Page 4 Portland Observer, September 29, 1982
Black elite vs. Reaganism
EDITORIAL/OPINION
By Dr. Manning Marable
"From The Grassroots”
Part II
Reagan claims not true
President Ronald Reagan gave black voters
another reason to reject him and his party when
he blamed the economic problems black Ameri­
cans face not on racism but on the social and
economic programs o f the “ Great Society.”
“ W ith the coming o f the Great Society,” he
said, “ government began eating away at the un­
derpinnings of the private enterprise system. The
big taxers and spenders in the Congress had
started a binge that would slowly change the na­
ture o f our society. And even worse, it threat­
ened the character of our people-----”
Reagan explained that without the social pro­
grams o f the Great Society—the war on poverty,
model cities, job training, housing subsidies,
public employment, etc.— “ black families and
all Americans would be appreciably better o ff
today.” He also maintained that the poor are
better o ff today than they would have been had
he not eliminated many o f the social and eco­
nomic programs.
The recession, which has been instigated by
Reagan’s policy o f high interest rates and high
unemployment, has destroyed the gains made by
black people during the 1960s and 1970s. The
gap between white and black income is increas­
ing and black unemployment rates are double
those of whites.
Reagan also claimed that his administration
has diligently enforced civil rights o f minorities.
This, also, is untrue.
An EEOC document refutes Reagan’ s claim
that his administration has improved civil rights
enforcement, showing Justice Dept. filings o f
job discrimination suits have dropped signifi­
cantly.
The Washington Council o f Lawyers reported
in a recent study that enforcement in school de-
segregation and housing has all but halted. Rea­
gan claimed the Justice Department has filed 9
new anti-discrimination cases against public em­
ployees and has reviewed more than 9,000 elec­
toral changes to determine compliance with the
voting rights act. This claim is true but mislead­
ing since the reviews are routine and required by
law. The Council o f Lawyers reports, however,
that only two new voting rights suits have been
filed by the government, compared to 20 in the
first year of the Carter administration.
Also the Justice Department still counts 25
cases it filed during the Carter Administration
even though it has reversed its position on some
o f these cases and has even asked for a reversal
o f one decision won by the Carter Administra­
tion.
In the employment field, the Justice
Department has abandoned the use of class ac­
tion suits and seeks to overturn landmark a ffir­
mative action decisions. No new school or hous­
ing suits have been filed. Currently the Justice
Department is considering supporting school
districts in Boston, St. Louis and Denver which
want to modify their court-ordered desegrega­
tion plans.
Only in the area o f police brutality and indi­
vidual brutality that denies civil rights has the
administration kept pace. Although Reagan said
his investigation and prosecution “ has exceeded
the level o f every past administration,” the rec­
ord shows that his administration equals those
of Carter and Ford.
If Reagan wants to cultivate black support for
the Republican party he is o ff to a bad start.
Lies and slippery statistics will not take away the
actions arid policies that continue to deny rights
and opportunities at an ever increasing rate.
The economic initiatives ot black
managers in the private sector have
Letters to the Editor___
American Jews outraged at massacre
To the editor:
As American Jews we are sick­
ened and outraged at the recent
massacres o f unarmed Palestinians
in Lebanon. While we fully support
the existence o f the State o f Israel,
we join in protest with those voices
already raised in Israel, including
Peace Now, calling for the resigna­
tions o f Begin and Sharon and with­
drawal o f Israeli troops from Leb­
anon. Furthermore, we call for the
cessation o f all support to the Chris­
tian M ilitia groups responsible for
the massacre.
Israel’ s occupation o f the West
Bank and Gaza, the invasion o f
Lebanon as well as her involvement
in this most recent tragedy, contra­
dicts Jewish values and our heritage,
threatening Israel’ s survival. The
Dennis Buchanan’s failure to sup­
port Proposition 7 (Observer 9/22)
is clearly based on fallacious reason­
ing. Buchanan claims to support the
intent o f the measure, which would
call for an end to military interven­
tion in El Salvador; he also p ro ­
fesses support for the initiative pro­
cess, but he is withholding his sup­
port for passage o f this particular
measure simply because he believes
it should not have been on the ballot
in the first place. This is a dangerous
position, because, regardless o f
whether or not Buchanan finds it
appropriate, Proposition 7 w ill be
on the November ballot. A yes vote
will put Multnomah County on rec­
ord as opposing United States m ili­
tary intervention in El Salvador, but
a no vote w ill send a message to
Washington that the citizens o f
Multnomah County do not mind if
their tax dollars are used to assist
the brutal Salvadoran government
only policy that can lead to a real
and lasting peace is a political settle­
ment between Palestinian and Is­
raeli leaders based upon mutual rec­
ognition and the rights o f the Pales­
tinians to self-determination along­
side a secure Israel.
