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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 20, 1981)
Reagan's racial policy: The politics of failure By Norman H ill In the six m o n th i he has been president, Ronald Reagan has failed to articulate anything approaching a coherent policy on matters o f racial inequality and poverty. Aside from generalities concerning the need to combat d iscrim ination and to bolster p ro d u c tivity, the Ad« m in istra tio n shows no sign o f having given serious thought to the plight o f what has come to be called the Black underclass. This underclass has been a per sistent fact in the life o f American society fo r many decades and its ranks continue to swell. The typical Reagan Administration response to the problem o f Black poverty and unemployment has been to assert that only the private sector can resolve the problems faced by Blacks and others who are poor. Help business and industry, the Reagan argument goes, and you will help poor Blacks and all poor Americans improve their lo t. However, a glance at the recent history o f Black unemployment and impoverishment gives little in dication that the Reagan approach will work. Since W orld War II, the rate o f Black unemployment has stood at roughly twice that o f white unem ployment. This ratio has remained constant in times o f economic prosperity and through periods o f economic decline; through periods o f in fla tio n and periods o f price sta b ility. No m atter how the economy has been doing, Blacks seem to disproportionately shoulder the burdens c f unemployment. What improvement has been made by Blacks in the last 33 years can be attributed to increased education. Blacks who have received adequate training and education have made tremendous strides economically. Black women college graduates, for example, today earn slightly more than their white counterparts. But the Reagan Administration has im plemented massive cuts in federal aid to education and has drastically cut funding for a number o f training and employment programs which seek to prepare minorities and the poor for meaningful private sector e m p lo y m e n t — p r e c is e ly th e in itiatives one would expect the president to support. O f equal im portance is the Reagan approach to “ states’ rig h ts .” The A d m in is tra tio n is a vocal proponent o f block grants and o f giving increased power to the states. Yet it is precisely at the regional and state level tha t, fo r historical reasons, discrim ination remains a significant problem. For example, due to a variety o f com plex factors, in the South, Black workers earn 78 percent o f the in come o f white Southerners. Throughout the rest o f the country, however, the earnings o f Black and white workers are nearly identical. An approach which emphasizes “ states’ rights’ ’ will prove unable to diminish the discrepancy between the earnings o f Southern whites and Blacks. Federal action must be a component in diminishing these d if ferences. And it is precisely such federal intervention which President Reagan appears to oppose. Recently, the G allup O rganization conducted a poll o f the views o f the Black population. The results are both interesting and om inous— fo r they indicate a deepening division between Blacks and whites, in some measure as a direct consequence o f the policies o f the Reagan A d m in is tra tio n . The Gallup study has found that while 35 percent o f whites were optimistic about what 1981 would bring fo r them personally, only 18 percent o f Blacks expected a better year and 48 percent expected things would be worse. S im ila rly, in February a Newsweek poll found that 52 per cent o f Blacks expected things would get worse fo r them during Reagan’ s presidency and only 8 per cent felt things would improve. In A p ril, while President Reagan en joyed a 74 percent approval rating among whites, only 25 percent o f (Please turn to page 5 col I) PORTLAND OBSERMER Riding a white horse Grassroot News N .W .— Dope One general reason for the use o f fiends, Stone Junkies and addicts heroin is that the person has feelings are all terms used to describe that he cannot let out. Most addicts someone who has used this don’ t feel good about themselves, derivative o f opium one too many and their identities come from a times. Heroin has been called dog, peer group where most arc users. smack, horse and junk. The name They are scared o f failing and are may change, but the effects remain afraid o f succeeding." An in the same. Once used, addiction is d ivid ua l from Alpha House possible and if used enough, addic provided insight into the motives for tion is reality. Heroin becomes your using dog. life, the high is your sex and your “ I started using it when I was in time w ill be used to gather the the army. I guess I can say it was money to buy a drug that nourishes