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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 2, 1983)
•. ; • • m JL- V f ..'- / "3¿. , ; - ■U ib 1rs Frances Sc?ioan-»!w?e?er U n iv e rs ity o f OrsRon L ib ra ry L U g e n o , O re g o n 0 7 4 J 3 UJ uu Dick Gregory atOSP . Ralph Simpson ready for N BA Cherry drink recipes Page 3 Page 12 Page 6 PORTLAND OBSERNER March 2, 1983 Volume XIII, Number 21 250 Per Copy < tm r PuMahin, C o . 193.1 USPS 959-6HO-H55 Black United Front calls 7-Up boycott The Black United Front has called for a boycott o f 7-U p and other pro ducts o f the Portland Bottling C o m pany—-N ehi, R C C o la . A& W ’ Root Beer, and Squirt. 7-U p is only one o f the companies that w ill be the target o f economic b oyoctts, acco rd ing to B U F co- chairm an Ronnie H ern do n . " T h is just happens to be the most flagrant example o f arrogance and racism. W e are not going to sit back that don't even have the decency to have em plo ym en t practices that a llo w blacks to work there.” According to H ern do n there are currently no blacks employed by Port land Bottling Company, which regu larly employs 125 persons and adds ap p ro xim a tely 23 w orkers durin g the summer. " F r o m what we have been told there have been no black employees for three years and there have never been m ore than tw o blacks employed at one tim e." Mayor Francis Ivancie proclaims Portland's first "Black Bualneaa W a a k." Obaarvlng are: Charles C rew s. President, Oregon C hapter of N atio n al Business League; A nthony A llen, grandson of W .D . Alien, early Portland businessman; Jamas Barry, Executive Secretary. NBL; Floyd Booker. Executive Board, NBL; M rs. Kathryn H. Bogle. Portland Observer; Dick Bogle, grandson of Waldo Bogle, early Portland busineaaman. (Photo: Ricky Booker) Portland celebrates Black Business Week by Kathryn H a ll Bogle Black Business W eek was an nounced in Portland for the days of February 20 through February 27, 1983, by p ro c la m a tio n signed by M ayor Francis J. Ivancie. M ayor Ivancie urged all Portland ers to “ join me in trib ute to P o rt land’ s black business pioneers with special recognition o f the National Business I eague, the nation’s oldest national business association (which was) founded in 1900 under the leadership o f D r. Booker T . W ash ington, and whose Oregon chapter stresses econom ic developm ent in the black com m unity.” A m on g witnesses attend ing the signing o f the proclam ation in the mayor's office was Charles Crews, president o f the Oregon chapter o f the NB L. The N B L , a professional and trade association, “ is dedicated to prom oting full participation o f the m in o rity private sector w ith in the Am erican economic system. There are m ore than 120 chartered chapters throughout the nation with headquarters in W ashington, D .C . They “ seek to elim inate the exclu sion o f the m in o rity business com m unity fro m economic initiatives, not sim ply fo r our own interests, but for the stability o f the nation as w ell.” 7-U p locally has chosen to ignore the agreem ent between O p e ra tio n P U S H and the national 7-U p com pany which acknowledges corporate responsibility to return some o f the profits made in the black com m it- jiity through em ploym ent and in vestments. " D o n ’ t think the local company has a perpetual lock on the 7-U p dis tributorship,” Herndon said. " P e r haps another group, which would be more responsive, would like to have this distributorship." Herndon indi cated that the BU F has notified the national o ffic e o f its meeting with the Portland Bottling Company and the resultant boycott. " W e had one meeting with them and scheduled a second m e etin g ," H erndon said. "Just prior to when the second meeting was scheduled, the director o f 7-U p said he had not done the things he had agreed to do fo r the second m eeting . H e was going to check out an old a ffirm a tive action plan that had been im posed on the company by the State. Since he had not done th a t, there seemed no reason to have a meeting. " W e wrote a letter expressing our disappointm ent and indicated (hat we would decide what to do. Copies were sent to PU SH and the national 7-U p office. " 7 - U p has to ld the press they thought we had an agreem ent, but that letter should have convinced Herndon is pleased with the com munity response. Several merchants have taken 7 -U p products o f f their shelves and posted signs supporting the boycott. They include: A lberta Fish and P o u ltry , Joe’ s Place, the Esquire C lu b , C leo's, the T ro pica, Peterson G ro c e ry , G e n e v a ’ s, El D o rado , Burger Barn, Allens G ro cery, King N eig h b o rh o o d F acility and others. " 7 -U p is just the first on the list,” Herndon said. " W e need to ask bus inesses what they are doing to help (his depressed com m unity; most of them have been leeches. H ave you ever seen a black person working in a Chinese restaurant? Yet look at the money we spend there. We need to make a conscious e ffo rt to buy here— why always go dow ntow n to restaurants where we can't work?” Herndon expects white support of the boycott. “ I think when the is sues are exp lain ed it w ill g r o w ." Several predominantly white organ izations have expressed interest and indicated support. “ We are organizing our own co m m un ity f ir s t ,” H e rn d o n said. " T h e n we w ill reach out to the others. 