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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 23, 1982)
Page 4 Portland Observer, June 23, 1982 EDITORIAL/OPINION Put personal value above race Racial tensions, reports say, are rising across this coun try. P o la riza tio n is bad fo r everyone. This nation is supposed to stand fo r freedom and ju stice fo r a ll, b u t d o those w o rds mean o n ly white? W hat about yellow , b ro w n and b l a c k - are they exempt fro m the liberties o f this great country? The deep ra c ia l feelings were evident in the sports event ju s t seen across th is c o u n try , the heavyweight ch a m p io n sh ip o f the w o rld . The promoters were selling hate and it sold like hot- cakes. Sixty years ago they were selling the same message and this country still believes in the hate game. Progress in race relations s till remains a mys tery in the race charts. W hy? A t the fig h t the m ajority o f whites were fo r Cooney. The media just went to w ork praising this man o f few skills and the whole country bought this hoax. The media has w ritten many times about the w o rk-e th ic values fo r a ll to achieve. V ery few wrote o f the hard w o rk that L a rry H olm es put in to be one o f the greatest craftsmen o f all time in the professional sport o f boxing. W hy? W here were a ll the good lib e ra l people w ho te ll o u r yo u n g c h ild re n to c lim b the highest m ountain to reach the pot o f gold? L ife in A m erica is just the same whether it ’s sport o r voca tion: The black pop ula tion must pay the higher price fo r everything. W here is th a t silent m a jo rity o f people w ho believe in equal rights and justice fo r all? Where is the clergy to lead the p lig h t o f the hopeless, the jobless, the sick, and people w ith o u t decent shelter? Where are the politicians whose oath is to be a leader fo r all? The church and its leaders must come forw ard fro m th e ir c o m fo rta b le se cu rity and f i l l the streets w ith love fo r each other no m atter what race, creed or color. The federal, state and local governm ent o f f i cials in this co u n try must enforce the laws they have sworn to uphold o r step dow n fro m office. W e must learn to love each other, fo r the char acter o f o u r persons and n o t the c o lo r o f o u r skins. Unless these differences are cleared and everyone has an equal o p p o rtu n ity to live a de cent life , then crim e w ill p re v a il, lives w ill be worthless and no one w ill be free. CONGRESSMAN RON DELLUMS Why the chosen few? C itizens’ p a rtic ip a tio n is a valuable asset to any g o v e rn m e n ta l b o d y ; m any have fo rm a l means to receive citizen input. One m ajor prob lem with these boards, committees and com mis sions is that the same few people are selected to serve again and again. One prom inent com m unity member once re marked that he served on 19 boards concurrent ly. It is a w e ll-k n o w n fa ct th a t once a person achieves th a t fir s t a p p o in tm e n t, he w ill serve again and again u n til he dies o r th ro w s in the to w e l. In the m eantim e there are hundreds o f other citizens w ho are eager to serve and have energy, time and new ideas. They are never con sidered. The problem seems to be worse fo r m in o ri ties. Perhaps this is because the appointing o f fi cials do not know m in o rity people— o r they have just a few favorites. Perhaps some o f these few have proved that they w ill not create problems, are easily satisfied w ith supe rficial answers, o r are just pleased to be chosen. The P o rtla n d S ch ool D is tr ic t is one o f the greatest offenders. The same few not only serve on m ultiple committees but terms seem to go on and on. This issue was addressed by the C o m m u n ity C o a litio n fo r S chool In te g ra tio n fo u r years ago and the S ch o o l B o a rd p ro m ise d to broaden its perspectives. N o thing has changed. Surely hundreds o f parents and members o f the black com m u nity have dem onstrated an intense interest in the School D is tric t these last fo u r or fiv e years. S urely the D is tric t co u ld w elcom e some o f them in to its advisory process. M uch w ill be happening in com ing m onths— the E lio t and Tubm an moves, possible closures and realignment, reorganization. This is a prim e opportunity to bring new people in to the process and to let them feel thay they can share in the D istrict’s planning. W T ttfc tY W Î TO B M P W l K W K KHP IH O tW W OF HEW MUOf W. W6ARJN9 _ MO. BUT THE THREW OF BUtlttWO THEM GIVES U6 BARirtoNIMfr CHIPS FÖR TALKS W TH THE W t T ABOUT THE THOUSMIPS OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS YOU ALREADY HAVE ? CM THOSE w e OUR. OLP rw s ■ Mik« Keefe Th* Denver Poet Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association ItR Portland Observer /£ )'' MSTtONSl The P o rtland Observer (U S P S 969 6801 is published every Thursday by E«ie Publishing Company, Inc., 2201 North Killings worth, Portland, Oregon 97217, Post Office Box 3137, Portland, Oregon 97206 Second class postage paid at Portland, Oregon Mf ««»•»<> / IM I • MEMBER Subscriptions *10.00 per year in the Tri-County area P o s t m aster: Send address changes to the Portland Observer. P.O. Box 3137, Portland, Oregon 97208 Al McGilberry, Editor/Publisher Aaaoc/affon - Founded IM S Al Williams, Advertising Manager Congressman Ron 0«llums of California w ill be the featured speaker for th« Observer'» Achievement Awards Banquet on July 10th at the Hilton Hotel. Honoreea are: Earl Wantland. president, Tektronix: V.F. Book er, president. American State Bank; Harry Ollckman. execu tive vica-presidant of the Trail blazers; Cora Smith, owner of Cora Smith Hair Design; State Representative Gretchen Ka- foury; County Executive Oon Clark; City Commissioner Charles Jordan; Edna Robert son, Coordinator for the North east District Neighborhood Of fice. Woman of the Year: Linda Williams, The Oregonian; Man of the Year, Ron Harndon, co- chairman, Black United Front; Outstanding Community Ser vice: Ruth Haefner. The banquet w ill be held at 7:00 with no-host cocktail hour preceding. Tickets will bo avail able after June 21st. 283-2488 National Advortiaing Rapraaantativo A m alg am atati Publiahara. Inc. N aw Vorh US implicated in Israel war (Continued from page I col. 4) sance from the E C -2 Haw keye a ir craft looking over Syria's western border, Israel's airforce could anti cipate every move the Syrians made while Syrian pilots were flying blind in to ambushes their own radar could not spot for them. The m ilitary evidence confirm s, therefore, a very different picture of the m ilitary balance between Israel and its A rab neighbors than either Israeli leaders or their supporters in W ashington have claim ed in the past. it is not publicly understood just how much the Reagan A dm inistra tion did to encourage the Israeli in vasion o f Lebanon and assure its military success. From the very beginning o f the new adm inistration, W hite House o ffic ia ls indicated that they ap proved Israel's policy o f massive aerial, naval and commando attacks into Lebanon as “ hot pursuit" and “ self-defense" in dealing w ith the Palestinians. Last year, the a dm in istration tried to convey the public im pres sion that it opposed an Israeli attack o o L eb an o n , even as the Pentagon ordered three naval movements that would protect the Israeli coastline and Israeli naval operations in Leb anon. On June I , tw o days before the assassination attempt against the Is raeli ambassador in London and four days before the Israeli invasion began, the a irc ra ft carrier U .S .S . SA M -6 air defense missiles. Kennedy and its escorts began leav- A billion dollars o f American mil ing the Indian Ocean to transit the itary supplies— tanks, armored pet Suez C anal and take up a position sonnel carriers, howitzers, ammuni o ff the Lebanon coast. At the same tion and sidewinder missiles— wer time, the U .S.S. Eisenhower and its waiting for delivery to Israel as th task force slipped quietly out o f war broke out. The a d m in is tra te Naples harbor, heading for a point claimed there "w as nothing in th< o ff the island o f Crete from which pipeline." This was untrue. The ad to reinforce the Kennedy and threat ministration could have imposed at en any Soviet move towards Leban imm ediate freeze on deliveries bu on. In a th ird coordinated move, d id n ’t. It could have announced at U .S . M arines and other landing imm ediate suspension o f offers t< forces were assembled and their task sell Israel additional F - 15 and F -lt force o f ships ordered from R ota, a irc ra ft which were announced Spain, to head for Lebanon. when Gen. Sharon was visiting th< This vast arm ada o f sea power U.S. two weeks before the invasion. was already m oving into position This too was not done. Finally, M before the war began. This is in 60 tanks o f the same type being used m arked contrast to the delays in in Lebanon were made ready for leaving ports o f the Sixth Fleet a ir shipping days a fter the invasion craft carriers during the 1973 Arab- commenced. Israeli w ar. The current U .S . a r I his degree o f U .S. acquiescence mada also outnumbers and outguns in Israeli warfare is unprecedented. the