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
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MO. BUT THE THREW OF BUtlttWO
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FÖR TALKS W TH THE
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OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS YOU
ALREADY HAVE ?
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Mik« Keefe
Th* Denver Poet
Oregon
Newspaper
Publishers
Association
ItR
Portland Observer
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The P o rtland Observer (U S P S 969 6801 is published every
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IM I •
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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."
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