rage 2 Portlend ObHrver June 21. 1 •
EDITORIAL/OPINION
Soweto: Four year1 later
lly N. F11,,._1 K11mbw/ll
T RUT H is Stranger
than ST RANGEI
Fenwick. "Blanchard aides" really defines the
problem.
When a new administrator takes over, it is
More than 7,000 worken in the
expected that he will make edmini1trative Uitenhqe area, the centre of South
changes - either of personnel or of structure. Africa's auto induatry were on
Ordinarily the top administrators - the right strike this pasl week. they were
hand men of the outgoing director - either demandina hiaher waaes: they
currently make $1.35 per hour and
resign or are fired.
they were demandina $3.75 per hour
So far, none of those administrators closest minimum. The strike had a ripple
to Dr. Blanchard have offered their effect in that other factories not
resignations arid they have been assured that directly hit by strikes were still
there will be no "hatchet job." One ad - forced 10 shut down for lack of
ministrator, for example, is Don McElroy who parts. In all, 1welve companies were
forced 10 shut down last Friday, in-
was brought to Portland by Or. Blanchard and cludina Goodyear Tires.
who had worked with Blanchard in New Jer-
Black municipal workers near
sey . Many believe McElroy, through his Port Elizabeth in the eastern Cape
orQanizational skills and his relationship with joined the strike. Repeated efforts
staH. was crucial to Blanchard's functioning . al quellina the school boycott
There has been much speculation about initiated by mixed race students in
April have so far failed. Far from
whether he would, or could stay with the endina, rhe boycott has actually ex-
district when Blanchard leaves.
panded as Black and white students
McElroy's job description has been changed have joined in. At last coun1 six
Black universities were closed and
-- as will his role. He will not be the right hand
there were reports of "solidarity
man; he will be one of three right hand men.
boycou" even in the Oranae Free
Those administrators who were close to and
State, the equivalent of your deep
loyal to Dr. Blanchard are being given an op- soulh in rhe early "60s."
portunity to determine whether they are
Last Monday, June 16, was the
" Blanchard aides'' or school district ad-
fourth anniversary of the bloody
Soweto riols of 1976. The reported
ministrators.
Dr . Blanchard had a full year to decide death toll of I J to 16 year old Blad
school children ranged from a low
whether he would work with a new School of 575 to a high of 1,000. Damaae
Board to develop new goals and new 10 property ~as conservarively
programs. He did not accept the opportunity estimated at SI 00 million. One I hina
ana now he 1s gone. His "aides" have the Soweto did that nothin1 else could
have a~complished was focus atten-
same opportunity to become part of the new
tion on the v1i.:1ousness of apartheid.
era .
Mui.:h as the regime tried to hush up
This action, although it does not please lhe ~hole thin1, Soweto "as just
those who would like to see a "clean sweep, "
100 big 10 be swept under the rua.
should allay the fears of those who believe a
Judging from e\ents so far, both
side\
seemed 10 have learned lessons
vindictive Board will reson to firing those who
from
1he So~eto massai.:re. The
have not supported it in the past.
A southern folk tale originating among the
1>reservators of the slave owning culture may
c;hed some light on the performance of these
tew neQroes who lament the removal of Blan-
chard from the position of school superinten-
dent.
Once there was a slaveowner who upon the
ending of the Civil War was dispo11e11ed of
his slaves. He became deapondent over losing
his wealth and began drinking and gambling.
What few resources he had left were soon
dissipated and he became a derelict. One day
he was carried to jail for failure to pay his debts
and a forme, slave witnessed the arrest. The
slave demonstrated his loyalty and fidelity by
offering to sell himself into slavery again in
order to satisfy the debts for which "old mar-
se" was imprisoned.
This stereotype has remained a treasured
memory in the resen,oir of white racism and it
continues to furnish the Quidelines for what
many whites believe is the responsible negro.
However, those among the Black population
who are "politically Black " customarily
acknowledge that any persons of color har-
boring such misplaced attachments are divor-
ced from the Black liberation movement and
are irretrievable.
Blanchard's aides?
