Page 4 Portland Observer, July 14, 1982
EDITORIAL/OPINION
Dick Bogle
by Dick Hoyle
Replace Africa's stolen resources —
Africa is a continent in trouble. Agricultural
output is lower than that o f 1970 and economic
development has been hampered by high oil
prices and interest rates. Over half o f the pro
ceeds from exports are used for oil and food im
ports.
O f the 31 least developed nations in the world
22 are in Africa. Estimates are that 69 per cent
o f the population is seriously poor and 39 per
cent destitute.
Industrialization has contributed little to eco
nomic and social development. The predomin
ance o f light industry, coupled with high trans
portation costs, means that only 0.8 per cent of
the world’s manufactured goods come from A f
rica.
Eighty per cent o f the people live in rural
areas where 44 per cent o f the land is subject to
drought and 55 per cent to desertification.
The population growth is greater than in the
rest o f the world, with a 2.9 per cent average an
nual growth between 1975 and ,980. The labor
force, suffering from extreme unemployment
and underemployment, grew 2.2 per cent. To
ensure adequate employment for the projected
585 million people by the year 1987, more than
39 million jobs need to be created.
Lack of transportation hampers the economy.
There are few all-weather roads, 40 per cent o f
the road network being partially improved or
unimproved dirt tracks. Railroads vary in gauge
and size, precluding inter-connections between
countries.
Economies are based on colonialism — p ro
ducing raw materials for export rather than food
and material fo r consumption at home. The
high cost o f manufactured goods and food im
ports, coupled with low income from natural re
sources, ensures that the African nations— like
other Third W orld nations—do not have the
economic resources for development.
Many o f the new governments are empha
sizing food crops, a necessary step to feed people
now starving and to cut down the expenditure o f
funds for lood imports. Another great need is
the development of solar power to minimize the
enormous expenditures on oil. A lthough the
bulk o, the work to build the economies must be
borne by the African nations themselves, their
survival also depends on the world economy.
The developed nations, especially the U .S .,
which raped Africa of its human and natural re
sources, should be in the forefront o f the race to
provide African nations with technical assist
ance and economic aid. This aid must be pro
vided without subjecting them to economic or
political control.
New targets and new strategies
are pari o f the goals set by the na
lio n ’ s oldest civil rights organization
at its recent Boston convention.
t he National Association for the
Advancement o f C olored People is
planning greater activism in bring
mg black Am ericans in to the eco
nomic mainstream.
One o f the symbolic targets in this
c tfo r l w ill be the m o tio n p ictu re
in d u s try . The co n ve n tio n passed
resolutions requiring executive d i
rector Benjamin Hooks to conduct a
campaign lo r jobs and upward m o
b ility in the industry and asking the
industry to portray blacks in more
positive roles.
Hooks was also authorized to o r
ganize boycotts ol movies which ex
clude blacks “ in front o f and behind
the camera,” i f that is deemed nec
essary.
I lie year 1982-gT also w ill see
other specific efforts directed by the
N .A A .(. I* in the fields o f educa
tio n . crim in a l justice, and political
brighter picture fo r blacks to gain
elective o ffic e . B oth the V oting
Mights extension and the decision
w ill make it easiei to prove in court
that an election system discriminates
against minorities.
The July 1st Supreme C ourt case
involved Georgia's Burke County, a
rural area near the South Carolina
border. It allows a wide range o f in
direct evidence to show discrim ina
tory intent, something not allowed
in a 1980 court decision. Now, with
the new decision the American C ivil
Liberties U nion w ill resume filin g
challenges to at-large elections sys
tems soon. The thinking is that if a
county elects its commissioners on an
at large basis, blacks w ill not as like
ly win office as they would had the
election been conducted on a district
basis since blacks co u ld be in the
m ajority in some districts.
Blacks today hold o n ly tw o per
cent o f the nation's elected public
offices. And the rate o f increase in
their election has slowed over the
past several years.
M onths ago, in this colum n, we
wrote about the need for an exten
sion o f the N ational Voting Mights
A ct. W ell, Congress passed it and
President Meagan signed it into law.
