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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 20, 1981)
Pag* 2 Portland Observer. August 2 0 .1M1 EDITORIAL/OPINION After hours . . . A t the m agic hour of 2:30 a.m . the bars close and tho e w ho w ant to have another drink gather at the neighborhood Afterhours Clubs. There they are joined by those who get off work late and want to stop for a drink and relaxation, and those who just are not ready to go home. forefront of the efforts to improve community conditions find themselves compromised. The police do n o t b o the r the A fte rh o u rs because they are attended by respected citizens and appear to be condoned by the community. They are -- and should be -- a low priority. But the police are well aware of the A fte rh o u rs - th e y kno w the clubs and the clientele better than the average custom er. And they therefore hold a club over the heads o f many o f those w ho should speak the lowdest about the inequities and the injustices in this city. It is perfectly legal to sell liquor before 2:30 a.m . bu t suddenly, as the clock strikes, it becomes illegal. As prohibition did not stop those who wanted to drink, neither does the closing hour stop those w ho do not w ant to follow the ordained schedule. The antique closing law sets up a situation where o th e r wise law abiding citizens fin d themselves breaking the law. It also produces a situation where the operator of the A fte r- hours has little control over the activities of his customers. How can he eject a minor or a dealer when tha t person can then to go the authorities? For this reason many Afterhours become hangouts for minors, prostitutes and dealers. Once the onwer breaks the law he is in a very tenuous position in attem pting to en force rules. The customer who just wants a few hours recreation and is willing to break relatively in nocuous closing law places him self in a situation where he must ignore other more serious a c tivitie s. Respected co m m u n ity residents w ho otherw ise w o u ld be in the What is the answer? When a law no longer has a legitimate use and no longer protects the com munity, it should be repealed. Repeal of th is law w ou ld allow the legal operation of clubs to serve the needs of late night customers, would remove the threat of discovery, and w o u ld allow proper police protection. It would alleviate the abuse by un wanted custom ers. It w ould remove the a t mosphere tha t is destructive to com m unity self-respect. (A word for Ron Sykes -- The hostility and anger th a t has been directed at Sykes because of his series on A fterhou rs should have been directed at the paper. If anyone w ants to present anoth er side o f the A f terhours picture, their interest is welcomed.) Is the US trying to start a war? Carrying out war games within the waters claimed by Libya was designed to do just that. Earlier there were confirmed reports that Libya is a prime target of the CIA. Now, w ith the clear knowledge that entering w hat Libya considers to be its own territory could bring confrontation, the US did just that. The call o f the US governm ent fo r all Americans to leave Libya is a second step of the plan, designed to in te rfe re w ith the operation of the nation's oil industry and bring about economic destabilization. invasion of Guantanamo, but cancelled its plans follow ing Cuban promises to interfere. This Spring manuevers were held in the Carib bean and o ff the coast of Central America to in tim id a te Nicaragua and the lib e ra tio n movements of Central America. Others were held in the Indian Ocean and in Egypt -- to threaten the Arabs. Three weeks ago a similar maneuver was carried out east of Cuba. W hen tw o Cuban planes w ent up to look around, over in te r national w aters, th e y w ere chased by US planes. Because shooting dow n tw o Cuban planes m ight w ell lead to w ar, the Cubans retreated. The Libyians did not -- they shot back. It seems the US wants to start a war - with anyone. W ar games are carefully designed to in timidate - there is plenty of room around the US to carry out these manuevers . Last May the US planned a massive practice The war at home This, to g e th e r w ith the attack on w ork safety protection and wage laws, leaves Black and minority workers in serious jeopardy. In its effort to promote a "pro-business, regulation- free environment" the administration plans to either postpone or elim in ate many o f the regulations that protect workers from health hazzards. S afety re g u la tio n s th a t are c o n sidered to hurt profits will be eliminated. The administration also has launced an at tack on the Davis-Bacon A ct w hich requires com panies bu ild in g federal c o n s tru c tio n projects to pay prevailing wages. As jobs get harder to fin d and w orkers become desperate, this lack of regulation will place employees in unsafe w ork conditions and minimal wages in order to maintain a job. 1st Piece Community Service ONPA 1973 Portland Observer ' USPS 959 680’ ” puWW* i Thur»- ,by Publ'sh'na Company inc . 