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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 18, 1982)
Page 4 Portland Observer, March 18, 1982 EDITQRIAL/OPINION Letters to the Editor NAACP leader breaks promise to prisoners To the editor: Your vote is important! Oregon and the nation face a crucial election year. In Oregon the day is M ay 18th. Members o f Congress, a G overnor, members o f the state legislature, along w ith local candi dates, all w ill be elected this year. D istrict 18— the “ Black district” — w ill elect its first represen tative. In recent years the A m e ric a n people have been fo re g o in g th e ir h a rd -w o n rig h t to vote. M any say the choices are few, the candidates o f poor q u a lity , the issues irre le v a n t. O thers are too lazy to study the candidates and the issues and then get to the polls to vote. O thers th in k their votes d o n ’ t count. In O regon, and in A l bina, the record is not much better. Every vote does count. Last year a governor o f New Jersey was elected by eleven votes. M any races in O regon have been so close th a t a few families could have made the difference. Just as im portant as voting is correctly assess ing the candidates. Take tim e to read their litera ture; go to forum s and candidates’ fairs and ask questions. D o n’ t vote fo r a handsome face o r a fa m ilia r name. Vote fo r a record o f service to the com m unity. Any candidate who asks fo r your vote should have a specific program to o ffe r— at least a few answers— and a record o f e ffo rt to m ake posi tive changes. W ords are not enough. A nd I lo o ke d , and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was D eath, and H ell fo llo w e d w ith him . And pow er was given u n to them over the fo u rth part o f the earth, to k ill w ith sword, and w ith hunger, and w ith death, and w ith the beasts o f the earth. —Revelations I am a living witness that one o f the Negro’ s most respected organi zations has, at least here in Oregon, divorced itself from the concerns o f those at the bottom o f the ladder. Those who weren’ t just laid o ff, but are perennially underemployed or rarely em ployed. Those who have come to the conclusion that it is fair to tu rn to p ro s titu tio n , drugs, and thievery to survive. Those in the streets and in the prisons. Unless it is true that we are innately lazy and criminal-minded, sooner or later we are going to have to come to grips w ith this p ro b le m . Do we as a people steal 10 tim es m ore than w hite fo lk ? A re Blacks in this Northwest corner so terrible we de serve to be caged at a higher rate than anywhere in the U .S., and in deed the world, with the possible ex ception o f South Africa? We still have a long way to go as a people, but have we made it this far w ith “ fat ca t” leadership and o r ganizations that were too big and busy to deal w ith the problem s o f the people on the bottom ? I do n ’ t th in k any o f us have gotten so big that we can now a ffo rd to turn our backs on the people whose hope is the ancestral s p irit th a t has sus tained us a s a people through all the H ell and Death we have suffered. No, you can’ t get that big, sir and m adam . I f you cannot feel that spirit still burning in you, then quit using the good name o f our organi zations and the good fa ith o f the people. Those lives and organiza tio n s d o n ’ t belong to you. I f the spirit is dead in you, then move out o f the way so that the ultim ate and irre trie va b le investm ent our fo re parents made— their lives— w ill go towards realizing our potential as a people. People on the bottom are hungry and gettin hungrier. O ur potential strength— our strong, v irile young men and nubile young women are tu rn in g to thievery, p ro s titu tio n , and drugs, because we have become selfish. “ Sorry, but my schedule is com pletely f u l l , ” you say. O ur young men and women are being caged like anim als by the hundreds in this Northwest corner, yet the leadership and their organizations say: “ We’ re sorry, but our schedule w on’ t per m it us to be concerned w ith your problem.” P roverbs says: A good man leaveth an inheritance to his c h il dren’ s children. The Bible Revelations does not paint a pretty picture o f the happen- ings o f the last days. It talks about H e ll and D eath. M a n y welcome those things that are prophesied be cause they have been ca tching so much H e ll and seeing so much Death, that they want to say to God and His Angels, “ Just bring it on.” “ We know we must suffer too, but we know that in the end you have prom ised to raise us w ith Y o u r ‘ Master G rip .’ As long as You take care o f that rich man, that m ighty man that has refused to listen to our s u ffe rin g , b rin g it on. Just make sure you get that fat cat.” The Urban League’ s Freddye Pet- te tt and the Black U n ite d F ro n t, particularly brother Ron Herndon, have offered their organizations’ aid and their personal assistance on so m any occasions th a t the 50 miles and one h o u r separating us obviously have no w eight whatso ever when balanced against th e ir commitment, love, and concern. “ It was a privilege fo r me to be w ith you prisoners today. A n d i f I am ever in Oregon and receive an in vitation to return, it w ill be my high est p r io r it y . ” (B e n ja m in H ooks, July 3, 1978, Oregon State Peniten tiary). D r. H ooks, none o f o u r great leaders o f the past that we know o f have become loved by our people and great by fa ilin g to keep th e ir prom ises to those at the very bottom. L arry Baker Teacher supports Tubman decision To the editor: It makes me very uncom fortable to disagree w ith such a large group o f friends and respected representa tives o f organizations in the Black c o m m u n ity over the sitin g o f Harriet Tubman Middle School, but when I consider the youngsters with whom I have spent m any years, I feel that I would like to speak out on their behalf. 