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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 16, 1981)
Portland Observer April 18, 1681 Paga 3 WEST COAST IS THE PLACE FOR From the Capitol CUSTOM FRAMING M N C E IM « We hive all the current trends in Interior Framing Rick Oaks. Contemporary Metals. Oriental Patterns. Natural Woods, Gold Leaf Traditional Our Expert Seles Consultants are available to assist you with all your framing requirements Congressman Ron Wyden WEST COAST PICTURE CORP. (E ditor's N ota: • This Congressman Wyden discusses his support fo r legislation to prevent economic discrim ination against women and fo r the House Budget C om m ittee's alternative energy budget.) Q Congressman Wyden, this week you agreed to co-sponsor a tax reform b ill designed to improve the economic rights o f women. Can you explain exactly how this b ill w ill benefit women - and our economy as a whole? A. Women in this country have long been discriminated against in public and private pension laws, in tax policy and in insurance and government regulation. The result has been women who cannot go to work because they can’ t get decent or affo rd a b le child care; widows who are left w ith no source o f in come because their husbands have w ritten them out o f their pension plans; women who are left w ith little to support them in their old age The equity act is by no means the complete answer to all the economic problems o f women. But it is a step in the right direction - and one that The beauty o f the Women’ s is p articularly attractive at a time Econom ic E quity Act is that in such as this when we must halt run rem oving many of these away federal spending if we hope to d iscrim inatory laws, it allows get our economy back on track. women to help themselves - and W hile the government may lose become productive members o f the some tax revenue, nothing in the bill w orkforce. Am ong the many would require additional govern provisions o f the proposed b ill is ment spending or new government one that would give tax credits to regulations. In fact, as more and employers who hire women entering more women enter or return to the the workforce after divorce or the workforce as a result o f provisions death o f a spouse. There are also o f the bill, they w ill pay more into provisions which allow employers to the Treasury in the form o f taxes - provide child care as a tax-free as well as increasing the overall fringe benefit sim ilar to health in pro d u ctivity, and thus, economic surance, perm it homemakers to health, o f this country. Q. Congressman Wyden, you establish Individual Retirement Ac counts in their own names even if also came out this week in support they don’ t have their own income, o f the House Budget Committee's and require a husband to have the recommended energy budget. Why written consent o f his wife before he do you feel this budget is preferable can exclude her from his pension to the one proposed by the A d ministration? plan. because, as homemakers, they are ineligible for retirement benefits in their own right. A. Because it is more in line with the present and future energy needs o f Oregon and America. I am very pleased that the committee was able to cut the recommended energy budget outlay by $2 m illio n more than the Administration requested. But I am especially pleased that the com m ittee recommended chan neling our energy money into energy conservation and renewable re sources, such as the low -incom e w eatherization program and the federal solar bank. I firm ly believe that that’ s how we should be spen ding our energy dollars i f we ever hope to free ourselves from the grip o f the OPEC cartel. It is important that we support energy programs that are essential to a safe and low cost energy future for Oregon and the rest o f the Am erica - and not waste hundreds o f m illions o f tax payers’ dollars to help pay fo r the cleanup o f the Three M ile Island nuclear plant. Angela Davis associates racism, capitalism By Ultysses Tucker, Jr. Angela Davis, form er Black Panther Party member, FBI fugative, and still powerful spokes person fo r the rights o f Blacks, came to W illiam ette U niversity representing the “ National Alliance Against Racist and P o litic a l Re pression’ ’ where she spoke out against racism, the KKK, and other param ilitary organizations out to destroy people o f color. “ People in America are under the illu s io n that we are progressing smoothly in this country,” she said, “ But I was reading a few weeks ago that a young Black man (Michael Donald) was found hanging from a tree in the state I grew up in. We tend to associate lynching w ith a bygone era. That doesn’t sound like progress to me. “ It sounds like historical regression to me and I ’ m afraid of what I see. There are brutal killings down in the supposely land o f Dixie...Atlanta, 23 Black kids have been killed and they have not found any clues. What do you think would happen if they started killing white kids? Those kids live in an area where there are paramilitary camps, where KKK recruits policemen, and where boy scouts are being trained kill Blacks. “ In California, there was a KKK rally approved by the City Council, and then in Salt Lake C ity, Utah, two Black joggers were killed because they were in the company o f a white woman. Does that