2201 North Kilhngsworth 972OBns e O nrt°? 97217 P° ST B° ’ 3137' Portl« ^ O r e g o n 1st Piece Best Ad Result ONPA 1973 9/208 Second class postage paid at Portland. Oregon Subscriptions »10.00 per year in Tri County area Poatm aatar: Send address changes to the Portland Observer, P O Box 3137 Portland. Oregon 97208 5th Place Best Editorial ONPA 1973 The Portland Observer was founded in October of 1970 by Alfred Lee Henderson. Honorable Mention Herrick Editorial Award NNA 1973 1 >e Portland Observer is a champion of justice, equality and liberation, an alert guard agamst social evils; a thorough analyst and critic of discriminatory practices and policies, a sentinel to warn of impending and existing racist trends and practices and a defender against persecution and oppression Bruce Broussard Editor/Publisher ■ MEMBER i l s Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association MEMBER Helping the rich, hurting the poor by Cleo Franklin Our next war The next great push by the Reagan A d ministration is expected to be an all out qttack on Civil Rights. Already the administration has attempted to halt renewal of the Voting Rights Act. There has been a slowdown in civil rights enforcem ent. During the firs t six m onths of the Reagan A dm inistration there have been only five cases filed by the Civil Rights Division o f the Justice Departm ent com pared to 17 filed in the first six months of the Carter A d ministration. The administration has com m itted itself to reduce the Federal C ontract C om pliance provisions, w hich protect m inority business and w orkers, and has announced its o p position to affirmative action. (From: In Thaaa T im « ) 2nd Place Best Editorial 3rd Piece Community Leadership ONPA 1975 The real problems of the minority population will be viewed and presented from the perspective of their causality: unrestrained ana chronoically entrenched racism National and international arrangements that prolong and increase the oppression of Third World peoples shall be considered in the context of their ex ploitation and manipulation by the colonial nations, including the United States, and their relationship to this nation's historical treatment of its Black population. 3rd Piece Community Leadership ONPA 197« 3rd Place In depth coverage ONPA 1979 283 2486 National Advertising Representative A m alg am ated Publishers. Inc. N ew York /§ > MfNMAl The Reagan budget package was passed by the Democratic- controlled House on June 16, 1981. The 1 W inch-thick bill was full o f penciled-in additions and crossed- out deletions, and even included the name and office telephone number o f a woman staffer at the Congressional budget office. After the package was passed, it was then sent back to the House Budget Committee to be cleaned up. The package consists o f $33 billion in budget cuts (in the fiscal year star ting Oct., 1981), and $130.6 billion in cuts over the next three fiscal years. The cuts include reductions in unemployment insurance, Social Security benefits, food stamps, health care, school lunches, etc. On August 13, 1981, President Reagan signed into law two o f the most far reaching domestic economic measures since the New Deal. The president signed one bill authorizing the sharpest cutback in domestic spending in 30 years. Reagan's plan w ill k ill or reduce more than 200 domestic programs, and the other bill provides the largest tax cut in this century. Tax cuts for individuals and businesses amount to $37.7 billion in 1982, and $280.3 billion over the next three years. In terms o f in dividual tax cuts, a 3 percent cut ef fective Oct. I . 1981, a 10 percent reduction on July 1, 1982, and Open letter to the Mayor Dear Mayor Ivancie: It was with surprise and a great deal of sadness that our staff mem bers read of the reinstatement of the police officers whose conduct was also a surprising and saddening ex perience for this community. Since their original dismissal there has been much discussion o f relation ships among individuals and social institutions as these effect Black citizens o f Portland. Those o f us white persons and groups who seek to work with them here in Albina, in efforts to make the city a more humane environment and a true com m unity, have also been w at ching for signs o f responsiveness from city leadership. Frankly, we thought that at least Governor signs The Oregon Legislature passed H .B . 