Portland observer., January 26, 1983, Page 53, Image 53

King's legacy, today's struggle
city to the slept o f C ity H a ll, where
he posted a list o f d em an d s on the
o f f ic e d o o r o f p o w e r f u l m a c h in e
com m unity in C h ica g o ’ * South Side
w hich he held fo r the better part o f a
year.
In a d d itio n to his o utspo ken o p ­
position to the V ie tn a m w a r. King's
in te re s t in C h ic a g o was o ne o f the
m o u nting reasons that led the ruling
class to c o n c lu d e th a t he h ad gone
too far.
Som e o f the m o re m o d era te c iv il
rights leaders hoped that K ing's stay
in C h ic a g o w o u ld c o o l th e c ity 's
fru strate d blacks in the w ake o f the
by L a rry Holm es
M illio ns o f people throu gh ou t the
w orld com m e m o ra te M a r tin L uther
K in g J r . , o n th e o c c a s io n o f his
birthday.
T h e R eagan ite c o u rts , in c o m p li­
c ity w ith the Jus tic e D e p a r tm e n t,
have taken note o f K in g 's b irth d a y
as well by delivering w hat is perhaps
the biggest legal a ttack on the 1964
C iv il R ights L a w th a t K in g fo u g h t
fo r since the S u p re m e C o u r t's in ­
fa m o u s B a k k e d e c is io n fiv e years
ago.
A fte r decades o f protest and years
o f lawsuits against C h ica g o 's racist
scho ol b o a rd 's re fu s a l to d eseg re­
g ate th e c it y 's p u b lic scho ols
through busing, last week a federal
ju d g e upheld the school b o a rd 's ra-
cisim as " c o n s titu tio n a l."
U n d e r the d ir e c tio n o f R e a g a n ,
scores o f to p e c h e lo n J u s tic e D e ­
p artm ent o ffic ia ls intervened in the
case to in s u re the b lo w to busing
and m anadtory desegregation laws.
boss M a y o r Daley
M a y o r D a le y , a ls o a n a tio n a l
fo rce in the D e m o c ra tic P a rty , was
enraged by the protests led by K ing
in " h i s " streets. D a le y decided that
u n lik e B u ll C o n n e r , he w o u ld r e ­
s tra in his p o lic e a n d leave K in g to
th e lo c a l fa s c is t th u g s . K in g 's
marches against housing d iscrim in a­
t io n in a ll- w h it e n e ig h b o rh o o d s
w e re p e lte d w ith b ric k s by u n i­
W atts Rebellion a year earlier which
foresh ado w ed uprisings against an
in to le ra b le existence in D e tro it and
N e w a rk . H o w e v e r, the presence o f
the popular black leader had the o p ­
p o s ite e ffe c t. N o rth e r n p o litic ia n s
w h o gave lip s e rvice to K in g * c r u ­
sade agains Jim C ro w in the S o uth
did not w ant h im arousing the black
masses in their ow n cities.
In July 1966, a fte r add ressing a
c ro w d o f 4 3 ,0 0 0 people in S o ldier's
F ield , King led a m arch through the
fo rm e d N a z is . O n S e p t. 4 , 1966 a
large m ob o f racists led by the Nazis
and the Kian attacked K ing's m arch
w ith baseball bats and sticks in C i ­
cero, a w hite suburb o f Chicago.
I f n o th in g else, K in g 's w o r k in
C h ic a g o g ra p h ic a lly s h o w e d th e
w o rld th a t racism flo u ris h e d n o rth
o f M ississippi, and can be fo u n d in
its m ost ugley and v io le n t fo r m in
Chicago.
From W orkm World
Our Market Interest Account
beats the money market Funds.
T h e N A A C P , which in itiated law ­
suits against the school board along
w ith o th e r g ro u p s in C h ic a g o 's
black c o m m u n ity , was b arred fro m
fin a l a g ru m e n ts in the case d ue to
strong o b je c tio n by the Justice D e ­
p a rtm e n t. F ed e ra l Judge M ilt o n L .