sound like progress to you?” Davis, a native o f Birmingham, Alabam a, and in stru cto r at San Francisco in the P o litica l Science Department, feels that the only way to eliminate racism in America is to get rid o f the capitalist system. “ There’ s no way you can eliminate racism under a capitalist system because it ’s based on profit and not human needs. Just because we d o n ’ t have a socialist party running the country now, doesn’ t mean we have to wait to stop it. We are living in an era that’s in the stage o f transition and it’ s about to move to the next stage which is social ism,” she said. “ The capitalist system uses racism as a tool to make us (people o f color and working whites) fight each other and while we are fighting each other, we are unaware o f who the real enemy is and who we should be fighting.” Davis continued after a standing ovation. “ The capitalists had to make poor white people feel that they had more in common with their system than Blacks. So, they created a racial tension that serves as a means to altering unity among white workers and Blacks. The old southern farm er o f slavery was afraid that he was going to lose his p ro fits so he created the fad o f racism. White people were tricked.” It is o f the opinion o f Ms. Davis that Black people are not to be con sidered racist because it is not just a matter o f hatred. “ The fundam ental problem is that you can’ t call a Black racist because racism is a to o l that can systematically destroy, or eliminate a race o f people. When a Black says that he is tired o f w hite people, th a t’ s all he or she can really say. When white people say that they are tired o f Blacks, they go out and do something systematically,” she said. “ But people are fighting back,” she continued. “ Blacks have always fought back. I even think that there are some well meaning whites who are fighting too. I t ’ s essential for whites who consider themselves progressive to start fighting racism publically. H istorically, there have always been white people helping out Blacks but this country has sup pressed it fo r years. They d on’ t want the public to know. They would rather create tension. I f there’ s no help from the white worker, we can hang it up.” Davis believes that the only way to e ffectively enlighten people to what is happening in the w orld around them is to pound the pave ment. "W e must get back to the streets and let the system know what we want and deserve,” she said. "T he people w ith o u t power must jo in hands, organize, and let the collec tive voices be heard. We have got to struggle for it. Don’ t let them con vince you that you’ re powerless; if you do, you've lost the battle. You must remember that gains can be won. Those bus boycotts o f the 1960s were successful because people organized, knocked on doors, protested, and got around to let people know what is going on in the community.” Davis urged all people in the State o f Oregon to write the Governor in support o f the “ Racial Harassment B ill.” “ You’ ve got to make him travel up and down the State in support of that b ill. Y o u ’ ve got to keep the pressure on him to get the b ill nassed,” she concluded. &S0SN.E. Skidmore 282 7295 Hours: 8-5 Monday Saturday VISA MASTERCHARGE THE 25 HOUR CONTACT LENS IS HERE After years of waiting, the extended wear contact lens is on the market And we have it In stock, ready for you. Work, play, sleep Do it all in the 25-Hour Lens At the Contact Lens Clinic of Portland our only business is contact lenses Contact Lens Clinic of Portland Portland Medical Center 224-5367 Di James H Vale Optometrist Dr Philip Stockstad Optometrist Visa 'T d Mastere h a rg e W e lc o m e Financing A v aila b le on A pproved Credit T h e G r e a t W a ll o f C h in a is th e sole m a n -m a d e s t r u c t u r e t h a t m ig h t be v is ib le f r o m th e m o o n . The largest crabs in the w orld live o ff the coast o f Japan. They stand 3 feet high and o fte n weigh as much as 30 lbs. Pacific Citizen Power o f the Week DOT voids affirmation action goals The U.S. Department o f Trans po rta tio n has become the first major agency to attack and rewrite an im portant federal regulation instituted jo prom ote m in o rity business. A t issue are the mandatory sub sections o f the agency’ s m in o rity business enterprise (M B E ) rule instituted April 31, 1980 to measure compliance with its federal contract goals. In its place, the agency has proposed a vague and easily avoid able “ good faith effort” standard. Under the proposed interim rule, the DOT said, “ the basic judgement would have to be made in evaluating the adequacy o f a c o n tra c to r’ s e ffo rts is whether they really re present a good, hard effort to meet MBE goals.” The agency is also bracing for a comprehensive review o f its entire MBE policy to determine if it meets the W hite House’ s conservative regulatory view and objectives. The Reagan Adm inistration has also targeted for review and possible change the federal governm ent’ s equal employment o p p o rtu n ity policy, the basis o f A ffirm a tiv e Act ion "programs. Explaining in a notice published March 12 in the Federal Register why the minority business assistance rule landed on top o f its “ h it” list, the DOT said it was one o f the “ costly or co n tro ve rsia l” regulations. However, the