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Page 2 Portland Observar January 22. 1981
Namibia: It's the same old song...
EDITORIAL/OPINION
January 20: A day to remember
January 20th was a busy day -- the hostages
were freed, the Oregon Suprem e C ourt
declared the Oregon death penalty law u n
constitutional, the House Committee on Aging
and Minority Affairs met in Albina for the first
tim e, a state w ide organization of w elfare
clients and the poor was established, and the
nation got another new president.
So although the inauguration of Ronald
Reagan as president is ominous for Blacks and
others minorities and the poor - the day was
tempered with other positives.
The end of the death penalty is significant,
not only because the poor are executed,
but because it is immoral for the government
to kill.
The organization of a state wide organiza
tion of low incom e people and w elfare
recipients is an im p o rta n t move tow ard
organization to demand that the government
provide the basic essentials for those in need.
The current w elfare budget does not even
provide the basic constitutional right to life.
Perhaps this new organization will pick up the
spirit of King's Poor People's March and that
of the organizations of the '60s.
The hostages were freed, but w hile the
nation celebrates we should remember that
our nation is preventing the freedom of other
peoples through the provision of arms and
through economic domination.
While the hostages were freed, we should
remember that the US has one of the highest
incarce ra tion rates in the w o rld and th a t
Oregon has the second highest incarceration
rate of Blacks am ong the states, w ith
W ashington firs t. The press is concerned
about the psychological e ffe cts of the
hostages' long isolation and their return home.
But is there concern about the prisoners who
leave OSP w ith $100 and no place to go? Is
there attention to the causes of the crimes tht
send them to prison in such great numbers?
The m eeting of the House C om m ittee in
Albina was significant - not only as a gesture
in bringing the people's representatives to the
community, but in allowing the community to
set the agenda for the committee work.
W hether the sum of Tuesday's events w ill
be plus or minus depends on us. If those who
are concerned abo ut social program s,
education, welfare and bills of particular im
portance to Blacks like the racial harassment
bill and the Black Commission, and those who
oppose reinstatem ent of the death penalty
don't show up in Salem to lobby; if the people
who are worried about the problem s of the
poor, of edu cation and of ju stice do not
organize and work together; if we do not in
form our governm ent th a t our concern fo r
freedom includes all the peoples of the world -
then the net effects of the incidents of January
20th will be negative.
Black-Jewish unity
(Editor's Note: This editorial was originally
published in the Afro-American newspapers.)
The rise of right-w ing political religion --
racist and anti poor politics masquerading as
Evangelical faith - may be creating a quite
unexpected reaction: the rejoining of Blacks
and Jews.
If so, far rig h t, "b e lie v e rs " may be c o n
tributing to the very "backlash" that will prove
to be their undoing. Not only Blacks and
Jews, but also much of the old-line liberal
coalition, may be forced to combat politico-
religio fundamentalism.
Ever since the Seventies began, that
venerable coalition (which engineered much of
the civil rights legislation) has been falling
apart:
- A liberating and affirm ing sense of racial
dignity caused Blacks to forego alliances with
whites, following the purging of whites in SN
CC.
Growing bureaucracy in the unions, joined
by racist resentment against affirmative action
decisions, such as the Philadelphia Plan,
alienated trade unionism from the Black
struggle in some places.
- M ost im portant, the Bakke and Weber
court decisions, symbolic of many Jews fear
of racial quotas (due to the use of such quotas
against Jews) served to complete the Black-
Jewish break.
Because of these and other events, the
soothsayers have long announced the death of
the Black-Jewish liberal-uion coalition.
But the elections have scared some into
seeing, once anew, the need for allies.
The Atlanta leadership recoiled in disbelief
as white Baptist announced that God didn't
hear prayers of Jews. And both Blacks and
Jews have become alarmed by threats to turn
the United States into a "C hristian n a tio n "
(meaning, of course a WASP nation).
A pre-election assembly of Black clergy in
W ashington, D.C., also sounded the alarm
against the M oral M a jo rity, as did Patricia
Harris and other Blacks in government.
Now comes word that Jews (who have felt
estranged from most of the Black movement
for some time) have taken notice of this Black
concern for religious (as w ell as racial)
pluralism.
It is alm ost as if the M oral M a jo rity has
caused Blacks to reaffirm co m m itm e n t to
religious d iversity -- m eaning, of course,
especially the Jewish and Muslim minorities.
