Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current, January 19, 1983, Page 5, Image 5

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    28 years of continuous
service to the Portland
community.
Washington Hot Line
ft v Congressman Ron Hvden
If the size o f Congressional mail­
bags is any indication, few issues
have raised the ire o f the average
taxpayer quite as much as the re­
cently approved provision that re­
quires banks and other financial in­
stitutions to withhold 10 percent of
a ll interest and dividend income
from their customers.
And small wonder. This p ro v i­
sion, which is due to go into effect
on July I, is expensive, inconvenient
and unfair— for everyone.
Consumers lose out because they
are denied access, at least temporar­
ily, to 10 percent o f their interest
and dividend income
Financial institutions lose out be­
cause they're caught up in a morass
o f red tape, forced to play tax col­
lector instead of banker.
And the economy loses out be­
cause billions of dollars are removed
directly from the savings pool at a
time when we desperately need to
build up our savings.
The w ithholding provision was
sold by the Administration as a way
to reduce the federal deficit and
crack down on tax cheaters. The
reality is quite different. Although
the Treasury Department has esti­
mated it can raise some $1.3 billion
by collecting from those who other­
wise would not have paid, the bulk
of the projected earnings (S3 billion)
is really nothing more than an inter­
est-free loan from the American
people to Uncle Sam.
In addition, the majority of tax­
payers are being asked to do pen­
ance for the sins o f a few. The SI .3
billion in increased collections is ex­
pected to come from only 10 percent
o f the people. That means that the
90 percent o f American taxpayers
who are honest are being asked to
sacrifice for the 10 percent who are
not.
If that's not unfair, I don't know
what is.
There are some provisions for ex­
emptions in this new law— for sen­
ior citizens, among others— but they
are so complicated that they create
almost as many problems as they
solve. In a ll, there are some 116
pages of rules and regulations relat­
ing to the law. Not exactly what I'd
call light reading.
The best solution to this problem
is simply to repeal this ill-advised
We are among the very few Black owned
business that can make that claim
law before it goes into effect. I have
already cosponsored legislation to
do so, and I expect my colleagues to
be receptive to this effort.
As I mentioned during a press
conference last week at which a coa­
lition of consumers groups and fi­
nancial institutions kicked o ff a
drive to repeal this law, the w ith­
holding provision reminds me of the
wisdom of the age-old admonition:
"Waste not. want not."
If we allow the withholding provi­
sion to remain intact, we will waste
time, money and precious resources.
And in the long run, many Ameri­
can savers—indeed our entire econ­
omy—would be left wanting.
America cannot afford this new
withholding provision. It must be
repealed.
W e first offered our service to this
community December 26. 1964 As we
begin our 29th year of service, we salute
the many fine families who through the
years have helped us to be successful.
We are committed now as we were then
C. Don Vann
to provide first class service at a fair price
Founder
to all who call us for service
" T H E R E IS N O D O U B T W H E N Y O U C A L L V A N N & V A N N "
VANN & VANN,
FUNERAL
DIRECTORS
5211 N Williams Avenue, Portland. Oregon
Phone 281 2836
RENT THIS NEW
VIDEO RECORDER
BY PHONE
Black/black crime
PartV
by Lamia Duke
The only ones who can really
do something about black-on-
black crime are black folks. This
means that the community itself
w ill have to come out and say
that we are tired o f that minority
who is taking over our communi­
ty. We are going to take it back.
We are going to start reporting
things that we see. We are going
to make ourselves available as
witnesses and we are going to run
you out of here. Our community
is no place for your to thrive; if
you are going to engage in crime
you w ill have to go some other
place. The community can take
the area back; the police can’t do
it. Black people will have to deal
with it themselves. They haven’t
been pushed far enough but once
they are pushed far enough they
will strike back. I ’m afraid they
might strike back blindly and de­
stroy that which means the most
to them— their community.