That fact plus a recent II.S . Su
preme Court Decision paints a much
Washington Hot Line
by Congressman Ron Wyden
Television teaches racism
Television could have been the most powerful
vehicle o f education and communication known
to man. It could have been a leader in the quest
for human understanding and human rights. It
could have been a means to show children all of
the wonders of the world and to encourage them
to seek knowledge.
Instead, television maintains a stagnant com
munication, playing to the lowest common de
nominator with its soap operas, game shows and
violence.
Programming for adults is aw ful—violence,
sex, racism and ignorance. But programming
for children is worse.
A recent study by Action for Children’ s Tele
vision revealed that children’ s programs are
worse than adults in not showing minorities and
in stereotyping minorities and women.
•3 .7 per cent o f the characters in the pro
grams surveyed were black; 3.1 per cent were
Hispanic; 0.8 per cent were Asian. Native Amer
icans were represented only by Tonto.
•O n ly 16 per cent o f the m ajor dram atic
action.
The o rg a n iz a tio n plans to con
tinue legal and other efforts to de
segregate schools at all levels but
w ill put most emphasis on quality
education, rather than busing and
the achievement o f strict racial bal
ance in schools. It w ill also study
testing not only in education but in
jo b selection testing.
The N .A .A .C .P . w ill become
more active in starling rehabilitation
program s both inside correctional
institutions and for former inmates.
Althea Simmons says the organi
zation plans to boost local chapters
where they may be sagging and form
coalitions w ith other organizations
Io make candidates aware o f the
needs and aims o f black Americans.
Q M hat do vou think o f current
characters were female.
television advertisements which give
• Blacks are more likely to be cast as heroes
cred it to the A d m in istra tio n f o r
’ 'keeping its p ro m ise s'’ to preserve
than as villains but this is offset by the in fre
the
in teg rity o f the social security
quency of minority portrayals.
s vs tern?
• Women were portrayed as younger than
•1 I hew ads are both misleading
men, more likely to be married, less active, and
and h a rm fu l, and I believe they
with lower self-esteem.
should he discontinued.
I he ads are m isleading because
Programs targeted to children—the most vul
they
give credit where credit is n 't
nerable o f our population—portray a world o f
due I he ads state that the President
white males. Those with accents are villains or
has kept his promise to preserve the
stupid. These programs provide a daily dose of Social Security system by allowing a
education than ensures that the racism in our so 7.4 per cent c o s t-o f-liv in g a d ju s t
ciety will survive and grow.
ment to go through as scheduled on
Far too many parents use television as a baby June JO.
What the ads fail to note is that:
sitter and never look to see what their children
I I I hese eosl-of-liv ing increases
are seeing and hearing. Few bother to tell the have been provided autom atically
networks that the picture must change.
by law since 1975 (not by any action
Television is a commercial product. The best o f the president); and
2) The A d m in is tra tio n fo u g h t
way to reach the policy makers is not to buy
long
and hard to have this increase
from the corporations that pay the bill. When
delayed It failed to do so only be
the advertisers find that parents want change—
cause Congress refused to go along.
and feel it in their bank accounts—change will
By g ivin g undue c re d it to the
come.
A d m in is tra tio n , these ads make a
m ockery o f the tr u th , and once
Tf I Helped You. I’d Have Io Help Others’’
again stretch the patience o f the
American people
Hut they do m ore. They also
threaten chances for the kind o f ra
tional, bipartisan solution to Social
Security’ s problems that the Presi
dent has said he favors.
O nly 10 m onths ago, the Presi
dent stood before the Am erican
people and announced the fo rm a
tion o f a bipartisan task force which
was to come up w ith proposals for
re fo rm o f the system. He said at
that tim e, that this task force was
designed to remove Social Security
once and for all from politics.
The M epublican N ational C o m
mittee (which is sponsoring the tele
vision ads) obviously d id n 't get the
message. By g ivin g cre d it where
credit isn’ t due, the committee has
once again removed Social Security
fro m the conference ta b le —and
placed it on the p o litic a l playing
field.