Thus, it was w ith much happiness that we
heard Rabbi Alexander Schindler, president of
the
Union
of
Am erican
Hebrew
Congregations, call on Jews to rejoin Blacks in
"c o a lito n s of decency against the ch illin g
power fo the radical right.”
Rabbi Schindler went even further. He said,
"W e w ill disagree w ith Blacks on racial
quotas, but we will continue to share a vision
of compassionate society and work together in
support of national health insurance, youth
em ploym ent, decent housing, and sim ilar
programs."
This clarion call to u n ity and a llia n ce
building is perhaps one of the most promising
things to happen in recent days.
It is a positive sign that all may not be lost,
that the forces of the right wing may not rule
for long, and that even Blacks and Jews may
be headed toward healing times.
Surely this past election has taught us (and
all who want to see a just and humane and
p lu ra listic society) th a t co a litio n s are ab
solutely mandatory in order to combat conser-
vativism and racism. It is time for a massive
"hom ecoming” of all who once shared in the
civil rights family.
Portland Observer
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By Fungai Kumbula
It was naive to have expected
or Namibia.
anything d iffe re n t. For a ll the
A ll along South A fric a had
hoopla the illegal South A fric a n
promised to allow the N am ibian
regime has received lately, it still has
elections to proceed this year. The
its collective head buried in the
UN U nder Secretary, Brian
sand. The only thing that has hap
Urquahart had even made a special
pened is that a few o f the grains o f
trip to Pretoria, the South African
sand has been blown aside but all it
capital, to assure the South Africans
revealed is that even after almost
o f he U N ’ s im partially since South
four hundred years, the head in the
A fric a had charged the UN was
sand is still as hard as concrete.
biased in fa v o u r o f SW APO , the
In spite o f the lessons o f Mozam
Namibian liberation movement that
bique, Angola and Zimbabwe, the
is expected to win any free and fair
“ th in k in g " i f one can call it that,
elections. The UN had gone so far
s till is: one step fo rw a rd and fo ur
as to cut o ff funding for SW APO’ s
steps back. The lastest backsliding
mission at the UN and, the
involves South A fric a ’ s latest an
liberation movement and its Front-
swer to the on-again, off-again
Line supporters (Angola, Botswana,
Nam ibian issue. Since 1977, the
Zimbabwe, Zam bia, Mozambique
United Nations has been negotiating
and Tanzania) had suspended
with South Africa to allow the hold
m ilitary operations in Namibia as a
ing o f UN supervised elections in the
gesture o f their commitment to find
UN trust territory South Africa has
ing pleaceful so lu tion to the
occupied ille ga lly fo r the last 61
Namibia issue.
years. In 1978. 1979 and 1980,
South Africa agreed to let these elec
Even w ith everyone concerned
tions be held but each time brought
bending over backwards to ac
up one or more o f its endless array
comodate her like this. South Africa
o f stalling tactics. The result has s till found a way to renege on her
been that the Namibian question has pledge. She refused to set a firm
been in limbo ever since.
date fo r the proposed N am ibian
After the people’s victory and the
elections claim ing that she needed
eventual ascendary o f the Mugabe
more time to be convinced that the
government and its pledge to build a
UN was im p a rtia l. The A frica n s
nation for all Zimbabweans regard
im m ediately headed fo r the UN
less o f colour, there was speculation
where they pressed fo r immediate
in ihe international arena that South
p u n itive measures against South
Africa would take this as a valuable
Africa. They are once again asking
lesson and quickly move to resolve
fo r the im p o s itio n o f a to ta l
the N am ibian problem and even
economic boycott o f South A frica
begin to make genuine concessions
including a c u to ff o f oil. In the past
w ith in South A fric a proper. The
such sanctions have been vetoed bv
latest development should put an
none other than the “ land o f the
end to any such misplaced hopes.
free and home o f the brave,” the US
The South A fric a n regime is s till
along with her other Western allies;
mired in the 16th century and stub Britain, France, West Germany and
bornly refuses to deal with 20th cen Canada. The Western argument
tury reality. Slavery is s till legal in
then was that sanctions should only
South A fric a and the apartheid
be used as a last resort after all other
regime has no intention o f changing methods had ta ile d. The A fric a n
the status quo in either South Africa nations are now pointin g out that
they have tried every conceivable
peaceful method there is; the only
other alternative left w ould be a
m ilitary confrontation The African
measure is likely to be passed by the
General Assembly which has a
T hird W orld m a jo rity and is con
sequently more sympathetic. It is in
the Security C ouncil where the
Africans are waiting to see whether
the West will once again come to the
rescue o f the belagured South
African regime.
