Page 4 Portland Observer, April 29, 1982
EDITORIAL/OPINION
U.S. arms spending: A black issue
by Manning M arable
From the Grassroots, A p ril 1982
Since last fall, the entire Western
wot Id has been rocked by the spec
tre of nuclear holocaust. Millions o f
Europeans, outraged by R onald
sponsored by the Observer, BUF, A. P hilip Ran Reagan’s incredible assertions that a
nuclear confrontation with the So
dolph Institute, the Black Social W orkers Asso viet U n io n could be “ lim ite d ” or
c ia tio n , n e ig h b o rh o o d o rg a n iz a tio n s , and even ‘ 'w in n a b le ," dem onstrated
others, to give citizens an o p p o rtu n ity to study against the arms policies o f the U .S.
M a jo r leaders in Europe and the
the four options that had been presented.
United
States denounced Reagan's
Representatives o f these o rg a n iz a tio n s and
decision to deploy 572 Pershing 11
others spent hours attending hearings and talking
and cruise missiles in W estern
w ith legislators in Salem to offset the influence Europe in 1983. Religious and intel
o f the Oregon Association fo r Black A ffa irs and
lectual advocates o f peace have ini
tiated teach-ins against the arms
some elements o f the N A A C P , w hich wanted
race. But in the face o f this chorus
the district divided.
o f criticism , Reagan has proven to
Now the c o m m u n ity m ust com e to g e th e r be quite ignorant to the realities o f
again to select a candidate and to support that world m ilitary a ffairs. Despite the
fact that the U .S . currently has
candidate w ith w o rk, money and votes.
10.000 strategic nuclear warheads to
Five black candidates are competing to repre the Soviets' 7,000 he asserted in a re
sent this d istrict. W ith the black vote split five cent press conference that “ the So
ways it is statistically im possible fo r any black viet Union does have a definite mar
c a n d id a te to w in w ith o u t p ic k in g up a large gin o f superiority.” U .S. arms pro
white vote. On the other hand, the leading white duction was essential, Reagan de
clared. A fte r a first nuclear ex
candidate can w in w ithout a single black vote. I f
change, “ they could absorb our re
this district is to be represented by a black per ta lia to ry blow and hit us a g a in ."
son. then one candidate must be selected.
Even rabidly pro-defense Senators
had to confess that Reagan “ didn't
When this person is selected the co m m u n ity
know what he was talking about.”
o rg a n iza tio n s, social clubs, churches, lodges,
As the debate over nuclear disar
neighborhood associations, etc. must com m uni m am ent deepened, there was a
curious absence o f rhetorical input
cate w ith their members and supporters.
from most o f the noted black C ivil
The c o m m u n ity ’ s leaders must reach ou, to
Rights leadership and the Congres
the w hite residents to explain w hy this d is tric t
sional Black Caucus. Black spokes
must be represented by a black person.
persons in the media had denounced
I f the o p p o rtu n ity is lost now it w ill be years
Reagan’s New Federalism proposals
as “ b a rb a ric ," and they attacked
before the black co m m u n ity has the chance to
administration policies on social ser
elect its own black representative.
vices
and
unem ploym ent
as
“ cruel." Yet all this sound and fury
signified, to this observer, a regret
table yet h abitual failure to grasp
the relationship between domestic
and international policies in any co
herent fashion.
an executive session when o n ly the B oard, ad
The current attitude that prevails
m in is tra tio n and press were present and at a
There is strength in unity
House D is tric t 18 is the d is tric t established
and designated as the state’ s o n ly “ m in o r ity "
d is tric t— a d is tric t where m in o ritie s are in the
m ajority and black people make up a high per
centage o f the population.
This district did not come easy— it was a hard-
won v icte .y. The com m u nity had been divided
fo u r ways in 1971 by then-S ecretary o f State
Clay Myers— four House Districts and fo u r Sen
ate D istricts— giving the black com m unity little
influence in any district.
During the 1981 legislative session the decision
again had to be made. Across the nation black
com m unities were divided and gerrym andered,
losing much o f their elective power. In O regon
the results were different.
T hroug h the e ffo rts o f the O bserver, Bruce
Broussard, Ronnie H e rnd on. Robert P h illip s ,
Bob Boyer and others the Legislature was per
suaded to preserve a “ na tu ra l c o m m u n ity ” in
the creation o f District 18. A lthough some legis
lators fought to serve their own vested interest,
Gretchen K afou ry and Rick Bauman came fo r
ward to help and W ally Priestley gave up certain
re-election to support the district.