Portland New Jewish Agenda
Laura Stuchinsky
in the random murder of its people.
Buchanan's refusal to support
Proposition 7 will not take it o ff the
ballot. Failure to support the mea­
sure will only result in failure of the
measure.
Julie Levak
Abolishment not issue
To the editor:
Rick Gustafson is playing politics
as usual. He insists that the issue in
the race fo r M etro Executive is
whether or not the M e tro po lita n
Service District is a worthy project
and should continue to exist. But,
with the failure o f the abolish-Metro
petition, the issue is now the quality
o f M e tro ’ s leadership — no, its
existence.
I suspect that Gustafson knows
this but is deliberately tryin g to
avoid defending his dismal record.
Mrs. Ruth Hermance
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To the editor:
Your e d ito ria l o f September 1,
"Reagan Rule Threatens European
Econom y" is somewhat typical o f
the editorial opinions occurring in
various newspapers in the State o f
Oregon. Editorials supporting Eu­
ropean nations to sell U.S. technol­
ogy to the Russians is mystifying to
many o f us in the energy industry in
light o f the numerous negative edi­
torials opposing our position to im ­
prove the energy supply.
I f Europeans and the Russians
have confidence in U.S. technology
maybe the government officials in
the states of California, Oregon and
other states should rethink their de­
cisions to spend tax dollars on law­
suits to prevent offshore leases and
to support various domestic energy
projects. How about trying to re-
duce the environm ental hysteria
against the development o f LNG
plants, pipeline construction, re­
search development in wilderness
areas, offshore d rillin g and many
other energy related projects and
programs that are on the drawing
boards. Decontrol o f crude oil
prices was one giant step to improve
the stability o f our energy supply.
Conservation has also helped.
I f Europeans and Russians seek
U.S. technology for, as you state in
your editorial, "guarantee o f stable
fuel supply for Europeans," why
don’ t our politicians and environ­
mentalists and the news media en­
courage the same for our country?
M ystifyin g , indeed! It borders on
the miraculous that we have any
new domestic energy exploration
and development to meet our energy
needs.
To the editor:
I with to publicly thank the many
members of our community who re­
sponded w ith love and kindness
upon the death o f my late husband,
Jordan Morris, on July 28, 1982.
The members o f my family were
especially moved by the loving t r i­
bute paid to him by the s ta ff and
students o f the Black Education
Center in closing school on the day
of his funeral.
He was an avid supporter o f the
school and the honor shown him
touched us deeply and reaffirm ed
what was special about his life on
this earth. We will establish a schol­
arship at the school in his name as a
continuing contribution to the work
he believed in.
The response to our loss from so
many members o f the community
was immediate, constant and com-
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Forcign policy is complex and an
ever-changing decision-making pro­
cess as each nation strives to corner
world opinion. Our president has
made a decision and I believe he has
done so in the best interests o f our
nation and of our allies. Our nation
has bailed out these same European
countries by fighting in two World
Wars and we helped rebuild their
economies with billions o f dollars in
foreign aid—most of which has not
been repaid. Being tied to the Rus­
sian energy supply source could
prove fatal to these same nations in
the future as their economy becomes
more dependent on The Bear for
their energy needs.
F.J. Barich
Public Affairs Area Manager
Chevron, Inc.
Appreciation
Mail to: Portland Observer
Box 3137
Portland, Oregon 97206
Hit My Mom and Dad read
"ta x c u ," has no, increased U.S.
corporate investment or consumer
spending. Conversely, European ba­
sic industries, such as shipbuilding,
steel, and petrochemicals, are " a ll
in deep tro u b le ," according to the
Wall Street Journal. British unem­
ployment exceeds 13 per cent, and
even Japanese unemployment is at a
post-W orld War II record. The
Western crisis in capital accumula­
tion has forced pay cuts in workers
salaries in virtually every nation. In
1980 the Wes, German worker, for
example, received $12.26 an hour;
last year, the average salary was
$10.47. In the U.S. a similar process
o f capitalist austerity has occurred.
Average wage incresascs in the first
contract year for settlements made
by unions at least 1,000 workers de­
clined from 11.8 per cent in A pril-
June, 1981, to 2.2 per cent in Jan­
uary-M arch, 1982. The result for
U.S. black workers was entirely pre­
dictable: o ffic ia l adult unemploy­
ment above 18 per cent; black youth
unemployment, 58 per cent; the fail­
ure o f over 30 per cent o f all black-
owned businesses in 1982 alone.