1 think the boycott will definitely be felt.” them otherwise.” The N B L has an advocacy p ro gram , according to Crew s, who says, “ The League consistently works to move (he m inority private sector in to the m ainstream o f the free enterprise system." He cited the N a tio n a l C o u n c il fo r P olicy Re view, designed by N B 1 , as a mech anism to build a close partnership w ith both the federal governm ent and the private sector to provide a consolidated forum for effective di alogue on national concerns. "F ro m this fo u n d a tio n ,” Crews said, " N B L seeks to make economic par ity a reality for blacks and other m i norities.” From the beginning, N B L “ has ! Please turn Io page 4 col. !) Black voters elect Washington The victory o f black mayoral can didate Harold Washington over (wo prominent white candidates in C h i cago’s Democratic primary election is seen as a result o f black unity. W ashington, a former state sena tor and Congressman, said the vic tory underscores a "com ing into po litical m aturity” o f minority people. He said black people have dem on strated this concern through street protests and have believed that pass ing c iv il rights laws was enough. "W e 'v e got to be involved in main- strcam p o litic a l a c tiv ity . T h a t's w hat's happening here in Chicago and th a t’ s the lesson th at's going out across the country.” W a sh in g to n won 37 percent o f the vote, the remainder splitting be tween M a y o r Jane M . Byrne and Richard M . Daley, son of the fo rm er long-term Chicago mayor. Wash ington received over 80 percent o f the black vote and little of the white vote. Success in the Dem ocratic Party primary should mean easy victory in the Dem ocrat dom inated city, but race is expected to play a major role. Chicago has 3 m illion residents in cluding 1.6 m illio n voters, 40 per cent of whom are black. A lread y the Republican Party is working for an upset, sending num erous national party officials to C hi cago to meet w ith the Republican candidate. Bernard E p ton . Epton, who also is a former state legislator, has suggested that he and Washing ton pledge not to use racism in the (Please turn to page 12 col. 3/ Black History Day was celebrated at Humboldt Early Childhood Education Canter w ith a program of local celebrities. (Photo: Richard J. Brown) U.S. government fears collapse of El Salvador regime n seeks more aid. President Ronald Reagan has re quested an additional $60 million in m ilita ry aid fo r El S alvad or ($26 m illion has been approved for this year). A n increase in U .S . m ilitary "advisors” and a possible change in role fo r the U .S . m ilita ry is also being considered. Reagan met w ith about tw en ty key members o f Congress M onday to discuss El Salvador. Secretary o f State George P. Shultz, who until now has not been as hawkish on El Salvador as his predecessor A le x ander Haig, told the Senate Appro priations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations he strongly backs m ili tary aid because he is worried about a "S o v ie t-b a c k e d ta k e o v e r.” H e said Salvadoran church leaders and I • • ’ » others w ho advocate negotiations are only encouraging the insurgents. Shultz said he fears that not only is El Salvador critically located but it is "connected right up to M exico, with which we have a long border.” Reagan to ld the assembled Congressmen M onday that the sur vival o f the Salvadoran government is at stake. Republican Senate leader H o w ard Raker said the im m ediate problem is whether the El Salvador governm ent can sustain itself and that Reagan is of (he opinion that it cannot. Democratic Senator Henry Jack- son o f W a sh in g to n said the real p ro b lem is the d e s ta b iliz a tio n o f Mexico. "M exico is the ultimate tar g e t.” H e added that there are real problem s in M e x ic o — severe u n ■ ' < - — em ploym ent, unrest, co rrup tion — that could be used by foreign agents to destabilize that nation. W hite House advisors said Rea gan has not decided whether U .S . m ilita ry advisors w o u ld play a more active role in the civil war. The President’ s action places El Salvador at the forefront o f the na tion ’s foreign policy again— a place held recently by the M iddle East. Tha House Hum an Relations C o m m itte e w ill hold a public hearing on d lsvestm ent from South Africa on March 10th. 7:00 p m In Hearing Room E at the State C apitol in Salam . The public Is Invited to testify or to sand written testimony. • it U.S. intervention predicted Arnoldo Ramos, a representative o f the guerilla movement in El Sal vador, told the Observer last week that his o rg an iza tio n , the F M l.N - F D R , expects U .S . m ilita ry in te r vention in that nation's civil war. The guerilla movement is making rapid gains both m ilitarily and poli tic a lly , Ramos said. A lth o u g h bringing untold suffering to the peo ple o f El Salvador, prolongation o f the war through U .S . aid can only help the g uerillas M ilit a r ily , the guerillas are on the offen sive; the government forces can only defend. " I f they move their forces from San Salvador to the Eastern provinces to c o u n te r-a tta c k , we p u ll back and s trik e in San S a lv a d o r. T h e y can o n ly try not to lose any m ore y - • ■ ’ • • . g r o u n d ." T h e g u e rillas c o n tro l about 20 percent of the country. T h e g overnm ent tro o p s — d is heartened by the long war and the increasing losses—are demoralized. O ne tactic the g uerillas are using successfully is to encourage surrend er and to return m ilita ry prisoners through the Red Cross. "Sometimes the troops coming to attack us meet the prisoners returning— persons we have treated well and provided with medical care. It is very d ifficu lt for them to co n tin u e to the b a t t le ." This also gives the guerillas a con stant supply o f weapons. " W e cap ture our guns from the government forces; we d o n ’ t have to buy them on the world m arket.” A recent attem pted coup by one o f the m ilita ry leaders shows the weakness o f the g o v ern m e n t. Ramos said. He is the only m ilitary leader with the ability to wage a suc cessful war. yet politically he is un acceptable because he is so fascist that he would eliminate even the ap pearance o f civil rights. Politically, the El Salvador government is f a ll ing ap art and as tim e goes by the rifts will widen. The g uerillas have accepted the idea o f a negotiated settlem ent as proposed by Venezuela. Mexico and Panama, but the U.S. is opposed. T h e tim e w ill come very soon when the U .S . w ill have to decide between sending troops to El Salva d or or accepting d e fe a t, Ramos said. The F M I.N -F D R fully expects the decision w ill be the deployment o f troops. (Please turn to page 4 col. 3/