—Charles Jordan,
former police commissioner
Grassroot News. N . IF .— For the
last four weeks we have searched
out the who, what, when, where and
whys o f black-on-black crime in
Portland. As 1983 rolls forward we
must concentrate and search out a
solution to this cancer that is eating
away at our community. There is no
reason to call in experts from across
the country or to do hours upon
hours of research. The solution lies
within the community. The solution
is me; the solution is you.
Since the start o f the '80s the
black community has made some
strides forw ard. In 1980 we had a
march to protest the killings of
young black males in Atlanta. We
called it the March Against Racism.
Last summer the com m unity got
tired of the sexual cesspool that was
developing on Union Avenue and
the second annual March Against
P rostitution was underway. C u r­
rently, the community is up in arms
about the Hunter murder and how
the police underreacted to it These
solutions are the first steps in our
battle against black-on-black crime.
But we cannot be content with win­
ning the battles. We must win the
war.
C hancellor W illiam s says in.
The Destruction o f Black Civiliza­
tion. " T h e com m unity must be
made safe for people to live and
work there happily and without
fears for thesclves or their children.
Therefore, the black community
must have a program. This is where
community control begins. The first
anti-crim e steps might be wide­
spread inform ation about the true
meaning o f black-on-black crime.
Secondly, a community develop­
ment plan that is designed to create
opportunities for a ll.
.There
should be an all-out war along lines
determined by the community.”
Ronnie Herndon, co-chair of the
Black United F ro nt, says we are
fighting dual evils. "This is a consis­
tent battle against the vested interest
of racism in education, housing and
the criminal justice system. At the
same time we have to do a great deal
of educating our own community by
saying, 'We're all black and we un­
derstand that it's rough out there
but there is no excuse for black teen­
agers or adults to break into each
other's houses' None of us has any­
thing. There is no excuse to take a
black teenage girl and put her out on
the street. Our own personal gain is
not worth destroying other people's
lives, or destroying the black com­
munity,”
Disunity and miseducaton must
be overcome if black-on-black crime
is to slop taking its loll on our lives.
There is not enough cohesiveness in
Portland. We would move faster on
issues if we were organized. The rea­
son why there is so much disunity is
brain washing. Ronnie Herndon
believes, ''W e get pumped full of
nonsense day in and day out that
says white is right and black is bad.
Just look at the standard of beauty.
It's a white standard. Just look at
the je rry -c u rl. The je rry -c u rl is a
take o ff on white people who began
to curl their hair to look like black
people who had Afros. Now, we get
our hair in jerry-curls to copy whites
who were copying us. This is an ex­
ample of brain washing that occurs
in the black community. We must
launch an organized effort against
some o f this nonsense. L e t’s start
with battles we can win like working
with our children. We must be pre­
pared to spend the rest o f our lives
struggling to educate our people.”
In the final paragraph o f Eugene
Perkins’ H om e Is A D irty Street:
The Social Oppression o f Black
Children, Perkins concludes, "O ur
children will remain victims of op­
pression until there is a radical
change in their environm ent— a
change which offers them some-
thing more than paternalistic social
agencies, street gangs and negative
adult role models. The streets could
become a meaningful home for our
children if they were repaved wito
resourceful institutions which were
committed to improving their wel­
fare. As they exist today, these con­
crete arteries are only blocks which
can only lead black children to
fruther destruction.”
As individuals we can put a stop
to black-on-black crime by stopping
it at home. We can practice the old
modes and manners o f our grand­
parents. This way a respect that was
forgotten will rekindle itself with
pride. We can stop buying " h o t”
(stolen) goods. If there were no mar­
ket for the goods, maybe the hoods
would come up with more legitimate
ways of making a living. We cannot
have another generation o f A fro -
Americans fingerprinted, mugged,
shot and booked. Let's do some­
thing about black-on-black crime
today, before it does us in tom or­
row.
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Street Beat
by Lanita Duka and Richard Brown
This week in our nation's capital a reform
of the Social Security system was developed.