peer pressure that got me started. I the life right from under you. just wanted to fit in and be accep “ The thought o f using heroin ted. The basic thing I got out o f years ago was one o f being a serious shooting dope was the euphoria,’ ’ a offense. Now today, because o f the former user declared. permissiveness and a va ila b ility, " I t ’s a false feeling o f eupfiona. I heroin use is on the increase. People started smoking smack by start with using it as a recreational sprinkling a little over weed. I was drug. But this drug is not like most. overseas and it was cheap. When I People start fo r the kicks and it came back to the States, the story kicks y o u ." An o ffic e r from the was different. I was lucky because I Portland Police Department gave a had a strong mind. I would smoke contem porary view o f the use. weed and shoot heroin. W hen iny "Those who are physically addicted tolerance grew higher, I could tell to heroin need money to support the because I co u ld n 't get high o ff habit that runs from $100 to $400 weed. When that happened, I would a day. That’s why 7-, Is keep getting cut down my heroin use and even ripped o ff and the burglary o f tually stopped." Another user with homes. You have to do a lot o f a d iffe re n t story about (he same boosting and stealing to support a false glory. heroin habit. From the opium poppies o f “ The reasons fo r using heroin Turkey, Iran, India and Mexico, vary from individual to individual. horse finds itself being cooked up all across the country. H is to ric a lly ,! profit and greed played a part in the ' spread o f this narcotic. Resistance in China led to the Opium Wars o f the 1840s and when the British defeated the Chinese, the im p o r tation o f the drug flourished. M orphine is the p rin cip al derivative o f opium , and dog is derived from morphine. Pure mor phine is treated with acetic anhydride. Afterwards, it is heated at a constant 85 degrees Centigrade by independent chemists in what is known as heroin labs. From labs overseas, the finished product hits the golden market. New York. The Big Apple is said to contain more than h a lf the junkies in the U S’. "Y ou can deal with the rats on four legs and the ones on two better on heroin than cocaine.” an obser vation from a former New Yorker. In the States, w ith one k ilo o f heroin, you can mix in one kilo o f quinine and seven kilos o f mannite in a common kitchen sifte r and arrive at 20 pounds o f this sellable sucker smack, with 24 or 26 spoons to the ounce. Each spoon is worth about $150. " I don’t make a lot o f m o n e y," a cocaine dealer stated. “ I t ’ s the person who sells heroin because they triple their money with each score." (Please turn to pace 4 col I ) C 1 V ; ? .. ■ Give us a chance: Angela Logan; Chalaunda Parker, and Sylvia Logan participate In a march and rplly August 15 protesting the rahiring of police officers Ward and Gallaway, who deposited dead oppossums in front of a Black-owned restaurant. The march was sponsored by the Black United Front. (Photo: Richard J. Brown ) Reverend Sam Johnson dies Photo: Richard J. Brown Reverend Samuel Johnson, pastor o f Highland United Church o f Christ, died o f a heart attack on August 14. He was 48. Memorial services w ill be held Thursday, August 20, at McKinney Temple. Rev. Johnson became associated with Highland Church in 1968 as a community worker, establishing a I abauch I iteracy Program funded by the War on Poverty Program and housed at the church. He also established an adm inistrative training program to leach typing, shorthand, 10-key adding machine and sewing. The first housing cooperative was established under the 235-J program and remodeled seven homes for sale to low income families Members of several I uthcran, Presbyterian and United Church of Christ congregations assisted with this program. Highland Community Center was established in 1969 to operate the church’ s social programs. I W orking with T ektronix, a small electrical plant was established. Welfare mothers and ex-offenders were provided employment. Although the program was closed during the recession o f the early I97()s, it had provided an oppor tu n ity for training. At about the same time, a sewing industry was started. Using the parsonage building, a home for disturbed and deliquent boys, ages 13 to 17, was opened. In 1973, a home for girls was added. These homes are now incorporated under the name o f Yaun Child Care Centers and provide a controlled, structured environment in an inter vention and interracial setting. Highland Center also currently operates an educational program for retarded teen-agers and adults. Progiess House, directed by Rev. Johnson until his death, is a work release program tor persons coming out o f federal prisons. Mission House is a home for persons who (Please turn to page 11 col 5) | REV SAMUEL JOHNSON
