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Page 4 Portland Observer, July 28, 1982 EDITORIAL/OPINION South Africa and Reaganism y I O O n O PC ' ' A I O p lO I LI I C I Ö Dellums leads Congressional debate on military budget The C o n g re ssio n a l debate on the m ilita r y b u d ge, b rin g s m ixed new s— som e g o o d and some bad. We can be very proud o f Congress man Ron Dellum s who alm ost single-handedly attem pted to bring sanity back to the n a tio n a l b u d g e t. R e p e a te d ly c h a rg in g th a t an e v e r g ro w in g m ilita ry budget is madness th a t w ill lead the w o rld to a nuclear holocau st and an end to m a n kin d , he spent hours on the House flo o r d e b a tin g , c h a lle n g in g the a d m in is tra t io n ’ s p h ilo s o p h y , re fu tin g the o p p o s itio n ’ s igures, and challenging them to dem onstrate a need to spend m ore m oney on weapons w h ile the A m erican people are unem ployed, hungry, in need o f housing and m edical care, and fu ll o f fru s tra tio n . N early alone— w ith his firm s u p p o rte rs in c lu d in g Rep. Jo h n C o n ye rs (D - M ic h .) a n d R ep. J im W e a ve r ( D - O r e .) — he kept his end o f the debate at a high level o f in te lle c t a nd in te g r ity . S h a rp , a r tic u la te , in form ed, he was clearly the leader on the flo o r, i f not the w inne r. •A Dellum s amendment to elim inate nu clear powered aircraft carriers from the budget was defeated. Dellums charged that building aircraft carriers is trying to fight a W orld War II operation in the ’ 80s. He alleged that these carriers are not planned to fight o ff a “ Soviet threat,” but to threaten Third W orld nations. He said the projected use o f these ships to “ keep the shipping la*— i— Ocean w ill lead to nuc • Dellums’ amendm« er, which he called obi also defeated. D ellui using manned bomb Preparing for convent is a deceit—an attem people believe a nucl said. The government tion policies and ope- with the Soviets. •R e p . John C onyers presented an am end ment to delay all nuclear wea ons to r one year — an a c tio n he called “ not a I ee/e, but a de la y.” This delay w ould provide an o p p o rtu n ity fo r the U.S. and the U.S S R. o engage in talks w ithout an accom panying U.S escalation. This amendment also was defeated. • The House voted to delete funds for produc tio n o f nerve gas fo r chem ica l w eapons. The House removed $54 m illio n fo r the pro d u ctio n o f nerve gas bombs and skills from the adm inis tration request. I f the appropriation is reins,ate- ed in the House-Senate Conference (the Senate had already approved the expenditure) it w ill be the first time the U.S. has openiv manufactured chem ical weapons since N ixon banned p rodu c tion 13 years ago. Reagan wants to spend $2 b il lio n over the next five years to replenish stock piles. The b ill also specifically bans using other funds on the production o f binary chemical m u nitions. • The House vote to fund the M X missile was close, in dica ting some atte ntion to the grow ing peace m ovem ent. The House approved the b ill to fund the missiles but put a hold on $260 m il lio n in basing and deploym ent funds. The M X missile was first requested by Jimmy Carter, who wanted them spread out th ro ugh the desert to avoid a Soviet attack. That idea has been reject ed and everyone admits to not knowing where to put them. While the attention o f the world has been on the Falkland/Malvinas Islands and the Mideast during the past four mounths, racial unrest has been escalating in apartheid South Africa. On July 6, two thousand black miners northwest o f Johannesburg went on strike in a platinum mine. I heir demand was quite simple: a decent wage. Blacks who work ex actly as white miners do, receive about o n e -fifth (20 per cent) o f whites’ wages. The racist regime's response was brutal. Fifty Africans were reported injured when police used tear gas. In nearby Venterspot gold mine, another 80 black miners were beaten and arrested fo r strikin g Almost 500 miles away, at the Indian Ocean port city o f Durban, black coal min ers drove a tra ctor through one building , and set scores o f other buildings on fire. Why is black labor, and especially miners, on the offensive? First, keep in mind that South A fric a ’ s econ omy, which depends p rim a rily on the w orld price o f gold, is at the brink ol disaster. Two years ago, gold prices exceeded $6<K) an ounce. Assuming that the price would re main that high, the government and private sector launched a series o f grandiose plans for mining and con stru ction . One mine shaft system &r. Manning Marable "From The Grassroots" near Johannesburg worth $304 mil lion has now been curtailed. General M ining Union C o rp oratio n , the country's second largest mining f i nance house, has trimmed its capital expenditures this year by 12 per cent. 1 he reason: gold prices huve declined to about $300 per ounce. If the price o f gold drops as low as $250 an ounce, a general panic will set in; the number o f South African mines thut close will be catastroph ic. White laborers are also restless. At the height o f early July’ s black miners’ strikes, the trade unions representing 22,(HR) white miners asked fo r a 15 per cent raise. The miners and companies agreed to a 12 per cent settlement on July 6. Yet annual inflation in South Africa ex ceeds 16 per cent, so the white min