1 believe that the Boise site fo r Tubm an w ould be a better choice than E lio t because it w ould a ffo rd a better chance that Boise students w o u ld attend a m iddle school. I would like to see my young friends have a truly complete educa tional experience. Black Capitalism: Profile in Poverty Part II “ From The Grassroots” by Manning Marable Over eighty per cent o f all Black- owned businesses fa ll w ith in tw o years a fte r th e ir in itia tio n . Those fortunate or lucky enough to survive become part o f what can be termed the “ intermediate level o f Black en trepreneurship.” These Black businesses to ta l roughly 38,990 firm s, 16.9 per cent o f all Black enterprises. The com mon traits they share are the follow ing: 1) a ll retain paid personnel, with an annual workforce between 1 to 19 employees; 2) average gross re ceipts are between $30,000 to $300,000; 3) almost all employers work fu ll-tim e in their enterprises; 4) alm ost a ll firm s receive loans from banks and savings and loan es tablishm ents to continue business expansion; and 5) a substantial m i nority number o f these firms are in volved in real estate, finance, manu fa c tu rin g , and other tra d itio n a lly a ll-w h ite sectors o f private enter prise. The corporate core o f Black Capi talism is the 1060 Black businesses with a workforce o f 20 or more em ployees, led by B lack E nterprise magazine’ s top 100 firm s. Number one is M otown Industries o f H o lly w ood, producers o f soul records, film s and tapes, with 1979 gross re ceipts o f $64.8 m illio n . Num bers two through five are Johnson Pub lishers ($61 m illio n ), Fedco Foods superm arkets ($45 m illio n ), H .J . Fussell Construction o f Atlanta ($41 m illion), and Johnson cosmetics o f Chicago ($35.4 m illion). This select group also includes Independence Bank o f Chicago ($98.3 m illio n in 1979 assets); Seaway National Bank o f Chicago ($80.9 m illion in assets); In d u s tria l Bank o f W ashington, D.C., ($59.9 m illion in assets); Free- dan N a tio n a l Bank o f New Y o rk City ($57.9 m illion in assets); United N a tio n a l Bank o f W ashington, D.C. ($56.2 m illion in assets); North C a ro lin a M u tu a l L ife Insurance C om pany ($5.1 b illio n insurance policies in force); and Golden State M u tu a l L ife o f Los Angeles ($2.7. b illio n insurance policies in force). Although these figures seem impres sive, all o f these m ajor Black c o r porations com bined could be p u r chased. fo r instance, by M o b il O il Corporation with its liquid assets! W hite co rp o ra tio n s a llo w these Black companies to exist f o r sym bolic value alone. John H. Johnson o f Johnson Publishers is also a member o f the Boards o f Directors of T w entieth C e n tu ry Fox, G reyhound C o rp o ra tio n . Z enith R adio C o rp o ra tio n , and M a rin a C ity Bank. H .G . Parks, Jr., Black m illionaire, owner o f Parks' Saus age Company o f Baltim ore, sits on the boards o f F irst Pennsylvania Banking and Trust C om pany and W .R. Grace and Company. Former Tuskegee Institute President Luther H. Foster, the modern representa tive o f W ashington’ s conservative p h ilo so p h y, was elected to the Boards o f Directors o f Sears, Roe buck and Company and N orton Si mon, Inc. The modern proponent o f Black Capitalism, Black Enterprise publisher E arl Graves, was re warded with posts on the boards o f International Telephone and Tele graph C orporation and the Liggett G roup. Black m illio n a ire and A t lanta Chamber o f Commerce Presi dent Jesse H ill Jr. serves on the boards o f Delta Airlines and Sperry and H u tch in so n C om pany. The num ber o f executives who tru ly dominate the Black corporate core w ithin the A fro-A m erican political economy amount to less than 200 in d iv id u a ls . They have earned the confidence o f the w hite corporate hierarchy and the governm ent by keeping alive the bogus illusion o f Black Capitalism. Black people w ill not have real political equality in this country un til and unless we also have economic justice A dem ocratic reorganiza tion o f America’ s economic system, from top to bottom , is our only sol ution. Portland Observer NM MR I b For the past several years Boise has been geared to serve the part o f its student p o p u la tio n that has shown need o f concentration in the basic skills. According to Fall, 1981, To the editor: I ’m sure I can voice the sentiment o f countless thousands, throughout the entire N orthw est, in congratu la ting you, and your s ta ff, on the magnificent job you’ve done, on the recent issues o f your paper; especial ly d u rin g the m onth o f February (Black History Month). I cannot possibly fin d adequate words, w ith in my lim ite d vocabu lary, to express my personally, sin cere thanks and gra titu d e , fo r the tremendously successful e ffo rt you have e xe m p lifie d , in the “ special issues.” Through the reading o f these la t est issues, and through the outstand ing "p ic to ria l la y-o u ts," one could easily