S h ortly a fte r South A fric a
delivered her negative response to
the UN on the Namibian elections,
SW APO President, Sam N ujom a,
flanked by ambassadors from
Angola, Botswana, Mozambique,
Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe,
held a news conference at which he
declared SW APO was going to in
tensify the armed struggle because
that was the only way left to liberate
Namibia and her oppressed peoples.
He also expressed the hope that
Western nations would heed the
A fric a n call fo r a to ta l econom ic
boycott o f the apartheid regime and
so be counted on the side o f those
who fight fo r justice and equality
for all peace loving people all over
the world.
So in Naibia, as has happened so
many times before, it ’ s back to the
drawing board. Analysts say South
A fric a may have decided on the
latest stalling tactics because she ex
pects a friendlier ear in W ashington
with the incoming adm inistration.
The A frica n s are, therefore, also
anxiously watching to see if the new
administration will stand on the side
o f dignity and equality for all or if it
will instead be swayed by the current
wave o f right wing rhetoric trying to
turn back the hands o f time. More
than lik e ly , N am ibia w ill be
Reagan’ s first test in Africa.
The Red Year 1980
B y Dr. Manning Marable
Part / /
The last months o f 1979 and the
year 1980 brought a reemergence o f
a particularly virulent white racism
to the very center o f Am erican
society and p o litic s . T hro ug ho ut
U.S. h isto ry, there have been
periodically groundswells o f mass
support fo r a n ti-B la c k , anti-
Semitic, and/or anti-Catholic ideas;
the
n ativist
Know
N othing
movement in Northern cities during
the 1840s and 1850s; the white reac
tion against Black Reconstruction in
the late nineteenth century; the
xenophobia and racist/anti-Semitic
dogma o f the “ secon d" Ku Klux
Kian o f the Harding and Coolidge
administrations; the segregationist
South’ s "M assive Resistance" to
the c iv il rights leg isla tion o f the
1950s and 1960s. O nly the terrible
Red Summer o f 19 19, when hun
dreds o f Blacks were slaughtered,
lynched and in some instances
publicly burned, outdistanced the
racial crisis o f the more recent past.
Examples o f this new level o f
racist te rro r are almost endless; a
cross burnin g at the home o f a
Somerset, New Jersey, Black com
munity activist in November, I979;
the vicious execution o f 22 year old
Jimmy Lee Campbell, a Black deaf
man, by two white hunters because
“ they failed to bag a deer in their
day’ s h un ting t r i p , " in O ro v ille ,
C a lifo rn ia , January, I980; a nine
year old Black girl shot in Wrights
ville, Georgia, in the wake o f a rally
demanding an end to housing and
jo b d is c rim in a tio n ; fo u r Black
churches firebom bed in Far
Rockaway, New Y o rk , in M ay,
1980; two Black teenagers killed by
sniper fire in C in c in n a ti as they
walked to a neighborhood store in
June, I980; the near-fatal shooting
o f Vernon Jordan, executive direc
tor o f the National Urban League,
at a motel in Fort Wayne, Indiana;
tw o young Black men kille d by
sniper fire in Salt Lake City, where
only days before a burning mattress
was thrown on the steps o f a Black
church and a burnin g cross was
planted at a tra n s it a u th o rity
w orkshop where a Black man
w orked, in August, 1980; the
mysterious murdr o f at least eleven
Black children in Atlanta, Georgia.
P a rticu la rly tragic were the racial
incidents in Y oungstow n, O hio.
T hroughout O ctober, I980, there
were widespread rum ors that the
Kian intended to plant a bomb at a
Black high school. Several Blacks
were chased o ff the streets by gun-
welding whites. Black owned
automobiles were deliberately shot.
F in a lly , a group o f w hite youths
decided to shoot “ a couple o f
niggers” at random . Their victim
was a young teenaged Black g irl
who had been playing along the
sidewalk in front o f her home. The
father o f one o f the white youths
admitted later that he allowed them
to use his tru c k , even though he
knew o f their plans in advance.