ers may continue to pressure man agement. More than ever before, racist South A fric a , the modern fascist state, needs the U.S. to provide crit ical support at its moment o f tu r m oil. Once again, apartheid has found a genuine friend in Ronald Reagan. According to Jean Sindab, the Executive Director o f the Washing ton O ffice on A frica, Reagan and his advisors arc encouraging the re pressive posture o f South A frica . M edian fam ily inconu families was $13,270 com $ 2 3 ,5 2 0 fo r w hite fam $16,400 for Spanish-origi A fte r adjusting for infla families experienced a 5 decline in their real medi. Real m edian incom e fo origin families remained same. The poverty threshold a fa m ily o f fo u r was $' 1980 it was $8,414. The report shows that come for black families « in the West and $ 1 2 ,X. South. Overall, real med X. income for all families fetAm w « « o f the fou r regions o f the N atio n . The Northeast was the only region that did not show a decline in real income. Changes in “ real” median family income refer to comparisons after adjustm ent fo r in fla tio n , as mea sured by the change in the annual by Congressman Ron Wyden irsday the House gave to production o f the fow do you feel about llways questioned the u ild in g the M X . The mbersom, costly and llncrable, and thus o f value to our national pccially outraged that ed to spend $1.14 b il lio n o f nine M X Mis sing mode has not yet NW A AVAILABLE COPY per > set aside this kind o f ich a questionable pro- I is asking senior c iti- »r and other vulnerable givc up programs they rvive. i xcusable use o f tax- ry—and one which I efforts to save himself ray a bright future for Julie Jessie ©ngratulate Al McGil- ry fine awards banquet here were many com- t the success o f that (34.2 per cent) followed by persons o f Spanish origin (26.5 per cent) and whites (1 1.1 per cent). •The real median income for fam ilies maintained by women ($10,960) declined by 4.6 per cent. •B lack women in the South, women under the age o f 25, and fe- wurvry rrxu'f* re rcy rri» come and exclude non cash benefits such as food stamps, medicaid, etc. It also cautions that the adjustment fo r in fla tio n may be overstated slightly for the average household because of the treatment o f housing costs in the calculation o f the Con sumer Price Index. declared that “ if the other govern ments o f the region do not behave according to Islam [meaning Kho m e in i’ s wish), they must keep in mind that they are not stronger than Saddam.” The P o rtla n d O bserver (U S d S 959 6801 is published every Thursday by Exie Publishing Company, Inc , 2201 North Killings worth, Portland, Oregon 97217, Poat Office Box 3137, Portland, Oregon 97208 Second class postage paid at Portland, Oregon AI McGUberry, Editor/Publisher AI Williams, Advertising Manager National Advertising Representative A m a lg a m a t e d Publishers. Inc. N e w York Iraqis have expressed their willing ness to establish peace on the basis o f both countries* te rrito ria l inte grity. Khomeini cannot stay in power without creating crises. Yet, none of Subscribe todayl Receive your Observer by mail Only $10 per year Portland Observer Name _ Subscriptions: 110 00 par year in the Tri County area Post m a s te r. Send address changes to the Portland Observer, P O Box 3137. Portland, Oregon 97208 MEMBER sity. Nashville, TN. M short o f criminal for The twin effects o f infh depressed economy resuli cline in black family med in 1981, and an increase i ber o f blacks below th level, according to a repo C om m erce D ep artm en t Burearu. This m arks the seco cutive year in which coupled w ith a ret economy resulted in sign dines in real fam ily inco creases in the poverty pop Publishers Association E d ito r’s n o t«: Dr. M a n n in g M arabla is D irector of the Race Relations Institute, Fisk Unlver- 8 Washington Hot Line lack fa Oregon Newspaper ’ •Furthermore.” she states, “ the ad ministration seeks to reassure South Africa of its desire for a closer alii, ance by strengthening bilateral tic« in many areas.” The administration gave permis- sion fo r the opening o f honorary consulates in three U.S. cities: Seat- tie, Denver and Cleveland. Reagan has asked fo r $2.3 m illio n from Congress to train black South A fri. can inside South Africa, thereby re inforcing the segregated educational system. Export control regulations on such critical items as air ambu lances, computers and helicopters have been weakened to help apart* held. South Africa is the greatest moral question confronting black and pro gressive people o f our time. I f we stand silent as the Reagan South-Af rica axis builds, we must be con demned as involuntary partners in the destruction of black mine work ers in Durban and Johannesburg. We must demonstrate in front o f all apartheid consulates in the U.S., de manding an end to all official U .S .-I apartheid relations. No U.S. businesses in South A fric a , and freedom for our sisters and broth-jg ers. Address Hi I My Mom end Ded read the Portland Observer why not you? Subscribe todayl jm s was tru ly excep- pecch was informative frightening Certainly was heard and should *ch o f us to work even luclear freeze. , congratulations on a vent and thanks for ac knowledging some very talented, ef fective and committed persons. Kay Dean Toran Director, Affirmative Action Office, Governor’s Office Portland Observer Box 3137 Portland, OR 97208