comprehend and visualize the tremendously painstaking e ffo rt on the part o f both you and your staff. It seems that the entire paper has been given a “ media type o f face l i f t , ” and has taken on an aura o f new proficiency, and a new special interest and concern. You have been most e x p lic it and in fo rm a tiv e , in both a contemporary and historical manner. The special e d itio n p rin te d the week before last, can easily be con sidered an education w ith in itse lf. »• 1M1 I 9*1 283 2486 MEMBER A Lee Henderson. Publisher A l McGilberrv, Managing Editor 4 e e l AM f/r , I ; A i rrjrt I Z ’ a jm c X ax » # A A tt A l Williams, Advertising Manager less than i f it were at Boise, simply because o f the tendency o f most to utilize the closest facility. A re the supporters o f the E lio t site doing so because it was p ro m ised or because it is a better site? I respect, and to a ce rta in degree, share, the d is illu s io n m e n t over a broken promise, but i f it is not edu ca tionally the better lo ca tio n , why should we support it? The needs o f students in the Black c o m m u n ity ought to have p rio rity over our feel ings, justified though they may be. M y identification w ith Boise stu dents makes me care not so much about promises as about opportun ity fo r some w onderful youngsters to get the best education possible. 1 would like to see a first rate middle school brought right into the heart o f the community. Beth Nance Librarian, Boise school Children need news of Black contributions The P ortland O bserver IUSPS 859 ft « 0 l 1« published every Thursday by E»ie Publishing Company. Inc . 2201 North Killing« worth. Portland. Oregon 97217. Poet Office Bo« 3137, Portland O regon 9/708 Second class postage |>aid et Portlend Oregon Subscriptions »10 00 per yeer in the Tri County eree Poet m aster Send address changes to the Portland Observer. P O B o . 11 31 Portlend. Oregon 9/208 test scores, this represents approxi mately 57 per cent o f the students in grades 5, 6 and 7. To accommodate this special need, the other 43 per cent (who scored average or higher) have not had the o p p o rtu n ity to have Home Economics, Shop, A rt, Music. The allotted tim e fo r Social Studies has been m inim al; tim e fo r Health and Science is even less ade quate. I f the building at 620 N. Fremont should become the site fo r Tubman there would be space enough for ex tra programs in basic skills as well as for the larger curriculum that a m id dle school affords—which most stu dents in Portland have available to them. As I understand it, the E liot site would not accommodate such a large program. Even i f Boise students were “ al low ed" at E liot, (despite the tiltin g o f the racial balance), the number who would actually attend would be fo r th ro u g h your presentations, many persons, both young and old, as well as Black and white, were able to gain a greater in sig h t and per spective o f many o f the c o n trib u tions made by the Black Man. As older Blacks, we grew up w ith in a most lim ited and biased white culture, possessing very little know ledge o f our own. Yes, we heard a great deal about George W ash ington Carver, and his outstanding and unique accomplishments w ith the peanut. We heard o f the great singers, M arion Anderson and Paul Robeson and a few others. But fo r the most part, our actual knowledge o f the countless th o u sands o f contributions and achieve ments made by Blacks, throughout the w o rld , and especially here in A m erica, where we reside, were very c a re fu lly and in te n tio n a lly buried, deep, in the (supposedly non-existent) “ dark past.” Never once, being put in to the h isto ry books o f this country. In essence, we were led to believe that we were a c tu a lly likened to “ the man without a country.” What a shame! In essence this situ a tio n can also be likened to an adopted child, always wondering, “ W ho are my real parents? W hat do I know about them? A nd what do I know about my past?” , • M ary Jean Berry Subscribe today I Receive your Observer by mail. Only $10 per year • Name _____ _____________________________________ 1 1 Address _____ ____________________________________ J City___________ ________State___________ Zip_______ 1 National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers. Inc New York I cannot help but w onder, as to what a difference it just might have made w ith in the lives o f the little Black boy and g ir l “ in days o f yo re ,” had we know n o f our peo ple’ s greatness. What kind o f a d if ference or im pact, could this same in fo rm a tio n have made, where white society is concerned. I ’ m cer tain that this available knowledge, could so easily have been used as leverage, to have bridged the gap be tween our tw o societies and c u l tures. But th a n k G od, due to the u n ceasing and tireless e ffo rts , on the part o f m any Black educators, books, and the Black news media (lik e the P o rtla n d O bserver) our young people o f today have, at last, been given the o p p o rtu n ity to be come “ tuned in ” to our long, de layed, mislaid and betrayed cultural past. Again, words simply elude me, to express my personal and sincere thanks to you, fo r a jo b most su perbly done. I sent copies o f your last issues to friends in various parts o f the coun try, with the express purpose and in tention o f a ffo rd in g them the o p p o rtu n ity o f reading a tru ly great paper 1 Portland Observer Box 3137 Portland, OR 97208