agency did not say how it concluded it was not cost- effective. Further, the fact that the rule was beneficial to minorities and women did not seem to have been a factor in its decision. The DOT turnabout was also in response to legal and other pressures from the Association o f General Contractors, state highway depart ments and other opponents o f the rule. The agency said there are seventeen lawsuits filed in various federal courts challenging the MBE rule. The existing rules “ have been criticized as establishing an illegal quota system, conflicting with the principle o f awarding contracts to the lowest bidder," it said. Justifying this unusual shortening o f the comment closing date, the DOT said a longer comment period would likely postpone procurement actions. I f the proposed interim rule is implemented it w ould have a damaging effect on existing and prospective participants in the DOT MBE program, the m inority trade association said. The rule applies to all federally funded projects that come under Department o f T ransportation ju risd ictio n : highways, railroads, airports, seaports, etc. Also bearing an adverse affect on m inority business are the Reagan budget cuts; - The Labor Department’ s Office o f Contract Compliance is to lose 20 percent o f its capacity to review contractor complaints. - EEOC’ s staff w ill be cut by 10 percent this year, with more cuts to follow. Employees complaints w ill PCCteaches jobsearch technique An employment specialist w ill teach “ how to be one o f the creative m inority o f 20 percent o f the pop ulation who finds and gets 80 per cent of the good jobs” in a Portland C om m unity College jobs search workshop Wednesday, A p ril 22, from 7-9:30 p.m ., at Grant High School. Cost is $3. Dave Anderson, a vocational re habilitation counselor for Cascade R ehabilitation Counseling, 2130 S.W. 5th Avenue, w ill teach the workshop which covers finding job strengths and then moving in to a creative job search. “ This class is not a catalog o f jobs available, but a workshop in how to go about finding the job o f your choice,” Anderson said. I f a person wants to find jobs which are not advertised as open, Anderson suggests the individual learn “ how to circumvent the usual methods o f job search - mailing out the old resumes and reading the newspaper ads.” Anderson said he suggests a three step approach o f deciding what it is a person wants to do, where they want to do it, and then going to the person who makes the decision about jobs and bringing their plan to them. “ In the workshop I’ ll cover ways to get your foot in the door o f businesses,” Anderson said. He also w ill ask participants to do a quick autobiographical sketch and to work on a personal interest inven tory of self-exploration to see what they would most like to do... Anderson said the job market for college graduates now is good in engineering, management, account ing and data processing fields. For non-graduates, Anderson said jobs opening in electronics, mechanical repair work and mechanical main tenance are good. For reservations or inform ation call the PCC Stadium Center com munity services office. not be handled by EEOC but by the agencies that employ them. The O ffic e C iv il Rights in Health and Human Services, which enforces c iv il rights in colleges, schools and health fa cilitie s re ceiving federal funds, will have a 10 percent reduction. - Small Business Adm inistration loans w ill be reduced and interest raised. H U D ’ s Indian Housing program will be terminated. - Rehabilitation of public housing units will be drastically reduced. - The H U D re h a b ilita tio n loan fund will be terminated. - The Econom ic Development Administration will be eliminated. - Subsidized mortgage financing (Section 8) for low-income housing will be eliminated. - Number o f subsidized housing units to be built will be reduced. - H U D planning assistance and neighborhood self-help develop ment programs will be eliminated. - Physical diaster loans (home and business) will be reduced. PLASTERING E rickson's Plastering* Specialties. Plastering of all kinds. 284-8463 Interested in current books about Civil Rights? Visit; One of the community's most highly respected ministers is Reverend Thomas L. Strayhand, pastor of Allen Temple Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. Reverend Strayhand is a graduate of Paine College of Augusta, Georga and Gammon Theological Seminary of Atlanta. He is also a retired military chaplain. Rev. Strayhand's service to the church includes being Chairman of the Board of Finance, member of the Board of Trustees, Chairman of Missions, and Dean of Leadership Training for the Alaska Pacific Conference of CME. He is a member of the Board of Missions of the national body of the CME Church. He is a member of the Albina Ministerial Alliance and the Union Fellowship. He is a member of the Boerd of Directors of the Ecumenicel Ministries of Oregon end is on the Seerch Committee to find a new executive director He is a member of the NAACP and the Urban League of Portland and is former Chairman of the Board of the AM A Family Day and Night Care Program. Rev. Strayhand and hit wife Sarah have two daughters, Debra and Mary. JOHN REEO BOOKSTORE In the Dekum Building 519 S.W . 3rd Avenue Sixth Floor Or call: 227 2902 BROUGHTTO YOU BY Pacific Power