Shadur ruled that the N A A C P ’s a r­
guments were not necessary because
the Justice D epartm ent is capable o f
re p re s e n tin g th e in te re s ts o f the
p u b lic in c lu d in g the m in o r ity c o m ­
m u nity.
Our convenience beats everyone.
Reagan using civil rights division
to destroy civil rights
T h e Justice D e p a rtm e n t fu lly in ­
tends to use the C h ica g o ru lin g as a
precedent to o v e rtu rn school deseg­
regation plans across the country.
In the past, c iv il rights advocates
have com plained that the civil rig h t,
d iv is io n o f the Justice D e p a rtm e n t
was u n d erfu n d e d , u n d ers ta ffe d and
re le g a te d to lo w p r i o r i t y . U n d e r
Reagan, however, the civil rights d i­
v is io n has been e le v a te d to to p
p r io r it y w ith m o re la w y e rs a n d
m o n e y th a n a n y o th e r d iv is io n .
O n ly n o w th e s o -c a lle d " c i v i l
rights” unit has been forged in to the
p rin c ip a l w e a p o n in R e a g a n 's w a r
on a n ti-ra c is t laws and a ffirm a tiv e
a c tio n p ro g ra m s f r o m c o a s t to
coast.
In the last three weeks alo n e, the
Justice D e p a rtm e n t has interven ed
in local courts in support o f a group
o f ra c is t f ir e - f ig h t e r s s e e k in g to
overturn an a ffirm a tiv e action ordet
in Boston's fire d ep artm en t, and has
a c tu a lly in it ia te d le g a l a c tio n to
o ve rtu rn an a ffirm a tiv e actio n p ro ­
gram in the N ew O rleans Police D e ­
p artm ent.
Chicago moat segregated
major Northeast city
T h e local im p a c t o f the C h ica g o
ru lin g is no less s ig n ific a n t than its
n atio n al im p licatio n s. O f the m a jo r
cities in the Northeast, Chicago is the
most segregated. A f te r W o r ld W a r
I I m o re b la c k fa m ilie s m ig ra te d
fr o m the r u r a l S o u th to C h ic a g o
than to any o ther N o rth e rn c ity , in ­
clud ing N ew Y o r k , seeking job s in
the steel m ills. Forced segregation in
housing and schools in C h icag o is as
rigid and visible as anyw here in M is ­
sissippi. T w e n ty years ago 96 p e r­
cent o f the public school system was
segregated. O ffic ia ls say 83 percent
o f the city's public schools are segre­
First Interstate Bank’s new Market Interest Account
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gated today.
T h e C h ic a g o school b o a r d ’ s n o ­
toriou s h isto ry o f resistance to any
change in their ap a rth e id -like educa­
tio n system riv a ls the m ilita n c y o f
th eir bigoted c o u n te rp a rts on Bos­
to n 's S c h o o l B o a r d . A fe w years
ago, the School Board chose to shut
dow n the schools rather than acqui­
esce in a d e s e g re g a tio n p la n . T h e
b o a rd d e fie d c o m m u n ity p ro te s ts
and a th re a t to w ith d ra w fu n d s by
the federal governm ent fo r violating
the la w . T h e School B o ard doesn’ t
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lating the law anym ore.
K in g fo u g h t N a z la ,
Chicago political machina
o
Ir o n ic a lly . K in g h im s e lf w ro te a
c h a p te r in the s tru g g le to ro u t r a ­
cism in C h ic a g o . In 1965 K in g met
w ith C h ica g o c iv il rig hts leaders to
plan a campaign against d iscrim ina­
tio n in p u b lic schools and housing.
H e rented an apartm ent in the black
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Minimum opening deposit - 12 500
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First Interstate Bank
Portland Observer, January 26, 1963 Section III Page 13
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