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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 10, 1982)
E r a F ra n c e s S e b o ' U n ! v a r e 'ty o f Cr •Ve, re c a 'on L i j 3 As w e go to press: Sugar Ray quits Medicine NBA Forecast Atlantic Division and the Pag© 13 Elderly PORTLAND OBSERVER November 10, 1982 Volume XIII, Number 5 25C Per Copy USPS 959-680-855 - Reagan Administration moves closer to South African regime 11 7 M J y • ■A . 1 1 J r * .. . I « '1 City Commlssioner Charles Jordan was congrat- ulatad by frlanda and supportare at thè Opan House hald at tha new Interstate Rrehouse Cultur al Center. Congratulations were in order not only for the succesaful opening of the cultural center but for the passage of Measure 51, the police audit committee. (Photo: Richard Brown) Federal report shows AS by Lam ia Duke G rassroot News, N . W. — T he Federal Reserve Board recently con ducted a study comparing minority banks to each other and to non-mi nority banks. Oregon’s only m inor ity banking in s titu tio n , Am erican State B ank, fared extrem ely well and in some areas overshadowed V F. BOOKER v ,___ ir r-r - . - . - m . other minority banks and even non m in o rity banks. A m erican State Bank president, Venerable F. Book er, explains, " T h is report showed our earnings were higher and more than any other bank. One o f the rea sons our earnings were higher is that we refuse those jum bo deposits. By ju m b o deposits I mean those o f $100,000 or m ore. W e feel i f you take in a large deposit you must have some place to put it or loan it out at a much higher interest rate than what you are paying. Even if you are trading interest rates you are still losing money.” The Federal Reserve study also showed a lower operating cost at American State Bank. " W e ’ve kept our amount o f employees down. We do not believe in extra employees. We streamline tasks so each employ ee does four or five different jobs." The bulk of American State’s bal ance sheet is in d ivid u al checkings and savings. One would expect in times o f rising unemployment that people would deplete their accounts. Booker says this has not been the case. “ O u r base has not changed very m uch. W e ’ ve been able to The United States governm ent’s improving relationship with South A frica is reflected in: increased in vestment in South A fric a by U .S . corporations; approval o f a $ 1.1 bil l o n loan to South A fric a by the U.S.-controlled International M o n etary Fund; U.S. involvement in the illegal occupation o f N a m ib ia by South A frica and the delay in that country’s independence. High ranking U .S. diplomats are promoting investment in South A f rica and guarantees by the Export- Import Bank on financing U .S. ex ports to South A frica are expected io be icsuihcd so o n, it is becoming easier for South A fric a to o btain U .S . products: the Commerce D e partm ent has issued at least 10 li censes for export o f computers or computer-related industry to South Africa; three U.S. aircraft manufac turers have been given permission to compete for sale o f six turbojets. South A fric a recently purchased 2,500 electrified "shock batons” for Krerwd control A p p ro x im a te ly 250 A m erican companies with subsidiaries and a f filia te s in South A fric a m ake up about 20 percent o f the foreign in vestment there. The leaders include oils, chemicals, pharm aceuticals, m otors, m in in g , paper and con struction equipment. Some o f these companies have re cently expanded their investments, encouraged by the Reagan adminis tration’s policy o f "constructive en gagem ent” — the theory that U .S . involvement will bring gradual im provement in racial policies. Shulfon, In c ., a toiletries manu facturer, recently invested an addi tional S I.8 million; Maremont C o r p o ratio n opened a S866 m illio n shock-absorber factory; Ford and John Deere have spent millions to adapt their tractors to diesel engines made in South A fric a ; D u P o n t opened a new m arketin g o ffic e ; Stone and Webster, a Boston engin eering firm , is co-venturing a bid on six new pow er stations; G eneral Electric has expanded its holdings. T h e value o f U .S . investments was 13.3 percent in 1982 to $2.63 b illio n according to the D e p a rt ment o f Commerce. About $51 bil lion was new investment; the rest is returned profits. The South African economy grew 8 percent in 1980 and 4.5 percent in 1982. A lthough it is heading into a recession, some sec tors are still expanding. Although some corporations are still eery o f the political risk, much o f the public a gitation against in vestment in South A fric a has