At the root o f many o f these in
cidents was the Black comm unity's
historic enemy, the Ku Klux Kian.
In its " g lo r y days” o f the early
1920s, the KKK entered state and
local elections w ith great success.
During I922 and 1923 the Kian elec
ted governors in Oregon and
Georgia, a U.S. Senator in Texas
and hundreds o f sheriffs, state at
torneys, mayors, judges and police
com m issioners. In I924 it helped
elect governors in C olorado and
M aine, won almost complete con
tro l o f the state o f Indiana, and
claimed between 3 tO 5 m illio n
members. On one n oto rio us oc
casion in Augus, 1925, over 40,000
robed Klansmen marched down
Pennsylvania Avenue. Between the
Great Depression and the eve o f the
modern C ivil Rights Movement, the
Kian alm ost disappeared as a
natio na l force. YEt according to
U.S. Justice Department statistics,
from I945-I965 the KK K was
“ responsible fo r 70 bom bings in
Georgia and Mississippi, 30 Negro
church burnings in Mississippi, the
castration o f a Black man in B ir
mingham, 10 murders in Alabama,
and 50 bombings in Birmingham.”
A fte r a b rie f period o f decline,
the Ku K lu x Kian returned as a
national force o f political im p o rt
ance in the mid-1970s. The hallmark
o f this newest version o f the In
visible Em pire m ight be termed
"respectable racism.” Kian leader
David Duke is typical o f the trend.
(Exchanging) his mask and white
robe for a three-piece business suit,
(Duke) cloaks white supremacy in
misleading slogans such as “ reverse
d is c rim in a tio n "
and “ neigh
borhood schools.” He urges his
follow ers to file law suits and to
“ use the legal system to reverse the
gains o f the civil rights movement.”
Even though the fascade o f respec
ta b ility exists, the gutter tactics o f
Kian terrorism remain the same. In
1977 the Kian made headlines by
running vigilance patrols along the
U.S. M exican border, in a well-
publicized e ffo rt to keep un
documented Mexican laborers from
entering the c o u n try. In 1978 the
Kian mounted a major political o f
fensive in n orthern M ississippi
against the U nited League, a
grassroots c o a litio n o f Black ac
tivists and residents. In 1979, the
Kian was active in the U.S. Navy
yards in N o rfo lk ,
V irg in ia ,
distributing racist literature and at
tem pting to incite rio ts between
Black and w hite sailors; w orked
closely w ith anti-bu sing forces in
campaigns to halt p ub lic school
desegregation; brandished sawed
o ff shotguns and submachine guns,
shooting at SCLC marchers at a
D ecatur, Alabam a C iv il Rights
demonstration; cruised through the
Black neighborhoods o f B ir
mingham while shooting ramdomly
in to Blacks homes; firebom bed
houses in A tla n ta and burned
crosses at Black churches, schools
and homes in hundreds o f cities
across the country. In A p ril, 1980,
two Klansmen fired their shotguns
and wounded four Black women on
a street in Chattanooga, Tennessee,
s h o rtly a fte r tw o burning crosses
were discovered in the Black com
m un ity. In July, one o f the klans
men was convicted on a reduced
charge after he admitted shooting
his gun. The other tw o Klansmen
were acquitted on all charges.
The most publicized incident o f
Kian violence occured in Green
sboro. North Carolina, on Novem
ber 3, 1979. Approximately 75 anti-
Klan demonstrators were meeting in
a Black housing project in
preparation fo r a m arch. About
fo rty armed Klansmen and Nazis
drove into the project and provoked
an argum ent. As dem onstrators
scattered, the racists began
shooting. Five unarmed people, all
members o f the C om m unist
W orkers P arty, were kille d and
eleven were wounded. Only 16 out
o f 40 Kian and Nazis at the shooting
were indicted, and o f that number
o nly 6 were eventually trie d . The
d is tric t attorney refused to order
tw o U.S. government agents who
had infiltrated the groups to testify
as witnesses. Defense attorneys
forced all Blacks o ff the ju ry , and
an anti-communist Cuban exile was
selected as ju ry forem an. Despite
overhwelming evidence on television
videotape, the all-white ju ry found
the tw o Nazis and four Klansmen
not g u ilty o f rio t or m urder. The
Greensboro executions and the sub
sequent acquittal o f the murderers
seemed to many activists to provide
legal approval o f the future
Klan/Nazi terrorism.