Peg« 2 Portland Observer July 30. 1 M l
EDITORIAL/OPINION
P l
____________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ Reporting fro m Los Angeles, C A.
'Let there be light'
Things do not look good for the Ameri
can people - the Reagan budget and the
Reagan tax plan have been adopted. The
country Is In a recession and most
econom ists forecast tougher times
ahead. Unemployment Is growing while
programs to assist the unemployed and
unemployable are being terminated or
drastically reduced. At the same time,
prices are clim bing -- especially here in
Portland.
When October arrives, bringing the new
budget year, seasonal unemployment and
cold weather, many citizens w ill find
themselves in trouble. Where must they
turn for help and encouragement? To
their public officials.
It is essential that these public officials
communicate with the citizens -- explain
the policies and procedures, help locate
resources, offer a kind word, or just be
available. A fter all, they are the ones
selected by all the people to serve as our
representatives. They are the ones who
have the knowledge and the power to find
solutions.
The unfortunate truth is that contrary to
the ideal of the republican form of govern
ment most of these public officials have
long ago become professionals. They are
not just citizens, living next door, working
In the same shops, sharing the same ex
periences and thus able to represent the
views and expectations of the citizens.
A n Original Poem
By Fungai Kumbula
Reporting fro m Los Angeles, CA
They are far removed from the ordinary
citizen and often no longer remember.
In the coming months, communication
w ith the public w ill be essential. We
realize that most public officials have few
contacts In the Black com m unity and
many have never considered the Black
voters to be of much Importance.
Although some are open to public con
tact, the 8:00 to 5:00 worker has little ac
cess to government.
This Is one reason why we invited
several officials to use the Observer to
communicate with our readers through
regular columns. Some eagerly accepted
the opportunity -- and the challenge.
Among these was Mayor Frank Ivancie.
But it appears that our Mayor has suc
cumbed to the advice of one of his aides
who said that the Mayor has no obligation
to "s e ll newspapers" for a Black
publication. But . . . the Mayor Im
mediately began writing for the shopper
“ This Week’’.
We would hate to think that our Mayor
does not consider communication with
Black readers to be necessary or
desirable. The Mayor's Image has become
somewhat tarnished by some of his
recent actions and remark. We again
invite him to explain himself - to speak
directly to the people. He needs to shine
some light on where he is and where he is
going.
Let them starve?
One of the most cruel actions of the
Reagan Administration's budget cutting
orgy is the reduction and removal of
minimal Social Security payments to In
dividuals 80 years and older who are not
eligible for retirem ent or survivor’s
benefits.
Since Social Security did not come Into
existence in this country until 1936 and
then did not cover all types of jobs, many
older citizens did not have the oppor
tunity to work In covered employment.
Many of these are Black people or mem
bers of other m inority groups who
because of racism were not allowed to
hold covered jobs, but were relegated to
uncovered service positions. Others are
women who were barred from covered
employment or who are widows of men
who were unable to work in jobs covered
by Social Security.
The three m illion current minimum
benefit recipients -• 77 per cent of them
women -- receive just $122 per month. The
current budget plan w ill elim inate
payments for future recipients and cut
the payments of current recipients.
Surely we cannot expect elderly
citizens, 80 years and older, many of
whom worked hard all their lives, to go
out and work for their bread and water,
so, let them starve?
In nearly every nation of the world
elderly citizens are valued and cared for.
They are provided with the necessities of
live including medical care. Only in the US
are they cast aside -- useless because our
culture values only those who have or can
earn money.
Representative James Shannon is
sponsoring HB4140 and Representative
Ron Wyden Is cosponsoring. The bill
would restore the minimum benefits
program. Everyone who has any regard for
the fathers, mothers, uncles and aunts
who worked hard to make the world easier
for us should actively support this bill.
Letters to the Editor
Impressions of Detroit
To the Editor:
I spent three weeks in D e troit,
M ichigan during June and July
1981, and I would like to share with
the readers of the Observer some of
the impressions I gathered while
there.
Detroit is run almost exclusively
by Blacks: M ayor, S h e riff, Fire
M arshall, Chairperson o f C ity
Council, Union representation for
most city employees, television
stations, weekly newspaper, and a
host o f other places that make the
wheels turn.
Mayor Coleman A. Young, in my
opinion, is doing a wonderful job,
in some areas.
His re vita liza tio n and three
pronged programs are sound,
workable, and offer an incentive to
a c ity vastly infused w ith over
spending.