sub sided and for many U .S . corpo ra tions the economic gains outweign the political risk. The International Monetary Fund (IM P ) decided to extend a $1.1 bil lion balance-of-paym ents loan to South A fr ic a , in spite o f a 121-3 vote in the U n ite d N ations re questing the IM F to deny the loan (the U .S ., B rita in and West G e r many were the opposing votes). Ex ports have fallen because o f the de cline in the price o f gold. South A f rica’s largest export item, resulting in a current-account deficit. South A fric a could have borrowed from com m ercial bonds but at a higher interest rate. One rationale for ap proving the loan was prompt repay ment o f a $470 million loan made in 1976. The U nited States also supports South Africa on the Namibian ques tio n . In 1978 South A fric a signed the United Nations resolution that calls for a cease-fire, an independent Namibia and an election. South A f rica has been un w illin g to com ply because an election would mean a sweeping victory for S W A P O (The South West African People’s Move ment), which has fought for N am i bian independence for 20 years. The U n ite d States has jo in ed (Please turn to page 5 column 4) success maintain those passbook accounts. Even when interest rates on savings were high, very few changed over. We never pushed those new instru ments like the N O W accounts. We found out that we didn’t need them. We do things the old fashioned way and at the present time we are mak ing money doing things the old fashioned way. It ’s considered prof itable if your returns on assets are one percent. W e are just above that." No matter how solvent American State Bank is, there is still criticism w ith in the black com m u nity o f B o o k e r’ s a ttitu d e and service charges. "Some people look for rea sons but we’ ve lost very few ac counts. Those who move come here looking for something more. They found out that we operate like any other bank. They become disen chanted and go back to the bank they came from . We run American State Bank very conservatively. We started charging for check cashing many years ago. Now all the major banks charge for check cashing. I f you d o n ’ t, the person w ith that check has you working for him for nothing." A n o th e r criticism is that the amount o f commercial loans made by Booker within the black commu nity is very low. The survey by the Federal Reserve Board shows Am er ican State Bank lower on commer cial loans. “ W e have loans in this area. We just don’ t go around a d vertising the loans we have made. There is a C om m unity Investment Act and when we were examined we passed with flying colors. W e do a lot o f things in the area. It ’s just not well known or talked about. It goes back to anything you do good no one talks about it. They only hear about the bad. W e loaned out to build homes in the neighborhood, helped churches, clubs, and f i nanced cars. I do not believe you should go around talking about this fello w owes you money and so forth. Some o f our larger loans we have made out o f the area. But you must remember in Portland there is one black to 40 whites. Unless you have a beauty shop or a barber shop you should gear your business to the whole c o m m u nity. I f you don’t you are inviting financial de struction." Portland Observer sponsors legislative series The P o rtla n d O bserver w ill re sume its series o f legislative meet ings on December 4th. Meetings will be held every other Saturday to dis cuss issues before the legislature and to organize grass roots support (or opposition). Invited to the First meeting will be Senator Bill McCoy; District 18 rep resentative Ed Leek; House Speaker nominee Gratton Kerans o f Eugene; and Senate President nominee Frank Roberts o f Portland. ED LEEK BILL McCOY The topics o f the in itia l forum will be legislation expected to be in troduced in the 198.1 legislative ses- sion, suggestions by those present, and methods o f affecting the legisla tive process. The legislative breakfast meetings were instituted during the 1981 ses sion and featured not only local leg islators but the legislative leader ship, proponents and opponents of specific legislation, and follow ing the “ possum in c id e n t" became a police-community forum. The meeting w ill be held at the Rustlers on G rand Avenue (across fro m Sears) on Decem ber 4th at 10:00a.m. The public is uiged to attend. il Randy Davis aa tha Scarecrow. Jeff Fritch as tha Lion, and Shawn Pries as Dorothy pause during a busy rehearsal schedule to give us a peak at thalr costumes. Tbe Wig opens December 2nd at Jefferson for Its five night run. (pps Photo: Larry Mills)
