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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 1982)
Page 2 Portland Observer, April 15, 1982 Black America's view of the nuclear arms race by Pamela Douglas Pacific News Service L O S A N G E L E S — “ T r iu m p h .” intoned the preacher to the Black congregation in c en tral Los A n geles, “ U not what we think. H ow foolish, how grievously foolish it is. to th in k a triu m p h is bom bing another nation into submission, is having the power to k i l l ----- T r i umph! Triu m p h ! The only real tr i umph is life !” This is surprising stuff for a Black com munity church. U n til recently, issues o f war and peace and nuclear weapons took a distant back seat to the more pressing concerns o f this and o th er p o o r, B lack congrega tions, such as losing the welfare pay ments. B ut, says the Rev. Thom as K il gore o f Second B aptist C h u rc h , “ Unless we can abate the threat o f nuclear war, we can forget about ev erything else, ‘cause w o n ’ t be no body here.” The anti-nuclear weapons sermon at Second Baptist is still atypical o f political priorities in the Black com m unity, but it is a certain sign that the nationwide campaign for a nu clear freeze is touching all sectors o f society. Black church leaders, espe cially, are responding to the theme — a sign that the congregations are willing to listen. D r. Lucius W alker, executive d i rector o f the New York-based Inter- Religious Foundation, interprets the emergence o f the issue in Black communities in terms that are partly econom ic, p a rtly e th n ic. “ The Black community sees money being taken from the needs o f desperately poor people in order to create wea pons to destroy com m unities o f o th er poor people around the w o rld ,” he says. “ Short o f an all- out war, the only places a ‘ lim ited’ war would be waged is in countries o f c o lo r. I ’ m hearing a grow ing sense o f that among people I work with, who are mostly community or ganizers and Black ministers.” D r. W alker and other Black min isters, however, would like to orient the nuclear freeze movement toward a more general consensus for human needs. Says the Rev. Nigel R iley, a staff member o f the Board o f G io- bal Ministries o f the United M etho dist Church: “ The lib eral wing o f most mainstream denominations is focusing on peace, which takes in nuclear disarmament. W e ’re trying to use th a t to b u ild a c o a litio n among liberal forces. 1 do think the church needs to be challenging so cial and economic systems more. 1 believe they need to focus on chal lenging a system that w ould cut a poor fam ily’s sustenance.” Some Black social activists ex press little expectation that the gap between the basically white, middle- class anti-nuclear movement and the concerns o f p oor Blacks can be breached. “ I don’ t run into anyone w h o ’ s ta lk in g abo u t the nuclear th in g ,** said D o ro th y T illm a n , a longtime Chicago civil rights activist w ho is curren tly cam paigning for better public schools. “ W e have an education crisis, a housing crisis, an un em p lo vm et crisis, so we d o n ’ t talk about a nuclear crisis. W e have a war o f our own. W e have a holo caust right here.” T illm a n said she recently tried talking about these pressing prob lems to a group o f people on a na tio n w id e peace w alk and got only glassy-eyed responses. “ I told them ’You can’t even understand what we are doing.’ You know, it’s very easy to deal with something (like nuclear war) that you can’t deal with right now. I t ’s harder to get in there at the ground level.” T illm a n said she isn ’ t try in g to dowrplay the seriousness o f nuclear war, but emphasized that the prob lems o f the Black community are far more im m ediate. “ The grassroots people simply aren’t talking about nuclear war. The community people are tryin g to survive. O u r w a r is within our cities." Some go even further in distanc ing themselves fro m the nuclear freeze movement. “ There seems to be a racism involved w ith classical peace groups,” said M ustaffa Ran- d o p h , vice president o f the New York-based Black Veterans for So cial Justice. " T h e y d o n ’t want to recognize issues o f American racism or U .S. intervention in Third W orld countries. They want to lim it them selves to an environmental interpre tation. “ The average Black person,” he continues, “ isn’t thinking about a nuclear bomb. H e ’s thinking about a cheese sandw ich.’ ’ M iddle-class whites, he adds, “ don’t have to re late to what Blacks thin k a b o u t— the hunger, having no jobs, or no place to liv e ___ T h a t’s why w e’ re having problem s u n ify in g w ith them.” Randy Kehler, director o f the N a tio n a l C le arin g House o f the N u clear Weapons Freeze C am p aig n , acknowledges that few Blacks have gotten deeply involved in the issue. “ The freeze campaign has not made a serious effort in minority commu nities to connect it to issues that are higher on poor people’s agendas.” he says. “ W e ’ d lik e to become a more m ulti-racial organization, but we’re not now.” Interviews conducted with ordin ary people in Black com m unities bear out the sense o f ambivalence many feel to w ard the m ovem ent. •’ I ’m not really that involved w ith the nuclear th in g ,” said Gladys Sm ith, a p a rt-tim e security guard and baby sitter in Harlem. " I really d o n ’ t have tim e fo r it , between w o rk in g , tak in g care o f my kids, trying to better myself, some. But I support it. I really d o .” Said Lidya C arter, a retired hos pital w orker in her late 60s, “ I ’ m more worried about getting mugged or shot on the street than 1 am about nuclear weapons. Just the other day a friend o f mine was stuck up in the elevator o f the building we live in, in broad daylight. F ra n k ly , these are the kinds o f problem s I ’ m really concerned about. The bomb seems a long way o ff from here.” Despite this grassroots alienation from the nuclear issue, more Black leaders, fro m m inisters to p o liti cians, believe Black participation in the movement is not only desirable, but im perative. “ I f we don’t inject ourselves, these devastations which cut the human needs budget while spending on the m ilita ry w ill con tinue to be ignored,” says a spokes man for Congressman Ron Dellums (D .-C a .). “ Blacks are just beginning to awaken to their power in in flu encing foreign policy, m ilitary and economic decisions, and we know not that we have no choice but to change this g o ve rn m en t’s p r io ri ties.” © Pacific New* Service 1982 Map of Portland depicts affects of one megaton nuclear blast w ith ground zero being the Burnside Bridge. Circle 1: all life end buildings pulverized. Circle 2: lung hemorrhage, third degree burns. Circle 3: brick and frame houses destroyed, ear drum rupture. Circle 4: spontaneous ignition clothing and com bustibles, firestorm s likely. 60 per cent dead. Marijuana initiative succeeding Organizers o f the Oregon M a r i ju ana In itia tiv e ( O M I) , a group o f private citizens working to legalize the personal use o f m a riju a n a in Oregon, estimate that they have a l ready gathered five to ten thousand signatures on their ballot-access pe titions. T o get the in itia tive on the N ovem ber 2, 1982, b a llo t, 55,000 valid signatures are needed by July 2. M a riju a n a law re fo rm groups from ten counties attended a state wide meeting in Eugene on January 9th . They form ed a c o a litio n sup porting O M I and they plan to spon sor other m a riju a n a law reform s and educational projects. Members o f the coalition recently spoke to the special session o f the legislature re garding possible revenue by legaliz ing marijuana. To promote rational discussion o f the marijuana laws, O M I has repre sentatives available for interviews or discussions. Call John Sajo at 775- 9250 or 233-1295. Juvenile Council has openings The Multnom ah County Juvenile Court Advisory Council is currently accepting applications for openings. Potential candidates should have a strong interest in youth and the ju venile justice system, must reside or w o rk in M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty , be w illing to attend two meetings per month, and be able to commit them selves to at least one three-year term. Interested parties should send a personal letter in d icatin g interest w ith a resume o f backg ro u n d by April 30, 1982 to: Multnomah Ju venile C o u rt, J U V E N IL E C O U R T A D V IS O R Y C O U N C IL , 1401 N .E . 