Detroit is 56 to 60 percent Black;
showcasing S23.OOO cars, $50,000
condom inium s, pastured land
homes far in excess o f $100,000 and
ruins, dilapidated buildings, public
buses in some Black neighborhoods
that are not desirable or adequate
transportation.
Detroit is fear, apprehension; old
elderly citizens who live behind
grills, bars and burglary alarms,
afraid to speak o f what they see
because o f retaliation, while they
wonder about garbage collections.
D etroit is not sensitive to the
needs o f children and education;
voiceless printed media coverage
that does not serve the needs o f the
people.
Riot: The Governor’ s Task Force
determined that rio tin g in the
prisons resulted because guards
were rural, Southern M ichigan,
(w hite) and inmates, inner-city
(Black).
D etroit is parents, citizens and
students not taking advantage of an
open door policy in its public school
Wants Jordan
To the Editor:
I
nom inate
Commissioner
Charles Jordan fo r the first
Representative from the new
District 18.
We could do far worse and I ’ m
personally convinced we can’ t do
better He has projected a worth-
system.
Detroit is a beautiful city, depic
ted by a riv e rfro n t skyline that
reeks with gloom as the Joe Lewis
Arena passes without a dedication.
Detroit is a challenge that require
common bond.
Coleman A. Young
Mayor of a City
A Black City
Majestic and proud
Evelyn Collins
I am a mother
Looking after the children
The future of Zimbabwe
I am a mother
Rebuilding the nation
I am a father
Bringing home the breed
Cleaning up after the war
I am a father
Cornerstone of Zimbabwe
w9an
I am a doctor
Tending to the sick
I am a farmer
Feeding the people
I am a Zimbabwean
I am the president
The Heed of State
I am the Prime Minister
Head of the government
I am a Zimbabwean
I am a teacher
Enlightening the masses
I am an entertainer
Playing for the people
I am a Zimbabwean
I am journalist
Informing the nation
I am an entrepreneur
Spurring the economy
Politician, student
Scientist, housewife
Administrator, worker
I’m on the team
I am a Zimbabwean
I am a Zimbabwean
Reagan and the NAACP
By Dr. Manning Marable
Since its beginnings as an ad
vocacy organization fo r the civil
rights o f Black people, the NAACP
has expressed tw o co n tra d icto ry
tendencies - a desire fo r m ilita n t
reform and democracy w ith in
A m erica’ s social and p o litic a l
system, and a belief in the inherent
justice and fairness o f this country’s
w hite economic leadership and
power elites.
The first tendency was expressed
by a founder o f the N A A C P , Dr.
W.E.B. DuBois. The second was the
position o f W alter W hite and Roy
W ilkin s, the secretaries o f the
group until the late 1970s. DuBois
became convinced that Blacks as a
group could not obtain fu ll civ il
rights u n til the entire Am erican
economic system was turned upside-
down. White thought it was possible
to achieve social and p o litic a l
equality within the existing system.
As a result, DuBois relationship
with the N A A C P was always stor
my.
In 1934, he resigned as editor o f
The Crisis when it became clear that
the N A A C P w ould not develop a
progressive economic agenda to
deal w ith the Great Depression.
DuBois returned to the N AAC P in
1944, but was fired four years later
when he and other progressive
Blacks, notably Paul Robeson,
refused to support the C old War
and the Truman ad m in istra tio n ’ s
economic program that purged
militants from organized labor and
gave b illio n s to big corporate in
terests.
Since 1940, the N A A C P has
never been in the fo re fro n t o f the
Black Freedom Struggle. In the
1940s, it was A. Philip Randolph’ s
Negro March on Washington move
ment
which
challenged
the
R o o s e v e lt A d m i n i s t r a t i o n ’ s
discrim inatory policies that led to
the adoption o f Executive Order
8802, the beginning o f A ffirm ative
A ctio n . In the 1950s and 1960s,
Wilkins was jealous of the successes
o f M artin Luther King’ s Southern
Christian Leadership Conference.
D uring
Black
Power,
the
organization lost touch w ith the
mind and mood o f an entire
generation o f Black youth. During
the C arter A d m in is tra tio n , it
rambled aimlessly from one policy
meeting to another, seemingly
witnout orientation or direction.
As the period o f Reaganism,
racism and reaction began after the
election of 1980, the NAACP finds
itself hopelessly mired on the rocky
shoals o f p o litic a l im potency,
ideological
ste rility
and
organizational choas. This was
never more clearly illustrated than
this summer, when the N A A C P
hosted Ronald Reagan at its annual
convention in Denver, Colorado.