This reform includes an increase in S.S. pay­
roll taxes, taxing some o f the benefits and
raising the retirement age. The Street Beat
team asked the public, “ What is your reac­
tion to the new changes going on in Social
Security?”
NAACP hosts convention
The Portland Branch N A A C P
will host the area conference at (he
Cosm opolitan H o te l, P ortland,
January 22 and 23.
Several hundred persons from
Alaska, W ashington and Oregon
will attend the meetings. Members
and nonmembers alike will pay the
same registration fee of $25, which
includes the banquet on Saturday
night.
Follow ing the theme, " W h e re
Are W e?” six panels w ill discuss
current concerns on Saturday. Their
topics: employment, education, po­
lice relations, the crim inal justice
system, racial harassment and youth
development.
Kay Toran, A ffirm a tiv e Action
b
^ lu fo e r s
Officer for the State of Oregon, will
speak on "A ffirm ative Action Yes­
terday, Today and Tom orrow " at
the Saturday luncheon.
Hazel Hays, Chairperson o f the
Oregon Parole Board and president
o f the Portland N A A C P Branch,
will speak at the banquet, to be held
at the Top of the Cosmo at 7:30 Sat­
urday, following a no-host cocktail
party.
Sunday's agenda includes w ork­
shops on branch adm inistration,
fund raising, membership and na­
tional office affairs.
Those arriving early for the F ri­
day evening presidents' meeting
may register beginning at 6 p.m.
Saturday registration will begin at
8 a.m.
¿Mnllyinonft flo rist
^ F r o m ¿ H o llu f o o o b
I n YAW S R e s ta u r a n t
2005 N.E. 40th
Portland, OR 97212
249-1888
We Deliver
Anywhere
V
Those planning to attend the ban­
quet only may buy tickets at the
door. The price is S I5.
Trina H unter
(Continued fro m page I column 4)
alive,” Ron Herndon said.
On December 11 th police officers
reportedly went to the address on
N .E . M a llo ry and attem pted to
make contact. When they arrived at
the front door, (hey found it open.
They stuck their heads inside and
identified themselves as police o ffi­
cers. As they did receive a response
from inside the house they didn't
enter.
What about a search warrant?
“ In order to get a search warrant
there can be no possibility that the
person or thing that you are search­
ing for will be moved before you are
able to present the w arran t. You
must have a signed affidavit from a
reliable source. All the proper infor­
mation must then be presented to a
judge. The procedure takes from
two to three hours on the average-
up to about eight hours,” said Da­
vid Simpson.
Portland Police were reportedly
combing Portland's predominantly
black neighborhoods showing peo­
ple a picture o f Trina Hunter and
asking for inform ation, when they
received a report that her body had
been found.
Trina Hunter is dead. What now?
David Simpson: " W e do not
know that it is a homicide but it is
being investigated with the intensity
of a homicide.”
Indeed it should be. Even the
thought o f a possible prostitution
ring involving suspects forcing girls
into prostitution should open our
eyes and alert our communities.
Tarry Nelson
Chef
I f they take more from people
working the unemployment rate
will go up. A lot o f the elderly
need more money to survive and
I think with the federal govern­
ment taking more money crime
might go up.
Patsy Rash
Nurse
I'm not happy about it. It
goes along with the whole ad­
ministration.
Rick Huffman
Baker
Being young it doesn't hit
home, yet But I think some­
thing ought to be done to re­
store the system People work­
ing should pay more but there
should he no reduction in bene­
fits.
Raymond Pries
Bus Drlvar
Jos Balford
Minister/Bus Drlvar
I don’ t think it ’ s fair. They
are just taxing the people again.
We are already overtaxed. I f
they would apply the taxes over
every income bracket then it
would be fair.
The individual is paying into
the system involuntarily. I wish
we had a choice. For young
adults it does not look promis­
ing. It's unfair that the bulk of
federal employees do not pay
into the system.
Mrs. McNeil
Housewife
I don’t think any of it is fair.
W e'll just have to wail and see
what Congress does But I don't
go for any of it.