Portland observer., March 25, 1982, Page 4, Image 4

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Page 4 Portland Observer, March 25, 1982
EDITORIAL/OPINION
Still wants everybody booked
The Metropolitan Human Relations Commis­
sion recently completed a study of the Police Bu­
reau’s use of citation-in-lieu of custody. That is,
an officer can give a citation rather than take the
suspect to jail.
This practice not only allows the suspect to
continue his job and family ties without interrup­
tion, but alleviates some of the serious over­
crowding at the jail and the booking facility.
The MHRC study shows that although there
has been much improvement in the case of mi­
norities, Blacks are still booked in larger per­
centages than whites. That is, when a police offi­
cer has the discretion to give a citation or take a
suspect to jail, he is more apt to take a Black to
jail than a white.
This is a situation that requires some honest
assessment and soul searching on the part of the
Police Bureau—from Mayor Ivancie down to
the street cop.
While across the nation efforts are being
made to keep minor offenders—and especially
people waiting for trail—out of jail and in alter­
native programs, Chief Ron Still wants to go in
the other direction. He would like to have a city
booking facility and bring all arrested suspects
to that facility. They would be fingerprinted and
photographed, record checks made, and then
consideration given to pre-trial release.
What is the object of this complete reversal of
policy? Could it be a method to obtain informa­
tion on suspects to be used at a later time—a
way to round up the petty thieves, traffic viola­
tors, drunks, etc., and obtain possibly incrimin­
ating information that cannot be otherwise be
obtained legally? Will it be used as preventive
detention?
Or is it just the evidence of a “ law and order”
mentality that seeks to bring more and more per- •
sons through the swinging doors of the criminal
justice system.
Benjamin Hooks keeps his promise
To the editor:
Although a move occurred that I
hope w ill never have to happen
again, especially among Black peo­
ple, among the haves and the have-
nots, the Class o f Legal Processes
was successful in sponsoring D r.
Benjamin Hooks’ second visit to the
Oregon State Penitentiary, Friday,
March 19, 1982.
1 am grateful to the Portland Ob­
server fo r having printed my article
about the disappointment when we,
the prisoners at the O regon State
Penitentiary, were instructed by let­
ter that the H o n o ra b le B enjam in
H ooks, Executive D ire cto r o f the
N A A C P . had a schedule that was
too fu ll to give the prisoners an au­
dience, to f u lfill the pledge he had
made four years ago on his first visit
to the prison.
We are aware th a t B enjam in
Hooks does not break his promises.
out of the proposed com m ission—knowing
that this is the easiest path to political support.
He, along with police union leader Stan Pet­
ers, have threatened to put the issue on the bal­
lot if they do not get their way with the Coun­
cil. Their appeal would be to the fear of crime
and violence, with heavy racist overtones.
Alliance between the political leadership and
the police or military is dangerous. In its ex­
tremes it becomes fascist—with the police or
military used to protect the interests of the pol­
itician.
It is not a road we in Portland should travel.
... flH O I
yOU,
.
I F I Ulfl5 TH £ NÊ-UJCômtR.
AN AR.C.A ANO
NfiVVtFi
d io n ’ t i- in e
I ' d m ov«;
I f he did, he could not be considered
a nationally respected Black leader
in Am erica. This is why the Benja­
min Hooks we know rearranged his
schedule with the assistance o f Mrs.
Hooks back in New York, and with
the Regional D ire cto r, Ms. V irn a
C anson, in San Francisco. The
name o f the game is integrity, and
even some Black men behind these
walls can understand that.
This is the sad part: it became ob­
vious in the last moments before
Hooks reconsidered his decision not
to appear at this prison, that there
were some forces in the P o rtla n d
N A A C P w o rk in g against us. But
their opposition was overruled—ov­
er-ru le d so th o ro u g h ly by H ooks
that he publically assured us that the
N A A C P w ill do everything it can at
the national and regional level to as­
sist this priso n ’ s adm inistration in
establishing the avenues to create an
N A A C P chapter at this peniten-
tiary.
The prisoners were so overjoyed
th a t, w ith the assistance o f Kay
Toran, Oregon A ffirm a tiv e A ction
Director, they presented Hooks with
a $200 check to purchase tickets for
the Northwest Regional Conference
banquet that n ig h t. These tic k e ts
were distributed to poor people who
would not otherwise have the money
to attend.