Last A p ril, the group’ s board o f
directors had charged that Reagan’s
budget proposals were based ’ ’ on an
Alice in Wonderland approach that
takes from the pOor and gives to
the ric h .” They had been insulted
last year when candidate Reagan
snubbed their convention invitation,
claiming that “ his staff had lost the
invitation.”
Yet actions speak louder than
words. In the Denver Convention,
Reagan declared his indecision on
the extension o f the Voting Rights
A ct, and his opposition to federal
spending for job programs. ‘‘ Just as
the Em ancipation Proclam ation
freed Black people 118 years ago,
today we need to declare an
economic em ancipation.” Reag4n
insisted that his “ economic recovery
program ” was ‘ ‘ the surest, most
equitable way to ease the pressures
on all the segments o f our society.”
A dding insult to in ju ry , the
President had the incredible gall to
ju s tify his cruel social policies by
evoking the name o f Black
abolitionist freedom fighter Harriet
Tubman. "H a rrie t Tubman’s glory
was the glory o f the American ex
perience,” Reagan gloated. “ It was
a glory which had no color or
religion preference or nationality.”
The NAACP response was reserved.
Benjamin Hooks, executive direc
to r, declared that Reagan’ s ap-
ptarance “ does not mean we have
been persuaded to his point o f
view ”
An Associated Press
photograph o f N AAC P President
Margaret Bush W ilson in a warm
embrace w ith Reagan at the con
clusion of his address made virtually
every major newspaper in the coun
try. This is a form o f “ symbolic in
te g ra tio n ” the Black com m unity
neither respects nor desires.
We have to ask these questions:
W ho does the N A A C P represent,
and where is this group going? We
do not need Ronald Reagan to give
us lessons in economics, public
policy, or Black history, fo r that
matter. We need decisive leadership,
criticism of the corporate economic
establishm ent, bold and uncom
prom ising attacks on Reaganism
and white racism, and a vision o f
Black self determ ination that
transcends
the
politics
of
cooperation and cooptation. It is
now obvious that such leadership is
not coming from the i.aacp board of
directors, nor from older c iv il
rights-style “ misleaders.”
African businessman expelled
(Continued from Page I Col
threatened with a gun. The officer
harassment” and slammed against
then went to see Munne, and in the
the trunk o f the car, handcuffed and
discussion that followed decided to
taken to ja il. The female o ffic e r
arrest him. He reported that Munne
said, sympathically, “ I ’ m sorry it
accused him o f harassment and in
ended this way.”
dicated that he w ould file a com
The police report says that the
p la in t, and that because he is a
woman reported she was talking on
citizen o f Kenya, the incident could
the phone when Munne approached
have repercussions.
her and propositioned her. She went
Two persons in the store said they
in the store and then went across the had been present when the woman
street to use another phone. She came in and said Munne had
went home, then returned to the
harassed her, and that they had seen
store fo r a can o f tom ato juice.
no man. In M unne’ s fa vo r, the
When she walked by the phone woman whom he had called on the
booth he grabbed her arm. In the telephone called the police to report
scuffle that followed, she got out a that they were talking when sudden
can o f mace to defend herself. He ly the phone dropped. He had later
grabbed the mace and shoved her called to te ll her he had been
against the phone booth.
arrested.
While the officer was talking with
No complaint was filed and Mun
the “ v ic tim ,” he learned that ne has heard nothing more about
another o ffic e r had responded to the charge. However, he had
the call by Munne - that he had been requested that the Police Bureau
n o tify INS so that agency could
provide assistance. But later, M un
ne did file a complaint against the
Police Bureau.
Munne states that he had began
discussing his status with the Port
land Immigration Office prior to the
June 30th date. “ I have dealt with
this o ffic e fo r ten years about
receiving extensions o f my student
visa, and never had a problem
b e fore.” His most recent visits to
the o ffic e had been on Septembr
25th and November 7th, when he
was told not to worry, that as long
as his application had been submit
ted everything was in order. He was
never notified that hiTrequest for an
extension was denied.
Suddently he was notified to ap
pear, on A p ril 21st, at a hearing to
show cause why he should not be
deported fo r overstaying his visa.
(Please turn to Page 3 Col 5)
Portland Observer
Detroit’ s Black people
My brothers and sisters
Black, Black people
Your’ s is a challenge
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Your's is a challenge
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Never forget
Those boys and girls
Black, Black people
Your’s is a challenge.
Nathaniel Scott
while p o litic a l philosophy, his
commitment to the people has been
manifest in these years of leadership
in our community. His ability as we
all know is top of the ladder.
I nominate Charles Jordan!
Sincerely,
1 "
Bruce Broussard
Editor/Publisher
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