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Page 4 Portland Observer. Aprii 13. 1983
EDITORIAL/OPINION
Jesse Jackson for President?
by Manning Marable
"From The Grassroots"
Jobs: A t what price?
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Oregon has turned the corner o f inflation, or
at least that is what the mass media is telling us.
We ask, is this true? Ask the man or woman at
the unemployment office. Ask the man or wom­
an who has given up looking for a job because
they can’ t find one.
How many people are now working part time
when they need a full time job to feed their kids,
pay their rents and pay the inflated gas and elec­
tric bill? How many people are wearing heavy
sweaters as they sit down to dinner because they
have to deprive themselves and their families of
the com fort o f heat this chilly winter? How
many people read the newspapers and say,
"W ell, I guess things are getting better for some­
one, but I guess I am not one of those lucky peo­
ple.”
Statistics arc tricky things and none o f us
should be fooled by them. A lower unemploy­
ment figure means that fewer people registered
with the unemployment office and that’ s all it
means.
One of the examples of the increased employ­
ment rate given by the State Employment Divi­
sion is in the forest products industry. What is
the price to be paid by this increase in employ­
ment?
The International Woodworkers o f America
(IW A ) o f the A F L -C IO , which represents
100,000 workers in that industry so vital to
Oregon is presently in negotiations w ith the
major forest products industry and all indica­
tions point to a strike situation when (hat con­
tract runs out in June. The employers are asking
for major concessions by the workers, a trend
that has swep, the nation as the major corpora­
tions use the economic crisis as an excuse to
weaken union contracts.
Red Russel, the local representative for the
IW A told the convention o f the International
Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union
which is meeting in Portland this week tha, the
employers are out to break the union.
“ It is no, jus, concessions," Russel said, "but
an all-out campaign by the capitalists o f this
country to destroy the unions.”
While many of us look on the organized trade
union movement as something lemovcd from
our own experience, it is the trade union move­
ment that is the from line for the wages and ben­
efits we receive. It is the only organized body in
this nation solely constituted to protect the rights
of all working people. Whether we work under a
union contract or are unorganized, or we are un­
employed, it is the trade unioi movement that
sets the pattern of wages and benefits, fights for
unemployment rights, and leads the fight for so­
cial change.
The fact that the governor of this state has re­
fused to meet with the head o f the Oregon State
federation o f Labor (AFL-CIO ) demonstrates
the total disregard o f the present leader o f this
state for the rights o f all the working people.
Now our illustrious mayor has returned from
Japan with great promises of jobs and prosper­
ity. We only have to look at the auto workers in
Fremont, California, who have been told rather
bluntly by General Motors and Toyota that if
jobs come, they will be jobs with low wages and
fewer protections or benefits than those enjoyed
by unionized workers there.
We must be aware that the benefits and wages
—as well as the unemployment system, welfare,
medicare and other social programs for the peo­
ple o f this nation—were won from the struggles,
and often blood o f the working people o f this
nation. This was accomplished through the
unity o f working people, black, white and
brown.
Now we are being beaten over the head with
the promise o f jobs. Bu, jobs at a cos,. Tha, cos,
is giving up wha, our fellow workers have won
for us through their blood, sweat and tears.
We at the Portland Observer agree that we
must have jobs, but not at any cos,.
The ILW U called for a national jobs program
similar to that o f the 1930s—a program which
can put millions o f unemployed back to work,
rebuilding our transportation system, railroads,
inner cities, sewer systems. The convention
called for tight regulations on the basic necessi­
ties o f life — food, energy, finance—and pro­
posed tha, since the private sector has proven it­
self unworthy o f providing the citizens o f this
country with such ,ha, they should be partially
or fully nationalized.
A radical notion? We don’t think so, consid­
ering the present state o f the economy and the
evidence that the corporations have proven their
disregard for their own social responsibility to
the people of this nation.
We must seek radical changes. They can only
come about if we begin to organize ourselves.
We must educate ourselves and our communities
to the need for com bining our collective
strength. We must seek new leaders with new
approaches.
For those of us who are unemployed there is
no discussion on this need. For those o f us who
are still lucky enough to hold a job, we must as­
sure that we keep our job. The employed and
unemployed must become united in this fight.
