Portland Observer April 18, 1681 Paga 3
WEST COAST IS THE PLACE FOR
From the Capitol
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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.
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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.
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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.
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519 S.W . 3rd Avenue
Sixth Floor
Or call: 227 2902
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