The morning Oretlonian points out that
'Blanchard's aides" have been shifted into
new assignments as part of the reorganization
planned by acting superintendent Or. James
Letters to the Editor
Cuba erases institutional racism
I tl rhe l J11or:
!\kmhen anJ teai.:hen. tn rhe
Portl.and hiui.:a11onal Sysrc:m in
PllrrlanJ should atrenJ the: June:
.:!Mrh rrogram at the Ktng Neiahbor-
hovd •a~1h1~·. Jealina ~,th "Clrltd
<. arr 11nd l:.'du,·011on in Cuba. "
l uha roday ,s a society ,n 1ran-
\lll\lt1 II t\ a 'i\Xtety transformina it•
sell .and 1u people. Today free
(Jui.:illllln ,~ provided for all aae
11rouJ" from infant\ to adults. Child
,·.ire ,·c:ntcn ha\c: bet-n built all 0\er
rhe t)land rnmarily 10 frtt women
to r 11r11i.:1rate fully tn the «onomi~
and ,01.·1al lire or the country. They
al!oo ,ene "' ;in important first step
m the edui.:a11onal process. The ar-
ttfa·al di\t\tlltl bet~ecn mental labor
and phH1c.1l labor that e'1sls in
..:.1r1tah,1 soctettes ,s being
,\ ,1c:ma111.·all)· broken down, ~ ith
the .11m of creatmg a full human
bemg
\\ 1th the c:mphaSIS on education
,, .1 prerequisite for o,ercomina
underde,elopment, a 1rea1 stress
ha\ bet-n la1J on teacher trainina.
l nlike the L .S. and many parts
llf I atin l\menka and the Carib-
bean, Cuba toda\' 1s a multi-racial
\01.·tel\ ~llh0UI racial srrife. This
dot's nor mean there are no \·esliacs
1 ra~1\m rema1nin1 Because of
ra,1 d1si.:r111unat1on there are
probabh proportionately fewer
Blad.
doctors,
university
rrofessor "• enamerrs, etc., than
, ucas,lids Also the educational
process and natural a11n1ton are
slowb but relentlesaly eliminatina
ind,, 1Jual mamfestations of racism.
or1an1 .111on of contemporary
l uban so~1et\ no lonacr support
racism, and the 10\ernment itself is
elplkitly anti-racist.
You ~ill not find the Christian
Kniahts of the K.K.K . in Cuba,
b«ause they do not represent 1he tn-
rc:rests of roor and "orktng dass
caucasoids. Where "as the Klan in
the last ~ntury when the ~hildren of
caucasoid sharecroppers tn the U.S.
died from pellaara? Where: "ere
they ~hen caucasoid farmers "ere
l:'icted from their homes by the
bankers? Where ~ere they ~hen
caucasoid ~orkers organized mto
unions to figh1 for Ii\ ma "aaes?
The Klan speak for the rich and
powerful ,n Amerika, and 1hey
always ha\e.
Cuba is 1he only coun1ry tn 1he
\\ es, Indies and in this hemisphere
~hil.:h has broken " llh caucasoid
po-.er ... ~aucasoid power ,s the
ro~er of caucasoids 0\'er Bladts
~11hou1 any participation of the
Bla~ks. In Portland, poor and
working class people arc: treated like
passi\·e spectators of a dis1an1
drama, by lht' Board of Education.
like Jamai~a•s Blad people
today, they were the poorest and
most depressed people on the island,
while real power was tn the hands of
the U.S. imperialists. Blai.:k Cubans
fou1h1 alonaside caucasoid Cuban
workers and peasants because they
were all oppressed. Black Cubans
today enJoy political, t'\.-Onomic and
social ri1h1s and opportunities of
exac1ely the same kind as caucasoid
Cubans. They 100 bear arms in the
Cuban Militia as an expression of
their basic ri1h1s. In other words,
caucasoid power in Cuba 1s ended.
The majority of the caucasoid
population naturally predommatn
numerically tn mo\l spheres of ac-
t1-.i1y but rhey do not hold dominion
over Blai.:ks ~i1hou1 regard 10 rhe
latter', mteresrs. Blacks ha\'c:
achie\l:d rower commensurare ~ith
their u-.n numbers by their heroil.:
self-efforts durina the days of
sla\ery , in figh1mg a1a1nst the
Spamsh and ,n fi1h1ing aaainst im-
perialism. HaHng achieved their
rtllhls rhey can tn fact afford to
tor1e1 rhe category "Black" and
think simply as Cubans citizens, as
socialtst equals and as men and
-.omen.
Contrary 10 much opmton ,n the
Un11ed States today, the Cubans are
a highly blended and multi-racial
people. One is reminded of the
people of Puerto Rico or the range
tn color and features of old Bla~k
communittes
,n
Atlanta,
Washinaton, D.C., or Baltimore. In
addition, -.ith the triumph of the
re,olution, many of rhe caucasoid
ra~1st Cubans, the comprador
bouraeoisie ~ ho served as lackeys
ror L; .S. imperialism, fled the coun-
try for the conaenial shores of
Florida. In terms of U.S. propagan-
da. ii 1s significant that durina the
days or the Batista reaime, U.S.
propaganda, touted Cuba as beina
"a aood place for colored people,"
and rqarded Cuba as ha,·ing a non-
caucasoid population. With the
revolution, however, the propqan-
da hne chanaed and Cuba suddenly
became a place dominated by
i.:au~1d people, tn ~hkh the non-
caucasoids -.ere unequal.
