Pag« 2 Portland Obaarvar July 23. 1981
EDITORIAL/OPINION
What kind of example is this?
Twenty-one young men, most of them from
Penninsula Park and many of them Black,
were invited to wrestle in an international meet
in Vancouver, B.C., prior to the World Junior
Championships. The young people made the
com munity proud - not only sweeping the
meet - but acting like gentlemen.
They had an opportunity few students have
- to represent their state and country, to travel
to another nation, to meet young people from
all over the world.
This opportunity was tarnished by the
behavior of one individual - a grown man -
who brought insult on all of us by his behavior.
If Dale Thomas, coach of the Oregon State
University wrestling team, wants to hob-nob
w ith the South Africans - let him. But we
highly question the ethics and integrity of a
university administration that will allow this
behavior in one of their employees. We further
question the integrity of a university ad­
m inistration that considered assisting this
project by requesting an NCAA waiver for
those students who were to go to South
Africa with Thomas.
The university should be advising its stu­
dents about the reasons why nearly all of the
nations of the world refuse to participate in
athletic events with South Africa. It should at­
tempt to educate these students about the
shame their action would bring on their school
and their country. They should also be made
aware that this trip would end their amateur
careers.
Realizing that the supposed goal of sport is
character building, the university should
closely examine the performance of its
wrestling coach. Is this the education we want
to give our children; is this the image we want
to project?
Citizen Review Boards do work
The Citizen Task Force on Police Internal
Affairs submitted to Commissioner Charles
Jordan and Mayor Frank Ivancie adds nothing
new but underscores the problems reported by
citizens for several years.
The report was as to be expected -- a
general summary of the complaints and
suggestions that been made over the years by
the com m unity and by Jordan. It offered
suggestions for minor changes, but not for a
significant increase in control over the police
force by citizens.
Among the conclusions are: that the citizen
complaint investigation process favors the
police both in substance and in demeanor of
the investigating officer; that many citizens are
unaware of the Internal Affairs Division and its
processes and others have no confidence in it
and do not use it; that the practice of post­
poning investigations when a law suit is pend­
ing favors the police bureau.
There is a lack of public information; the
bureau does not inform the public of the
process or the results; the AID investigations
are findings are not used in evaluation of in­
dividual officers or in determining need for
training programs. There is no adhered-to-
written policy for AID investigations.
The Task Force recommended better com­
munication between AID and the com ­
plainant, with more information shared, and
added com m unication w ith the public. In­
formation should be forwarded to the Chief for
use in promotions and in training.
The most significant recommendations
were that all cases be investigated immediately
and that a Citizens Advisory Group be appoin­
ted to advise the Chief and Commissioner
concerning the effectiveness and fairness of
AID. The committee could review cases when
asked by the bureau but would not recom­
mend discipline, and it could function as a
concilliating body for citizen complaints. The
investigative process would remain entirely
with the bureau and citizens would not be in­
volved.
The Task Force rejected the idea of a
citizen review board - saying they are not ef­
fective. We must question that conclusion
since inform ation on several successful
programs was available to the Task Force.
One example is Chicago, which has had a
review board since 1974. The Office of
Professional Standards is operated by three
administrators - all attorneys - and a staff of
civilian investigators. Investigations of com­
plaints are done by the office and the deter­
mination subm itted to the Commission on
Human Relations, the District Attorney and
the officer's supervisor. When the recommen­
dations of those parties are received, the
cased is closed, sent back for more in fo r­
mation, or referred with recommendations for
discipline. Final authority for discipline in all
but termination rests with the chief. To con­
sider termination there is a Police Board made
up of six civilian community and civic leaders
headed by an attorney.
The Detroit Board of Police Commissioners
oversees policies and procedures of the Police
Bureau. The Office of Chief Investigator,
created by the board, investigates complaints.
Reports of the OCI go to the Board's Citizen
Complaint Subcommittee. If improper con­
duct is indicated, the Chief of Police must
report to the Board on the OCI's recommen­
dations and the discipline taken. Either the of­
ficer or the com plainant can appeal to the
Board of Police Commissioners, who are
civilians appointed by the Mayor.
The current chairman of the Detroit Board
credits it with the 39 per cent decrease in fatal
shootings by police from 1974 to 1978, and the
57 per cent decrease in the first six months of
1979.
These are only tw o examples, but they
demonstrate that citizens can successfully
review, investigate and recommend
disciplinary action for police officers.
We have faith that our city government
could create an even more successful! citizen
review board and that involvement of citizens
in police bureau would help bring about the
desired changes.
Portland Observer
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Ma'awiS
The Minister o f Education and
Culture made a trip to neighboring
Zambia, a routine enough trip but
one which was bound to alter his life
and fate almost irreversibly. As
M inisters are wont to do, Aleke
Banda, the M in iste r in question,
and no relative o f despot Kamuzu,
held a press conference. One o f the
jo u rn a list asked a routine enough
question: “ When Banda (Kamuzu)
goes, who do you th in k w ill take
over the leadership o f M alawi?” It
had been w idely speculated that
Aleke, as one o f Kamuzu’ s closest
confidantes and a fast-rising star on
the Malawian political scene, was a
natural, and so he responded ac­
cordingly. "W hy, me o f course."