The recession o f 1982 illustrates
with painful clarity the essential po­
litica l bankruptcy o f the black
middle class "leaders’ * and organi­
zations. Unable and unwilling to ad
vance a socialist reorganization of
America's political ecnonomy, they
rely upon corporate paternalism,
Federal jobs programs and "s e lf-
help e ffo rts " which have all been
tried without success. Responding
to the economic desperation o f the
black working class and poor, they
o ffer the rhetoric more suitable to
the age o f Booker T. Washington.
Without an anti-capitalist and m ili­
tant black national alternative, it
appears likely that no meaningful
solution to the long-term crisis o f
black underdevelopment w ill be
achieved.
Wants U.S. offshore oil
Salvador ballot measure needs support
To the editor.
ranged from "conservative” to
simply absurd. A good representa­
tive o f their tendency is Joe Black, a
Vice President o f the Greyhound
Corporation. Black condemned un­
employed black youth for no, un­
derstanding the "thrus, o f the Civil
Rights M ovem ent," in July, 1982.
"T o o many o f them have chosen to
be guided by emotion and wan, to
believe that it was to prove that
black can beat white or mistakenly
thinking that we were to receive
something just because we're
black.” In Black's opinion, it was
time fo r "b la c k adplts” to "have
the intestinal fortituaJe to tell youth­
ful blacks that they Ire spending too
much time worrying about the word
’ racism.’ When we were young, we
called it ‘ prejudice,’ 'segregation,'
and *jim cro w ,’ but we did not
spend our time worrying about it . ”
Racism was not the reason that
black unemployment was at an all-
time high. "T o o often black college
students select ’ pop' courses rather
than those studies that w ill make
them competitive in today’ s labor
m arket.” Like Thomas Sowell and
other black conservative econo­
mists, Black suggested that blacks*
ignorance and inadequate training
were to blame for their lack o f em­
ployment opportunities.
What almost no civil rights lead­
er, corporate manager or politician
from the black middle class compre­
hends is that the current economic
plight o f A fro-A m erica is an inte­
gral part o f a worldwide crisis o f
capitalism. Reaganism, its British
counterpart, Thatcherism, and the
conservative fiscal policies o f Jap­
an, Wes, Germany and other capi­
talist countries have escalated un­
employment throughout the West.
Total unemployment in all Western
countries has soared from 10 million
in 1971-72 to a projected 31 million
by the end of 1982. Reagan’s July I
Many black Reaganites have not
rescinded their unqualified endorse­
ments o f Ronald Reagan. In Octo­
ber 1980, two important aides o f the
late M artin Luther King, Jr., sup­
ported Reagan—the Rev. Ralph Da­
vid Abernathy and Georgia State
Rep. (D) Hosea Williams. Williams
justified his support for Reagan be­
cause "the mounting KKK's violent
activities against blacks all across
the co un try" were indirectly a pro­
duct o f (he Carter Adm inistration.
Appearing with South Carolina seg­
regationist Strom Thurmond, in De­
cember, 1980, W illiams and A ber­
nathy announced that they were
" fo r the Republican platform ” and
backed (he bizarre suggestion that
Thurmond serve as "a liason officer
between Republicans on behalf of
m in o ritie s ." As loyal members o f
what one journalist termed "S trom
Thurm ond’ s Black Kitchen C abi­
n e t," W illiams and Abernathy re­
ceived a "le tte r o f in tro d u c tio n "
from Reagan for a black trade mis­
sion to Japan in June, 1982.
W illiam s and Abernathy me, w ith
Prime M inister Zenko Suzuki and
Japanese business leaders " t o pro­
mote Japanese investments in the
U.S. by o ffe rin g tax incentives to
businesses that invest in joint Japan-
esc-Afro-American ventures.” The
17-day trade mission sparked some
"interest and curiosity” among Jap­
anese corporations, who admitted
that they had “ never considered es­
tablishing a join,-venture factor in
the U.S. with either black or white
businessmen.” The entire e ffo rt
may have been futile, however, be­
cause upon W illiams’ return he was
sentenced to serve one year in a
Georgia penitentiary for numerous
traffic violations and for fleeing the
scene of an accident in 1981.
in «
*
a hut .*
fo rtin g in helping us to endure a
great loss.
The fam ily also wishes to thank
the medical com m unity fo r its re­
sponse during the last hours. The
staff of the Veterans Administration
Hospital and A A Ambulance Co.
responded with the professionalism
that assured us that he go, the very
best care.
Mrs. Lenora Morris