as Service C oor dinator fo r H AP. When asked about his feelings at the tria l’ s outcome, M r. Swan stated, " I ’ m overwhelmed. 1 can’ t tell you how good it feels to be vin dicated by an im partial ju ry. Dedicated people from Concordia Com m unity Association and from the Dekuin Court Tenant Organization stuck together throughout this whole matter, and I would have sunk w ithout their sup port. And, o f course, city officials and M ayor Goldschmidt played an instrumental part in getting some o f the playground back; I'm very grateful fo r that. It really has been a join t e ffo rt.” J: pitch W IN! B jzfl Birth D efects Jjgg are forever w m . Unless v o u aFPy > \ HELP MARCH OF DIMES THIS SPACE CONTRIBUTED BY Twf PUBLISHER I I I I I I I I I I I Subscribe Today $7.50 per year—Tri-county $8.00 per year—Other N A M E _______________________________ ADDRESS __________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ CJTY____________________STATE______ P ortland O bserver Box 3137 P ortlan d . O regon 97208 ZIP_____ . “I I I I I I I I I I I