Respec1fuUy,
Dr. Jamil Clwrov«
Field Reprncntati\'e (CORE)
OBSERVER
1st Place
Community Senne•
ONPA1973
lstPtac:e
Best Ad Results
ONPA 1973
The Pt-
~
Eotor 'c111umn
.
5th Place
Best Editonal
ONPA1973
•
""'°"""
o,of . . . . . . .
..,, .. 'llcll"90Pf'<Of\ofl"9
Honorabl8 Ment>on
283-2 -
Nenonel Aften111t11 .....,_, .. ti . .
A~_,l"\IH-.e Inc
ALFRED L. HENDERSON
Editor Publisher
N-'Yotta
~
N:llfk,,ER 1··, ■ p
.............
,.,.,...
·- .
'
~
Editonal Award
NNA 1973
2nd Place
Best Ecltonel
lrd ~,ace
Comm ., ~ LNdersh~
ONPA1975
i~~
studenl~ boycott this 11mc: around is
a 101 heller ~oordinated and they
\eem to be raking e,tra precautions
to keep lhe focus of the boycott on
the central ,~sue: unequal education.
the polii.:e, supposedly, are exer-
Cl\tng "more restraint." So far the
dc:ath toll, tn almost three months ol'
demonstrations, stands at 42. The
students also have been a iot more
successful al solicitina 1uppon from
1he worken. Last time around. the
police manaaed to use an aae-old
trick: pit one aroup a1ain1t the
other: 1 he studenu aaalnat the
workers and sometimes "different
ethnic aroups." Now everyone un-
derstands that the students are
fi1h1in1 for all of them.
Educalion was a loaical choice to
focus on in the fiaht aaainst apan-
heid because of the inherent
inequities. To bqin with, there are
four separate and unequal ministries
of education: one white. one Black,
one Asian and one mixed race.
Government upenditures per
student is as follows; $905 .00 per
white student; $446.00 for an Indian
student; $281 .00 per .. coloured"
(mixed) student and only $89.00 per
African student. In spite of these
1larin1 inequities, the apartheid
reaime is still tryina to blame the
current s1uden1 unrest on "outside
aaitators!"
What alarms the apartheid reaime
the most is the fac1 1ha1 this school
boycott is only a tip of the icebera in
whal has become a very
sophisticated and broadbased attack
on the whole system. Soweto shook
apartheid to its very foundations;
this new attack threatens to shake
even further the now jittery struc-
ture. Already Western nations are
sending words of warnina 10
Pretoria that "any larae scale
repression
will
jeopardize
relations." To a regime that has
spent the last four years tryina 10
repair its tarnished imaae abroad,
this i.:an only be seen as a major set-
back . Beller yet, ir gives the
Africans added ammunition to ask
for stronger measures aaainst South
Africa.
Haunting the apartheid reaime
are grim reminders of the fallout
from Soweto "76." The botched up
murder of Steve Biko and the sub-
sc:quc:nt inquest; the disarace and
forced resignation of Johannes Vor-
1ter, prime arcbJtect of aputbeid;
mulderptt acaadal ud the rorcec
reeipatJoa or COIUUt Mulder, tbet
Minilter of Information, expoeure
of South Afrca'1 covert ovtrMU
opcratlon1 aimed at manipulatla,
public opinion in Europe and tbe
United States and the ;,epped up cf.
foru of foe1 of apartbtld to
economically isolate South Africa.
The fear in South Africa ii that the
current student boycott1, wave of
1trikes, stepped auerrilla attacks,
Black activism could triger another
such anti-South Africa posiure
around the world, The recent ~II
planned and well executed liahtnina
auerrilla raid on the SASOL coal
auification plants and oil refineries
that destroyed eiaht oil storaae
tanks could only have further un-
dermined white morale.
In Namibia, South Africa is
farina no better. Previously the
SW APO Liberation Movement's at-
tacks were reported 10 be limited
mostly to the northern areas bor-
derin1 on Namibia. Lately,
however, the reaime has admitted to
clashes takina place as far south as
Windhoek, the capital. Recently,
SW APO auerrillas managed 10 blow
up two power plants that supply the
entire country. The result was that
for several hours, the whole country
was plunged into darkness.