The re d is tric tin g issue was h o t a ro u n d the
state but co m m itte e c h a irm a n G len W h a llo n
brought the election co m m itte e ’ s o n ly hearing
outside o f Salem to King N eighborhood Facil
ity. M any citizens and organizations testified;
even the Republican Party came forw ard in sup
p o rt. Before ca llin g the hearing W h a llo n and
other legislators attended a com m unity meeting
Too many police
The presence o f u n ifo rm e d , armed police at
Board meetings began during the adm inistration
o f D r. James F e n w ick, fir s t w ith an o ffic e r
sta n d in g in the h a ll. L a te r tw o o ffic e rs to o k
seats in the fron t o f the room , near the Board.
W e are dismayed at the show o f police force
at recent School Board meetings.
D u rin g the hectic days o f the Newm an Plan
and the C o m m u n ity C o a litio n fo r School Inte
g ra tio n , the rem oval o f Benson’ s p rin cip a l, the
u n p o p u la r B eaum ont d e cisio n , m any people
packed the Board meetings but no police o f f i
cers were in sight.
In recent weeks the police presence has be
come overpowering. N ot only were several pre
sent d u rin g Board m eetings when d e m o n stra
tions did occur; but they were in evidence during
sparsely attended special m eeting on S unday,
a fte r the B la ck U n ite d F ro n t had p ro m is e d
that no dem onstration w ould take place.
W e understand that the presence o f school
police in the build ing is a safeguard against vio
lence to the Board, demonstrators or the public.
W e m ust m e n tio n th a t these o ffic e rs , on the
w h o le , have been p o lite , h e lp fu l and even
frie n d ly . H o w eve r, they co u ld ju st as w ell be
lounging in their o fffic e only a few feet away as
pacing the halls, guarding the stairs, and being
present in the meeting itself.
The board is an arm o f the citizens, meeting
in democratic process to make vital decisions fo r
us a ll. S urely the atm o sphere w o u ld be m ore
conducive w ithout this police presence.
among too many blacks is the belief
that arms control, or nuclear disar
mament, are not essentially “ black-
oriented issues." Relatively few
black students and faculty, for ex
ample, participated in the 1950 cam
pus teach-ins and demonstrations
against nuclear arms proliferation
last fall. It is even conceivable that
some blacks actually support greater
arms spending, because this will
generate new jobs in defense plants.
M o re likely is the fact that blacks
generally are so conditioned by the
prism o f race that they find it d iffi
cult to relate to the nuclear arms
issue.
Establishing the relationship be
tween the economic and political in
terests o f U.S. blacks, and by exten
sion, all T h ird W orld people, with
the current arms race, begins with
one basic question: what are the
long-term costs o f nuclear arms pro
liferation? Foremost, for black peo
ple and others, is the survival o f hu
manity and world civilization.
P o litic a lly , it is im perative that
Am erican blacks and progressives
do not get caught in the logic o f (he
simplistic, red-baiting anticommu
nism. President Reagan was the first
to denounce the Soviet Union’s pro
posal to freeze nuclear weapons as a
“ propaganda p lo y.” In one recent
speech, Reagan declared irrationally
that a “ freeze simply isn't good
enough because it doesn't go far
enough. We must go beyond a
freeze." Reaganites argue that any
serious discussion o f the Soviets'
arms proposals within (he context of
U .S . domestic politics is akin to
treason.
However, we must recognize that
historically, o f the two major super
powers, that the U .S .S .R . has been
much more willing to decscalate the
arms race than the U.S. has been. In
the 1930s, the Soviet U nion p ro
posed a general and complete world
disarm am ent. In the 1950s and
1960s, the U .S ., not the Soviet
Union, initiated the majority o f new
and dangerous nuclear weapons sys
tems. In 1946 the Soviets called for a
ban on the storage and production
o f all nuclear weapons, with a sub
sequent destruction o f stockpiles. In
1977, General Secretary Brezhnev
called for an agreement to stop the
entire world’s production o f nuclear
weapons sim ultaneously. In M ay,
1978, according to one recent press
account, “ Moscow advocated at a
special U N General Assembly ses
sion on disarmament that the major
powers enter into an international
agreement ending production o f nu
clear weapons o f every type and on
gradually liquidating stockpiles. It
also called for an end to all nuclear
testing, and agreement banning
first-use o f nuclear weapons, estab
lishment o f nuclear free zones and
destruction o f all nuclear arm s.” In
these last instances, the C arter A d
m inistration denounced the Soviet
initiatives for peace as marxist prop
aganda.