Soviet fleet, which presently has W ho now remembers that Pres. about ten surface fighting ships in Dwight Eisenhower warned Israeli the M ed iterran ean . In 1973 it had Prime M inister D avid Hen G urion more than double that figure. after the Suez W ar that " n o nation W hen this evidence is added to should be allowed to occupy foreign the record o f delays sought by U .S. territory and be permitted to impose diplom ats and o ffic ia ls at the U N conditions on its own withdrawal"? and in Washington after the war be Yet now, the While House and its gan, it leaves little doubt that the supporters in Congress speak o f Reagan Administration knew in ad support for Israel's w ith d raw al vance o f Israeli plans and backed terms that w ill mean d ictating the them. M onths o f secret collab o ra results o f Lebanon's forthcom ing tion with the Israeli air force helped elections. This is not a m ilitary bal provide the mastery o f the air which ance between Israel and Lebanon. the F-16s enjoyed and facilitated the This is a military dictatorship. surprise destruction o f Syria's © PACIFIC NEWSSERVICE, I9H2 IMF sees 'holding plan' (Continuedfrom page I col. 6) d u ctio n o f governm ent exp en d i tures. T o dam pen dem and, the Fund plans to continue the wage freeze that has reduced w o rk ers ’ real wages by 11 per cent in 1982. But the incomes policy is not the only wage control mechanism available, says the Fund: “ . . .perhaps more im p o rta n tly , the present levels o f unemployment and the constraints on the militancy o f labor unions are likely to keep the grow th o f wage rates below inflation levels.” In less euphemistic terms, the threat o f re pression keeps la b o r docile and wages down. C u ttin g dow n on governm ent spending w ill pretty much u nfold along Reaganomic lines: reducing expenditures on social programs like agrarian reform; eliminating devel opment projects; reducing govern ment personnel; and freezing the wages o f public sector workers. The IM F acknowledges, however, that this is a very delicate task since “ the capacity o f the Central government itself to deliver 'fiscal austerity* may have been stretched close to the limit — with little, if any, room for slip page, and with p otentially serious consequences for the efficiency o f public administration.** The most important ingredient o f the emergency p la n , how ever, is massive foreign assistance. " T h e success o f the program hinges criti cally on the timely disbursements o f foreign assistance on the projected scale,** says the report, and it pro ceeds to tick o ff the following start ling facts: 35 per cent o f imports in the next few years will be financed by foreign aid, as well as 16 per cent o f the total outlays o f the central government and 47 per cent o f its deficit. A ccording to an o ffic e r o f the W o rld B a n k ’ s L a tin A m erican Country Programs Division, “ What you see is the creation o f the same a rtific ia l economy, kept alive only by U.S. military expenditure and as sistance, that you had in South Viet nam a decade ago.’* In 1982, the IM F estimates total aid to El Salvador to come to $349 m illio n — 60 per cent o f which will consist o f U .S . grants. But in the present U .S clim ate o f increasing domestic opposition to the adminis tration’s support for the Salvadoran regime, the U .S . aid lifeline might be u n reliable, as the Congress re cently has demonstrated. It is this questionable U .S . com mitment that may explain the Rea gan A d m in is tra tio n ’s e ffo rt to a«, lively involve the IM F in El Salva dor: Stamping the regime with th IM F seal o f approval might give i access to aid from other countrie and loans from international privat banks. I he report acknowledges a much: " I he authorities hope tha an arrangem ent w ith the Fund ii due course would c o n trib u te It strengthen the confidence o f th< international financial community in the economic management o f th« country, thereby p erm ittin g then to restructure their short term debt and to reopen badly needed foreigr lines o f credit." But even as it explicitly takes side' in the savage civil war in El Salva dor, this supposedly neutral m u lti lateral financial agency concludes on a note o f pessimism: “ The task o f restoring confidence w ill be a very difficult one given the unsettled conditions in F.I Salvador and neigh boring countries and the existence o f an unfavorable w orld e n v iro n m ent." Subscribe today I Receive your Observer by mail. Only $10 per year Pacific New« Service, I9H2 Portland Observer Box 3137 Portland, OR 97208 Name _ Address City____ -State Zip