In a desperate move reminiscent
of one Ian Smith, South Africa
raided Angola on what it claimed
was a move lo destroy "SWAPO
bases" . Fiaures they released (for
propaganda purposes) claim 200
SWAPO auerrillas, and 16 South
African soldiers killed . Even accep-
ting such obviously doctored
fiaures, this would be the highest
toll the regime has admi11ed suf-
fering in a single mission.
Everywhere South Africa looks,
she seems to be falling deeper and
deeper into a tunnel. Conversely,
for the Africans, the Light of Liber-
ty. so long hidden. seems 10 be
edging closer.
Notes from City Hall
8.} Charlt':5 Jordan
Comm,ssio,wr of Pubhc SD/tty
our of every ten -.ould make ii
throuah colleae. You said, "Most of
you ~on't make: it." Being that I
~as 1n my state of narcissism, I
naturally assumed I had 10 be that
one tn ren and that everyone ob-
\'iously kne-. 11. You -.·ent on 10 say
that you challenaed each one there
Charles Jordan :
to be that one in ten. I resented the
I had intended to ~ rtte this letter challenge and played it off that
prior to i.:ommencement, but I got )·ou'd mc:ant only the braided
100 m,olved tn finishina finals and brothers to take heed.
\\ c:11 anywa)·, freshman year went
all. Today, betn1 Father's Da)·, did
remind me 10 ~me 11 rhouah . I extremely -.ell; I ~ould take an
guess I should 11e1 10 the poml and O\erload and still make the dean's
qu11 ~ tth the solemni111es. About list. This reinforced m)· resen1mc:n1
four years ago there ~as a mttttnl of your challcnae. The sophomore
(sponsored b)· -.horn, I for101) for
year .:ame around and thinas trans-
Bla1.·k hiah school 1raduating semor
formed. I chanaed schools (from
malt's and )'OU ~ere the gues.
S.O.S.C. to U. of 0.) and joined a
speaker. Ir "as at a ume ~hen I had fratern ity. Ri1h1 away 1hin1s 101
a lot of thinas gotng for me and life touah and m the middle of the year I
was pre11y aood I ~ as going 10 "'as ready to quit. This 1s when your
Europe for the summer, I had ,hallenae first had applied affects
recei,ed a aenerous scholarship, I on me. Because I thou1h1 it was 100
was gelling man)' a~ards from cocky of you to say all 1ha1 prior 10
school and different organizauons I this time, I still wanted to prove you
belona 10, and was lookina fdrwaia . "'rona. but then did I realize that my
10 entenna colleae.
future ~asn't 1uaran1ced and that I
Anyv,ay, at this function, some of "as tn lhe same boat now which I'd
the students didn't present them- prece1ved the others -.ere 1n. II was
selves "'ith what the sttuation called a rude a•akmina.
for, and you addressed this m your
I decided 10 stick ii 0UI and
messaae You commented on their maybe chanae my maJor 10
weanna braids, Jeans etc , to 1he somethina easter such as An (even-
mtttma, and then you proceeded to tually. I didn't because 11 sttmed
make the statement that only one like settlina for less than my poten-
Our respons1b1li11es a~ adulr s "ho
challenae and ~ork 10 inspire youth
are \Cry 1mporti1nl ; for 1oday ' s
youth arc: tomorro~ 's leaders .
I \\OUld hke to share one: such tn·
spiratton ~,th you .
"Only ont our of tf'n mokt it ... "
rial and cheating myself). It made
me: realize I wu no belier than the
others and that maybe the one with
the braids was 1ha1 one in 1en.
Junior year was 1he pits! It was
hones1ly the "'orst year or my lire.
Nor only ~·as school ge11in1 10 me.
but other problems had arisen.
Alona "ith advice and a lot of
prayer. your ~ ords honestly kept
me moti\'ated to hana in there.
Senior year, I ~anted it bad enouah,
but was gelling tired of the fight. I
knew I ~ould get my dearee, bu1
often needed a kick in the ass 10
keep me: gomg. A1ain your ~ ords
kepi going thro"lh my mind to rid
me of the Senior year blues (as they
are called).
The "'hole potnl I am leadmg up
10 in my round about ~ay 1s to
thank you for your unknowmg m-
sptratton and your hauntina. help-
ful, words. They helped me to sur-
Vt \'e. Last Sunday (June 81h) I
gradu&1ed from U of O -.,1h a
B.A. m Marketina Mostly, l want
to thank you for helpina me prove
you -. rona. I am one of the one tn
ten Also, hopeful!). rhere "'ere
others m rhe aroup that made 11 too.
I hadn' intended for 1he letter to
be so Iona, but I guess I Just aot
carried a~ay Before this noHI
becomes a part of an encyclopedia
I'll stop Once again I 1n1ly am
ara1dul, and thank you.