The people o f Chicago have voiced their de­
sire for progressive change, by rejecting a racist
anti-labor campaign to elec, , ha, c ity ’s firs,
black mayor.
We in Portland can turn a rotten situation
around, too. We can demand and elect leaders
who will truly reflect the needs o f all the people
of this city.
It's the American way
K o lff M edical, the maker o f the a rtific ia l
heart tested by Barney
, says
the heart will be a money-maker. The hear, re­
quired $15 million to develop and sine early 1982
has been the investment large, o f $6 to $7 m il­
lion.
The investors arc those who have most to gain
—corporations in the medical field: Hospital
Corp, of America, Nashville; American Hospi­
tal Supply Co., Evanston, III; and Humana.
Inc., a hospital corporation in Louisville.
The company expects sales in the billions in
the United States. The heart is expected to sell at
$15,000 and an estimated 36,000 to 66,000 per­
sons could qualify for its use.
Rather than donate their discovery to the ser­
vice of humanity, the maker of the Jarvik-7 will
make money. This could be called p ro fitin g
from someone else’s suffering.
Letters to the Editor
Police behavior out of line
Re: t he
rock throwing teens and
police.
It is extremely sad when adult po­
licemen act in a juvenile manner.
The case in question is such a case.
I he young men needed a repri­
mand and even needed to face their
conduct before their parents but to
throw them on the ground? They
arc not criminals but this type of ac­
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tion, by the police that are supposed
to be helping reduce crime, often
embitters our youth and they get in­
to violent acts.
We are supposed to be trying to
reduce sex crimes but the obscene
remark instead o f reducing sex
crimes would only whet the mind of
youth to " fin d out what it is all
about.”
I personally feel the officers
should be given time o ff without
pay to do a little self-examination
and I feel they should apologize for
their conduct.
The act of racial discrimination
should not be tolerated on our po­
lice force!
Evelyn M . Collins, Director
(.¡race Collins Memorial Center
Portland Observer
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The crux of this ambitious strate­
gy lies in the candidate’s ability to
divest himself from personal gain
and the opportunism so inherent in
American politics, and in ably rep­
resenting a broad, multi-racial, mul­
ticlass constituency on the liberal-
left. I am convinced that Dellums
could do this. Unfortunately, some
Black Caucus members and other
politicos have in recent days put for­
ward another candidate who would
be the centerpiece o f the strategy
outlined above: the country preach­
er himself, Jesse Jackson.
Jackson has been a familiar poli­
tical figure within black America for
over fifteen years. His showboat
posturing, his embellished rhetoric,
his monumental egotism, are to an
extent akin to a mimickry o f the late
Adam Clayton Powell o f Harlem .
Unlike the restless refugee o f Bimi­
ni, however, Jackson's chief consti­
tuency is his own organization. Op­
eration P U S H . He has never been
elected to public office. Jackson’s
defenders claim that he is the best
known black political figure in Am
erica. Name-recognition is o f course
a valuable factor, but insufficient in
itself to validate a person's political
credentials. Everyone still knows
who Jesse James was, but I sincerely
doubt that this nineteenth century
rogue was a suitable candidate for
high office!
Jackson has played a very am ­
biguous role in the Movement. In
1972 he delivered a keynote address
ast the Black Political Convention
held in G ary, In d ian a, yet subse­
quently disavowed any independent
challenge to white Democrats in that
year's presidential race. During the
M iam i Rebellion o f 1980. he flew
dramatically into Liberty City in an
effort to cool o ff young militants.
At the Democratic N ational C on­
vention held in New York C ity in
1980, he served as a front-man for
Carter, endeavoring to water down
Kennedy-inspired jobs initiatives.
Yet only weeks later, Jackson ap­
plauded Reagan's speech before the
N ational U rban League, and
claimed (hat "the black vote is the
wild card in this election. The black
community has the responsibility
and obligation to listen to what both
parties and all candidates have to
say.”
The chief weakness of a potential
Jackson campaign, however, is in
the candidate's inability to awaken
the support o f progressives outside
of the black community. Jackson's
PUSH has no meaningful contacts
within th e c iv il rights leadership.