T o say that the Soviets are more
com mitted to genuine arms reduc
tions is not to say that we accept or
agree with all the politics o f the So
viet Union, or that we agree with its
stands on Afghanistan or Poland. It
is to take a stand for peace and in
ternational dialogue. It is to say no
to nuclear insanity. It is to say yes to
life itself. As one lyric poet said in
the sixties, “ A ll we are saying, is
give peace a chance."
The majority o f American people
are beginning to agree w ith this
peace perspective. One M arch,
1982, G allup opinion poll stated
that 72 per cent o f all Americans
want this nation and the Soviets to
sign an agreement to halt the con
struction o f all new nuclear wea
pons. Another poll cited in the press
declares that 57 per cent o f the pub
lic favor a freeze on all nuclear test
ing, production and arms deploy
ment by the U.S. and U .S.S.R . This
is exactly wha: Brezhnev proposes
to do. And (his is what Ronald Rea
gan rejects.
Letters to the Editor
Whites must join black protest
To the editor:
It is time for white people o f con
science to take a public stand
against the School Board’s decision
regarding the Tubman siting. I f the
m a jo rity o f the Board w on’ t listen
to a united black com munity, then
the larger com munity must say we
are appalled at the separate and un
equal, and therefore racist tre a t
ment black people in Portland are
curren tly receiving in the forced
placement of this middle school.
Today many white Portlanders
are taking a stand o f conscience
against nuclear arms build-up. To
condemn nuclear proliferation while
ignoring racial injustice would be in
consistent. Both o f these aspects o f
our economic system, capitalism ,
destroy hum anity, both take away
our right and responsibility to con
trol our own lives, and both reflect
the system o f unequal power that is
ruining our country and threatening
our survival as a species.
Each o f us must choose between
indifference and action. There are
complexities to the School Board’s
decision, but there is no middle
ground to make the choice between
right and wrong easier.
Sandy Willow
National Organization for
an American Revolution
Tubman choice disregards needs, commitment
'w E SHALL FIGHT
OH THE B E A C H E S ,
WE SHALL FIGHT
ON THE LANDING
...OF EUROPE,
THAT I S /
WE SHALL FIGHT
IN THE FIELDS
AND IN THE
To the editor:
The School Board's decision to
place Tubman Middle School at the
present Boise site is in total disre
gard o f both the needs o f the com
m unity and (he B o ard ’ s previous
com m itm ents. Placement o f the
Tubm an school at Boise will mean
wide-scale displacement and busing
o f hundreds o f elem entary school
students who w ill be left w ithout a
neighborhood school. The Board
has not been able to justify this deci
sion educationally or socially to the
satisfaction o f the community.
The initial decision to place Tub-
man at the Eliot site was made in re
sponse to the needs o f and pressure
from the Black community. Reneg
ing on this promise creates a public
image o f the Board as both dishon
est and racist.
We fully support any and all ex
pressions o f community dissatisfac
tion over this decision. Virtually all
m ajor black organizations in P o rt
land disagree with (he Tubman de
cision. In addition, large sectors o f
the white community are disgusted
by the deceitful conduct o f the
School Board. Further, the Board's
threats to crush peaceful, dem o
cratic protest through the use o f
armed police borders on the type of
racist reactionary tactics we saw
during the C iv il Rights protests of
the '50s and ‘60s in the U.S. History
has shown that demands for justice
and equality cannot be silenced in
this manner.
We encourage School Board
members to discontinue their repres
sive tactics, honor their c o m m it
ments to the Black com m unity, or
resign from their positions.
Heather Conrad and
Mindy Spatt
Committee to Support the
Black United Front
Gangle not endorsed
To the editor:
I am one of the Democratic candi
dates for Representative in District
18.
It has come to my attention (hat
some people have misunderstood
my listing my membership in the
C o m m ittee to Support the Black
U nited Front on some o f my cam
paign literature. I was simply listing
groups, including Albina Fair Share
I ll
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