2479, the racial/religious in timidation bill, requested by Gover nor Victor Atiyeh. Oregon is to be proud in that again this State has taken a leader ship role in addressing a problem that has the potential of weakening the social fabric o f this State and society in general. This bill is a step forward in terms o f improved intergroup relations and the protection o f the rights of minorities. There will be a bill signing ceremony on Friday, August 21, 1981 at 3:13 p.m. in the Governor’s Ceremonial o ffice in the State Capitol. Kay Dean Toran Director, Affirmative Action Office 4 Individual taxes w ill be cut 23 percent across-the-board over 33 months. Companies would be able to write o ff investment costs much faster, generally taking depreciation deductions o f three, five, 10 or 13 years, depending on the type of equipment. Starting in 1983, the tax system would be indexed to prevent taxpayers from being pushed in to higher tax brackets because of in flation. Reagan says he will have to spend more time than planned in late 1981 on economic issues. Concern grows that interest rates won’t fall much anytime soon. Budget D irector David Stockman w ill meet with Reagan this week to discuss further spending cuts. It seems unrealistic that the Reagan A dm inistration is con sidering additional budget cuts, par ticularly after $33 b illion in cuts already. But it’s true, more cuts are being discussed. In a recent report prepared for Secretary o f State Alexander Haig, the U .S. “ must maintain adequate support for current programs'* to aid those streaming out of Vietnam. Laos and Cambodia. Vietnam ’s support for “ orderly departure programs'* was urged. What about the millions o f unemployed and needy Americans at home? What is the Reagan A d ministration doing to take care o f the needy at home first? Certainly $33 billion in domestic program cuts and a massive tax cut for the rich leave much room for questions of priorityl The time has come that surely the have-nots will have less unless more people are aware of the process. The time has come that more citizens become registered voters and educate themselves on the issues. It is clear to me that there is no system representative of your needs unless you are inputing to that system and the time for input must start today. It is also important that citizen input be long term and that consistency and follow-up are urgent. Letters to the Editor Mf WtASPfR / , Assoc/sf/on - Founded IM S another 10 percent on July I, 1983. There w ill also be a two-step lowering o f the “ marriage tax penalty” for the household with two earners. The marriage tax penalty requires a couple to pay more taxes .on a joint return than they would pay if they both filed single returns. The Reagan Administration con tends that these tax cuts, which in clude a three-year 23 percent across- the-board reduction for individuals and significantly more generous depreciation writeoffs for business, will generate a massive infusion of investment capital, creating millions o f new jobs. A F L -C IO President Lane Kirkland termed the tax cuts as “ naked favoritism toward the ric h .” Other critics maintain that the cuts are too big and are likely to produce bigger budget deficits and fuel inflation. the officers involved would be coun seled to seek work in a less sensitive occupation. W ith this new development we expect a variety of negative effects to which we’d like to call your attention: 1) Increased anger and hopelessness among Black citizens resulting in lessening enthusiasm for community participation. 2) Decreased trust, respect and cooperation toward all police o f ficers, including those whose per sonal and professional stance deser ve respect. This could make the of ficers' tasks more d iffic u lt and dangerous than would normally be true. 3) A secondary potential reduction in trust toward groups and agencies with a number o f white staff (such as our clinic) where over the years effort has been made to build open communication and mutually help ful relationships among a wide range of individuals and groups. In summary, we are disappointed and angry that the officers have been reinstated and feel that whatever good result is gained for these two men is more than offset by the disillusionment already ex pressed by several Black citizens and the long range negative impact o f this whole unnecessary and em barrassing affair. Mary Lou Miller, Director Mary K. Anderson. K N Billie Hunt work, M S W Health Help Center, Inc. "W rist slap" decried Any progressive organization that opposes racial discrimination and supports equal rights must be ap palled by the wrist slap received last week by the two policemen who admittedly tossed dead oppossums in front o f a N E Portland Black- owned restaurant. The Portland chapter o f the Citizens Party is no exception. We are ashamed that such a blatantly racist act could occur in Portland and doubly so that the c ity ’s power structure, aided by Mayor Ivancie and his hand-picked appointee, Police C hief Ron Still, would turn a blind eye. The Black community once again is left to smolder with resentment. Business goes on as usual and the two policemen, their conduct i decried as “ offensive and stupl by the arbitrator’s report, are fre< go back to work. Anyone w believes their act was not racis either naive or ignorant of histo Just imagine the outcry if a Bit person did something similar t< white-owned establishment. A imagine the demoralizing effeci last week’s decision on w< meaning police officers who trying to improve relations with public. Racial discrimination must noi condoned in Portland, and Citizens Party is dedicated to demise. We stand in solidarity » the Black community. Catherine Slegner Co-chair, Portland Citizens Party