Black nationalists and most leftists
view Jackson with undisguised con­
tempt as a political opportunist, a
chameleon whose colors change
with the issues. There is a real dan­
ger that Jackson-the-candidate
would capitulate to M ondale (or
even Glenn) at the convention, after
a deal had been cut behind the
scenes, leaving blacks and progres­
sives out in the proverbial cold.
The strategy to realign American
politics in 1984 must begin with a
candidate who can be trusted to rep­
resent our interest. As far as I ’ m
concerned, Jesse Jackson disquali­
fied himself a decade ago. Jackson
is not a black leader—he is a celeb­
rity. And the seriousness of the po­
litical crisis which is before us de­
mands that any independent cam­
paign start with a level of unques­
tioned integrity.
Mayor's budget guts MHRC
(Continued from page ! column 6}
logue; we should have input."
Following the removal o f three
programs and cutting of staff, only
a director and clerk will remain.
The rationale that has been given,
LaG uardia said, is that M H R C
should be limited to advocacy and
research and not operate programs.
" T h is docs not make sense," he
said. Two of the sections that are to
be transferred — fa ir housing and
handicapped—are advocacy and re­
search programs.”
"Cutting back to two people will
put us where we were 12 years ago,”
LaG u ard ia said. There is no way
that any research could be done and
there would be little time for advo­
cacy .
"They say we should do research
and advocacy but that's impossible.
E lim in atio n o f sta ff would not
allow the volunteer Commissioners
to fu lfill their roles. The research
for the com m ittees— Education,
Employment, Housing, Justice— is
done by the staff."
Recent staff research includes the
study on minority youth unemploy­
ment. an annual evaluation of a ffir­
mative action and equal em ploy­
ment in the C ity and C ounty, a
newly released study on lack of mul­
ti-cu ltu ral training in colleges of
education in Oregon, monitoring
o f p retrial release, the study that
showed blacks receive pretrial incar­
ceration in higher percentages than
whites, annual studies of the School
District's suspension and expulsion
data. S taff research for the justice
committee resulted in a translation
and interpretation program for de­
fendants who speek little or no Eng­
lish, and a handbook for use with
deaf defendants.
The programs that are recom ­
mended to be transferred — fair
housing, neighborhood mediation,
and handicapped advocacy, all
came from staff research that dem­
onstrated a real need no one was
meeting.
A nother response to C om m is­
sioner Strachan's rationale is that
advocacy programs located in the
bureaus they are to monitor do not
work well. The person can easily
come under pressure and be unable
to function when he (ells the bureau
head that all is not in order. An out­
side agency— like the independent
M H R C —can often do a better job.
"M any of the investigations and re­
commendations M H R C has made
would have been squelched if it had
been part o f the C ity ," LaGuardia
said.
Another issue that arises is parity.
The County and C ity did fund
M H R C equally, but the County de­
creased its payments. Does that mean
the C ity should follow suit? " W e
have been bounced back and forth
like a ping pong b all.” LaGuardia
explained. We spend an undo
amount o f lime in twelve different
budget meetings. We have to go to
the City and the County to beg for
money to survive. One of the biggest
things we have to do is lobby for a
small amount o f money to try to
eliminate very big problems— race,
poverty, etc.”
W ith incidents o f racial harass­
ment increasing: with a high rate of
employment, especially for minori­
ties; with the federal government
failing to deal with lack of equal op­
portunity— the responsibility falls
even greater on local government.
" I am dismayed at the dismantling
o f the Human Relations Commis­
sion at this tim e,” LaGuardia said.
"Minorities and the poor are really
under siege.
"The City and the County have to
set some kind of image now. I don't
believe there should be any cuts in
M H R C ’ s budget now. But to cut
M H R C by nearly 70 percent when
other bureaus are getting millions
more is unfair and dangerous.”
Whether (his budget is just a first
step to eliminating M H R C — reduc­
ing it to nothing and then closing it
next year because it is not making
visible accomplishments, is not
known. The true motives for the
change and who is responsible are
not yet known.
As the O b s e rv e r went to press
W e d n e s d a y , C o m m is s io n e r
Strachan was unavailable for
comment.
M H R C 's budget will be before a
public hearing at City H all, Tues­
day, April 19th, at 1:30 p.m.