The problem w ith this Social Se
curity game is that the losers are not
the Democrats nor the Mepublicans.
The losers are the unw illing specta-
to rs—A m erica’ s w orking men and
women and our retirees.
As <he great political game wages
on, Americans are forced to sit on
the side, nes never knowing which
team w i ll score the points, or whe
ther someone w ill just drop the ball,
leaving them holding nothing more
than the memories o f a broken con
tract.
We owe the A m erican people
more. We owe them a v ic to ry —and
we can only achieve that v ic to ry if
we work together.
In a speech on the House flo o r
this week, I urged the President to
assert his authority as the leader o f
the Mepublican Party — to demand
rem oval o f the R N C ’ i Social Se
curity ads from the airwaves—to de
mand return o f Social Security to a
pension pro g ra m , not a p o litic a l
football.
That is the only way we can hope
to keep our pledge to the American
people, and to provide them w ith
the retirement benefits they earned
and deserve.
Affirmative action feud
(Continued fro m page I column 6)
ney Barry Goldstein, who has repre
sented m inority workers in seniority
system challenges, insists that equal
opportun ity sometimes requires ab
rogation o f seniority rules. He a r
gues that rig id ly applied se n io rity
often perpetuates the effects o f past
discrim ination.
O nly one m ajor labor organiza
tion advocates “ a ffirm a tiv e reten
tio n ” o f m inorités in la y o ff situa
tio n s — the independent N a tio n a l
Education Association (N E A ), chief
riv a l to the A F T and the n a tio n ’ s
largest teacher group. N E A guide
lines encourage local a ffilia te s to
seek contracts which lim it m inority
layoffs to the proportion o f m inor
ities in the b a rg a in in g u n it. Even
w ith in the N E A , how ever, m any
members prefer traditional seniority
systems and re la tiv e ly few locals
have adopted a ffirm a tive retention
plans. N E A o ffic ia ls say they w ill
honor any choice made by locals.
The Boston case is not the only
such dispute now in court. Accord-
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rights.”
Nevertheless, a Supreme C our
reversal w ould not surprise m an’
observers. W hile the court has no
ruled on a major “ reverse discrimin
a tio n " claim since 1979. this year’
decisions in other cases revealed i
grow ing reluctance to set asidi
union rules: In the most recent sue!
decision, June 29, the justices over
turned a lower court affirm ative ac
tion hiring order covering Pcnnsyl
vania and Delaware c o n s tru c tio r
workers. The high court now insists
that union seniority and hiring hall
rules may no, be set aside unless the
challengers prove they were set up
with intent to discriminate.
W ha, that in te rim ru lin g w ill
mean for current la yo ff disputes re
mains to be seen. But a more defini
tive Supreme C ourt decision, espe
cially in a case as clear-cut as that in
Boston, would almost certainly have
a lasting impact on race relations in
U.S. workplaces.
t’ A d l K
N E W S S E R V IC E . 1982
r p ?
f
The P o rtla n d Observer IU S P S 969 680) i t published every
Thursday by Exie Publishing Company, Inc , 2201 North Killings
worth. Portland, Oregon 97217, Post Office Box 3137, Portland,
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ing to Shanker. teachers in Spring-
fie ld . Illin o is . Kalam azoo, M ic h i
gan, and B u ffa lo , New Y o rk , are
em broiled in sim ilar controversies.
Appeals court rulings have also up
held court-ordered m in o rity la y o ff
restrictions covering pu b lic safety
agencies in Boston and the Memphis
fire department.
Judges stated th e ir ra tio n a le
clearly in the Boston police and fire
case: " W e arc acutely aware that
some white policemen and fire fig h t
ers who, understandably, regard the
s e n io rity system as an inalienable
rig h t and who have been innocent
themselves o f any d is c rim in a tio n
w ill lose their jobs, at least tem po
ra r ily . We must recognize that
whites as a group reaped significant
advantages in the past in hiring and
prom otion at the expense o f blacks
and hispanics and that a last hired,
first fired seniority system perpetu
ates the past exclusion o f minorities.
This is not a case o f wrong or right;
it is a case o f tw o com peting
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