I personally forsee a chapter be­
ing developed at this prison that can
be productive and positive.
In conclusion we w o u ld lik e to
thank Senator W illia m M cC o y ,
Judge Betty Roberts, Oregon Su­
preme Court, and M r. J. C. Keeney,
Asst. Superintendent, O.S.P. fo r in­
tervening as they did when request­
ed by the prisoners to help show
how im portant it was fo r Hooks to
talk to them.
Larry Baker
Display encourages militarism
To the editor:
Police protection for whom?
Mayor Francis Ivancie’s move to ally him­
self with the police in a “ law and order” cam­
paign should be watched carefully.
Ivancie has recruited and encouraged police
opposition to a proposed commission that
would review the policies and practices of the
Police Bureau in investigating com plaints
against police officers. His position has the
support not only of the police administration
but of the police union. The proposed commis­
sion has been described by Ivancie as a menace
to policing that would result in additional
crime.
Ivancie has made a “ law and order issue”
Letters to the Editor
The weapons display at the Clacka­
mas Tow n Center M arch 11-14 is a
slap in the face o f all those who de­
vote th e ir lives to b u ild in g better
ways o f dealing with human conflict
than blowing each other to bits.
Com e on, fo lk s . These arc not
A ta ri games, or tinker toys, or the
newest line o f Porsches your c h il­
dren are clim bing on. That exciting
technology and expensive hardware
was b u ilt from your paycheck, and
its purpose is mass murder.
T o le gitim ize war m achinery in
this way is to make the (wrong) as­
sum ption that all Americans either
enjoy o r cannot com prehend the
idea o f the pain, m u tila tio n , and
death that war inflicts on the “ ene­
mies” hand-picke d fo r us by our
leaders.
We pretend we w ould be peace­
ful, i f not fo r “ them .’ ’ We p,etcnd
we are a noble n a tio n , saving the
w orld from H itle r or Communism.
We close our eyes and secretly envy
those in our land who reap the p ro f­
its fro m every w ar. We invent the
God who prefers us, and our kind.
When can we stop killing for Rea­
gan, Rockefeller, and Jesus?
Am erica has been a shining land
o f promise for the entire world. The
price tag o f our civilization does not
include either permanent adoration
o f or slavery towards the rich and
the m ilitary.
A n y culture that encourages its
citizenry to casually com m it geno­
cide every ten years is wrong. A N Y
culture that creates mass unemploy­
ment and powerlessness among its
citizens and then promises economic
priviege (college, housing) and a
‘ feeling o f belonging’ is wrong.
Speak out. Teach your children to
cherish our beautiful planet ar.d all
its citizens. Demystify Reagan, a tin
god in an endless line o f tin gods, all
spewing “ Let them eat g u n s .”
D o n ’ t listen when they play the
Rockefeller theme song number one
with a bullet— “ Dance to that D o l­
lar.” Consider that Jesus would not
allow killing even as He went to His
own certain death.
Senseless and e ffic ie n t is th is
slaughter. Search your souls. It can­
not proceed without you.
Maria C. Webb
Portland, Oregon
„
Why the world doesn't like the United States
To the editor:
0/
VY£H\
RflJMFFSViy?
FOllOWt^S f / ’
/
I
K^eP
KIGHT
ON THR o u C t H,
B u d d y !
ju s t
We d on’ t need another Vietnam
in El Salvador, or Nicaragua. While
po o r people w atch as we poison
their water, as we k ill a m illion acres
o f th e ir crops; w ith p o o r people
weeping as the U.S. bulldozers roar
through their area preparing to de­
stroy the precious trees, leaving
thousands o f the ch ild re n , hom e­
less, w ith o u t clothes, ru n n in g in
packs on the streets like anim als.
W ill the adults have to watch their
children degraded by U.S. soldiers
as they beg fo r food? Yes, see the
children selling their sisters to U.S.
soldiers, soliciting for their mothers.