ILWU hits Reaganomics
(Continued from page I col. 6)
The 1‘itrlland Observer was established in 1970
MEMBER
Many Americans recognize that
next year’s presidential race will be
more than a referendum on Reagan-
ism. Properly understood, Reagan-
ism represents an attem pt by the
corporations to accelerate capital
accum ulation at the expense o f
workers, an effort to reduce perma­
nently the levels o f social services
and public programs at the expense
of an unprecedented arms buildup.
In short, the basic tenor of our de­
bate with the Right must be cast into
three slogans—jobs, peace and free­
dom.
In this regard, members o f the
Congressional Black Caucus have
taken the lead in defining the press­
ing concerns which affect blacks,
l.atino s, poor and working class
people. John Conyers o f Detroit is
developing perhaps the most pro­
gressive full employment bill in U.S.
history. Barren M itchell o f B alti­
more has taken the lead in denounc­
ing Reagan's economic austerity
programs. And Washington D .C .'s
Walter Eauntroy was even arrested
last year in a public demonstration
against the dumping of toxic waste
in a ru ra l, black N orth C arolina
county.
The problem before us, therefore,
is making sure that these questions
o f jobs (a fu ll employment econ­
om y). peace (reductions in both
conventional and nuclear weapons)
and freedom (affirmative action leg­
islation, a restoration of human ser­
vices. etc.) become part of the presi­
dential debate. As I see matters,
there are only two ways to begin this
process. One strategy would involve
running a progressive black candi­
date for the Democratic Party nomi­
nation in a select group o f ten to
twelve states. The states should have
either sizeable blocs of black. Lati­
no, and trade union voters, or a tra­
dition of political liberalism (for ex­
ample, New York, Massachusetts,
M ichigan. Illin ois, Pennsylvania,
California, Washington, D .C .). The
goal of this strategy would be not to
win the nomination, o f course, but
to force the frontrunner. Mondale,
to the left. Whomever emerges as
the Democratic Party’s alternative
to Reagan— whether M ondale,
uienn, or any ot the lesser lights—
he will not respond to the demands
o f the black freedom movement ex­
cept in token gestures, unless he is
absolutely forced to do so.
This cannot be done unless a pro­
gressive black candidate goes into
goes into the convention with 300 to
400 delegate voles, and when no sin­
gle white candidate has a m ajority
of delegate votes. This also means,
o f course, the Mondale must be de­
nied a first-ballot victory at the con­
vention.
U nquestionably,
the
best
qualified candidate for this strategy
is Ronald V. Dellums. Since his elec­
tion to Congress. Dellums has repre­
sented the most principled and
progressive alternative available in
Am erican politics. His unique
strength is his ability to relate to a
diverse constituency: blacks, trade
unionists, feminists. Latinos, envi­
ronmentalists, peace activists, etc. A
second choice, Georgia State Sena­
tor Julian Bond, has his own unique
follow ing w ithin the civil rights
com m unity. Both are n atio n ally-
known and would have access to the
media (a critically im portant fac­
tor). and could attract significant fi­
nancial backing from unions,
religious, disarmament and black
groups.
»pending to funding for human
need».”
The M artin Luther King revolu­
tion o f the IL W U call« for legisla­
tion to make January 1$ a national
holiday. IL W U locals in both
Northern and Southern California
participated in demonstration« com­
memorating the birthday of Martin
Luther King, Jr. It is further pro­
posed that 1I W U locals negotiate
for observance o f M a rlin Luther
King Day as a paid holiday in their
i-
union contracts.
The IL W U has had a long and
m ilitant history, born out o f the
great strikes o f the 1930s. " W e
withstood the hot breath o f
M cC arthyism ," Herman said. But
the seriousness o f job losses from
plant closures, runaways and gener­
al layoffs due to the depressed state
of the economy was reflected in the
IL W U O fficers Report which re­
flected a drop o f over 5,000 union
members from a membership o f
52,100.
Daughtry speaks
Reverend H erbert D aughtry,
founder and chairman o f the N a ­
tional Black U nited Front, w ill
'Peak at Portland State University,
7 P m ., Friday, A p ril 22nd, in 75
Lincoln Hall. Rev. Daughtry's talk
is sponsored by P ortland S tale’s
Black Cultural A ffairs Board. Call
288-6700 or 229-4075 for more in ­
formation.
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