68th Avenue, Portland, OR 97213. READ THE FOOD SECTION EACH WEEK FOR NEW IDEAS IN THE 0 , have a dream." I have a d re a m th a t o n e day o a t in the* ro d h ills o t G e o rg ia th e sons o f fo rm e r sla v e s a n d th e so ns o f fo rm e r s la v e o w n e rs w ill b e a b le to sit d o w n to g e th e r at th e ta b le o f b ro th e rh o o d I have a d re a m that o n e day e v e n th e s ta ff o f M is s is s ip p i a stair- s w e lte rin g w ith th e h e a t of o p p re s s io n w ill tie tra n s fo rm e d in to an oasis of fre e d o m a nd ju s tic e I have a d re a m th a t m y fo ur little c h ild re n w ilt o n e d ay liv e in a n a tio n w h e re th e y w ill n o , be ju d g e d by th e c o lo r o f th m r s k in tin t by th o u c h a ra c te r I have a dream today I h ave a d re a m th a t o n e d a y e v e ry v a lle y s h a ll be e n g u lfe d e v e r / h ill sh all b e e x a lte d and e v e ry m o u n ta in s h a ll b e m a d e lo w th e ro u g h p la c e s w ill be m a d e p la in s a nd th e c ro o k e d p la c e s w ill bo m a d e s tra ig h t a nd th e g lo ry o f th e L o rd s h a ll b e re v e a le d a n d a ll fle s h see it to g e th e r T h is is o u r hope. This is th e fa ith th a t I w ill g o back to th e S o u th w ith W ith th is fa ith w e w ill b o a b le to h ew o u t o f th e m o u n ta in o f d d g pa n a s to n e o( h o p e * 1 A W ith this faith w e w ill b e a b le 'to w ork to g e th e r to pray to gethe r to stru g g le It all starts with a dream. To he a lawyer. A doctor. A Golden Gloves champion. To own your own business. And it starts with the people who have those dreams. Who are working to make those dreams real. You’ll be seeing their stories in the months to come. Because they end up building a future ...a good, solid future.. .for all of us. Dream by dream. to g e th e r to go to jail to g e th e r to fclimb up for freedom to gethe r know ing that we w ill be fre e one day T+ns w ill b e th e d a y w h e n all o f G o d s c h ild re n w ill be a b le to sin g w ith new m e a n in g M y c o u n try tts of th e e S w e e t b in d of lib e rty 0 f th e e /l s in g \L a n d w h e re m y fa th e rs d ie d Land o f th e P ilg rim s p rid e F r o m e v ry m o u n ta in s id e L et (re e d o m rin g A n d if A m e ric a is to be a g re a t n a tio n th is m ust b e c o m e tru e ’S o let fre e d o m rin g fro m th e m ig h ty m o u n ta in s o f N e w York L et fre e d o m rin g fro m (hr- h e ig h te n in g A lle g h e n ie s o f P e n n s y lv a n ia L et fre e d o m rin g fro m th e s n o w -c a p p e d B ric k ie s o f C o lo ra d o -A L et fre e d o m rin g from th e c u rv a c io u s s lo p e s p f C a lifo rn ia ANHf ltStR -BUSCH C.OMfftNff.S B u t n ot o n ly th M le t fre e d o m rin g fro m the- S to n e M o u n ta in o, G e o rg ia L e, fre e d o m Ong b o m L o o k o u t M o u n ta in o f fe n h e s s e e L et fre e d o m rin g fro m i w u m o u n ta in s id e f u ll j and m o le fu ll o f M is s is s ip p i and e v e ry W h e n w e le, fre e d o m rin g w hen w e le , i, tin g fro m e ve r y te n e m e n t and e v e ry n a m le t ffo m e v e ry s ta te and e v e ry raty w e w ill b e atyie to s p e e d u p th a t d a y w h e n all o f G o d ' c h ild re n b la ck m e n a n d w h ite m en Jews .m d G e n tile s P ro te s ta n t' and C a th o lic s w ill be a b le to |o in h a n d ' and ■ m g m h i e w o n t s o f th e o lt f s p iritu a l I reo at las, b e e a, la s t'*T h a n k G o d A lm ig h ty we are- fre e at las, A. \ . . _ _ _ _ _ KrrcHEN_______ _ _ _____ i Building a future. Dream by dream. I