W hat w ill the rest o f the people
around the world think as Am erika
tests her latest weapons on them ,
just as the Germans tested out new
m edicine and new to rtu re s in the
concentration camps o f Europe. In
Vietnam , A m erika destroyed their
two most cherished institutions: the
fam ily and the village. Amerika has
even cooperated in the crushing o f
the N a tio n ’ s only non-com m unist
revolutiona ry p o litic a l force— the
u n ifie d B uddhist C hurch. Yes,
Americkan soldiers did corrupt their
women and children and killed their
men. What liberators! How can the
people o f Central or South Amerika
believe in the integrity o f this gov­
ernment.
A ll around the w orld Am crikans
are met by a deep but understand­
able m istru st. The so-called edu­
cated in A m e rika , and the more
sophisticated surely realize that Am
erika is on the side o f the wealthy
and the secure w hile this n a tio n
creates a hell fo r the poor. Some­
how this madness must cease. A m ­
erika must stop now. Let the honest
people o f this nation speak for those
whose land w ill be laid waste, whose
homes w ill be destroyed, whose cul­
ture w ill be subverted. Let us speak
for the poor o f Amerika who w ill be
paying the double price o f smashed
hopes at home and death and co r­
ruption in the jungles o f Central and
South Amerika. Let us speak as citi­
zens o f the world, for the world as it
stands aghast at the path Reagan­
omics plans to take. The image o f
re v o lu tio n , freedom and dem oc­
racy, but the image o f violence and
m ilitarism . I f Reaganomics do not
stop their war against the people o f
El Salvador or Nicaragua im m edi­
ately the w orld w ill be left w ith no
other alternative than to see this as
some h o rrib ly clum sy and deadly
game we have decided to play.
The world now demands a matur­
ity o f Am erika that we may not be
able to achieve. The situation is one
in which we must be ready to turn
sharply from our present ways. Let
us set a date that we w ill remove all
foreign troops from Central Am er­
ika in accordance w ith the 1954
Geneva Agreement. We are at the
m om ent when our lives must be
placed on the line i f our nation is to
survive its own fo lly. Every man o f
humane convictions must decide on
the protest that best suits his convic­
tions, but we must all protest.
The war in Central Amerika is but
a symptom o f a far deeper malady
within the Ainerikan spirit. The late
John F. Kennedy comes back to
haunt us. He said, “ Those who
make peaceful revolution impossi­
ble w ill make violent revolution in ­
evitable. Increasingly, by choice or
by accident, this is the role o f our na­
tio n has taken— the role o f those
who make peaceful re v o lu tio n
impossible by refusing to give up the
privileges and the pleasures that
come from the immense p ro fits o f
overseas investments.
This business o f burning human
beings w ith napalm , o f fillin g our
n a tio n ’ s homes w ith orphans and
w idow s, o f in je c tin g poisonous
drugs o f hate in to the veins o f
people n o rm a lly hum ane, o f
sending men home fro m dark and
bloody battlefields physically handi­
capped and p sych o lo g ica lly de­
ranged, cannot be reconciled w ith
wisdom, justice and love. A nation
that continues year a fte r year to
spend more money on m ilita ry de­
fense than on programs o f social up­
lift is approaching sp iritu a l death.
Communism is a judgm ent against
our failure to make democracy real
and fo llo w through on the revolu­
tions that we initiated. The oceans
o f history are made turbulent by the
ever-rising tides o f hate. Over the
bleached bones and jumbled redidue
o f numerous civilizations are w rit­
ten the pathetic words: "T o o la te ."
We must move past indecision to
action. We must fin d new ways to
speak for peace in Central Am erika
and justice throughout the develop­
ing world. A world that borders on
our doors. I f we do not act we shall
surely be dragged dow n the long
dark and shameful corridors o f time
reserved fo r those who possess
power w ithout compassion, m ight
w ith o u t m o ra lity , and strength
without sight.
Pax. Domine. Vobiscum.
Dr. Jam il Cherovee
Field Dr. for CORE
P u b lic h e a rin g fo r th e s e le c tio n o f a s ite f o r th e n e w n e a r
N o rth e a s t S e n io r C enter w ill be held on Wednesday, M arch 31st, 1:30
pm, at M t. Olivet Baptist Church, 116 N.E. Schuyler, and on Wednesday,
A p ril 7th, 1:30 pm, at the M att Dishman Center, 77 N.E. Knott Street.
S4f M8» *
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