Word got back to despot Kamuzu
and Aleke was im m ediately sum­
moned back to M alaw i where he
was sum m arily fired from his
cabinet post and put on tria l. His
crime: discussion succession to
Kamuzu, self-proclaim ed " L if e
President” o f M alaw i. W ith a
ju d ic ia l system that does not
pretend to dispense justice equally
(Kamazu is above the law and can
twist the law to suit whatever pur­
pose he has in his senile m ind),
Aleke was found guilty o f "in citin g
discontent, spreading rum ours
about the life President, disloyalty
and being a dissenter and a sym­
pathiser with M alaw i’ s enemies."
His sentence: Twenty years in the
pen.
Gwamba
Chakuam ba
was
another close confidante o f Kamuzu
who recently found him self com ­
pletely out o f favour w ith the 84
year despot. He had been Malawi's
" ' ates
M inister o f Youth and C ulture as
well as M iniste o f the Southern
Region. A d d ito n a lly , he was a
member o f the ru lin g and only
"le g a l” political party, the Malawi
Congress Party’ s Central Com m it­
tee, Chairm an o f its d iscip lin a ry
com m ittee and commander o f
Kam uzu’ s personal, param ilitary
terror squad, the Young Pioneers
Movement (20,000 strong). As such,
he was probably the second most
pow erful man in the country and,
n a tu ra lly, a threat to the erratic
autocratic Banda.
He was recently fired from all his
posts and put on tria l fo r among
other things: "b e in g in possession
o f illegal firearm s, two copies o f
The New African and other
prohibited publications!” His sen­
tence: Two to twenty years in ja il.
These are only two example o f the
steadily accelerating pace o f the
decline o f fundam ental c iv il and
human rights in Malawi; a country
that has never known any real
freedom. Banda has sat astride
M alawi’s politics since independen­
ce in July o f 1964 and ruled with an
iron hand.
He makes no pretense as to who’s
boss; he tells the government what
to do and consults with no one and
as he gets older and more senile, he
gets more and more paranoid
seeing a threat in anyone who elicit-
any degree o f popularity.
Malawi is the only country in all
o f A fric a that has diplom atic ties
w ith the racist regime o f South
A frica. Consequently, the country
has remained isolated from most
African activities preferring instead
to huddle and cavort with South
A frica and the Western countries.
One never hears any criticism o f
M alawi because Banda is such a
"g o o d boy” ; so good in fact that
Malawi is worse o ff now than she
was even before independence. A
disproportionate proportion o f her
real estate s till belongs to the
British, the former colonialists and,
o f course, o f the local owners, he
has to have the largest share.
It is illegal for anyone in Malawi
to refer to him self as president o f
anything: not even o f a company
or a baseball club! There is only one
president in M alaw i and th a t's
Banda. Anyone caught using the
title president fo r anything is im ­
mediately sentenced to a ja il term
for "im ita tin g ” the Life President!
Among the charges filed against one'
other former government m inister
was the possession o f a fly -w is k !
Banda uses a fly-wisk as a symbol
o f authority. The offending minister
was sentenced to five years in ja il,
and by the way, there is no parole
system in Malawi.
In the seventeen years that Banda
has run M alawi like his very own
personal fiefdom, he has managed
to k ill o ff all p o litic a l expression
among Malawians. When he goes,
which we hope w ill be soon,
Malawians w ill have to learn once
again what the functions o f govern­
ment were supposed to be. A Pieter
in South Africa is bad enough but a
Banda in Malawi gives Africa a very
bad name. Just as our Am erican
cousins wonder about th e ir own
“ Oreo’s,” we wonder too about the
likes o f despotic Uncle Tom
Kamuzu Banda.
/
Ivancie and Still claim neat policemen will get public respect.
Letters to the Editor
Trial by race
To the editor:
I'm writing this about an article in
(he Salem Statesman newspaper,
" T r ia l by Race” . This article was
talking about how the legal system is
unfair to minority races.
In a class at OSP, w ith Derrick
Bell, Dean o f the L aw school at the
Universtiy o f Oregon, he and top
legal people were ta lkin g about
how racism affects the poor and
Blacks. The class bad mixed views
on why Blacks are being excluded
from juries. It is impossible fo r a
Black man to get a fair trial with an
all-w hite ju ry . One Black inmate
Unemployment
(Continued from page I col. 3)
of Black and white men greatly in­
creased since 1969. The proportion
of employed Black men was 83 per­
cent in 1969. However, in 1979, this
proportion had declined by 11 per­
centage points to 72 percent, which
is more than three times greater than
the decline experienced by white
men (from 86 to 82 percent).
Black men were particularly a f­
fected by the 1973-75 recession,
when the proportion o f Black men
with work during the year declined
from 78 to 72 percent, and this ratio
has not yet returned to prerecession
levels.
The article appeared in the June
issue o f the Monthly L abor Review,
which can be purchased fo r $2.50
from the Superintendent o f
Documents, Government Printing
Office, Washington, D.C.
said that w ith more Blacks on the
juries, it could cut down on being
railroaded to prison. The white
middle class are the ones who are
brainwashed about crime. They feel
if a Black is responsible for a crime
he’ s guilty, with no doubt.
Oregon is a leading example o f
how racism is. Blacks are not really
picked for juries. In this state Blacks
aren’ t picked for Grand Jury duties.
This is racism and it is a civil rights
v io la tio n . W hites co n tro l the
systems and Blacks don’ t say any­
thing about stopping (his practice.
America is responsible for having
racism ol all types. This country is
not fa ir and this inequality w on’ t
slop with racism being taught in the
home.
It is time tor America to realize
that the poor and m inorities w ill
never get fair treatment from this
so-called legal system in America.
Blacks will never have equal share in
the system.
Marcus Jackson
Be concerned!
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