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
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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
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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
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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
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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,
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. . _ _ _ _ _ KrrcHEN_______ _ _ _____
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Building
a future.
Dream by dream.
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