Portland Observer. June 22, 1983 Page 5
Special Spring Sale
Washington Hot Line
Gospel Records
by Congressman Ron W>den
The Reagan administration has
often assailed the virtues o f affirm a
tive action policy President Reagan
is an avowed enemy o f the policy
and the Assistant Attorney General
for civil rights, W illiam Bradford
Reynolds, has termed the policy a
"racial spoils system."
I find this a disturbing attitude,
made all the more distressing in light
o f a report recently completed by
the
Labor
Department
which
shows
some
of
affirm ative
action's positive results. U n fo rtu
nately, many have not heard about
this report. It has not been pub
lished, and some congressional
sources believe that the administra
tion is trying to suppress its publica
tion.
A draft o f the report, obtained by
the Washington Post, provides im
pressive figures on the effectiveness
o f affirm ative action and therefore
makes a convincing case for "stay
ing the course” on such hiring poli
cies.
The study reviewed hiring prac
tices at some 77,000 businesses be
tween 1974 and 1980 Here are some
o f the conclusions:
• M ino rity employment grew by
20.1 percent in businesses with a ffir
mative action hiring requirements,
but by only 12.3 percent at compa-
mes with no special hiring require
ments.
• In businesses with affirm ative
action programs, the number o f
black managers grew by 96 percent
and women managers by 73 percent.
• The number of women employed
by businesses with affirm ative ac
tion programs grew by 13.2 percent
compared to only 2.2 percent at
companies without such programs.
A ffirm ative action has been a
boon to the m inority worker. It has
increased the demand for minority
workers and has contributed to rais
ing their earnings and job status.
It took a trip to Mississippi for
Assistant Attorney General Rey
L.P.s *5M Singles
Two-record Set 8”
nolds to believe stories o f electoral
abuse that had long been reported
It took an 8-1 ruling by the U.S.
Supreme Court to convince the ad
ministration that tax breaks for
schools which practiced blatant ra
cial discrimination were illegal. I
hope that the new Labor Depart
ment report will do the trick in this
case and help convince the adminis
tration o f the value o f affirm ative
action.
I f not, the adminstralion will be
showing its unwillingness to support
policies which lead to the progres
sive integration o f the workplace,
and hence o f our society as a whole.
This coupon is good
for $10°° off any new T.V.
Dellums fights for military budget cuts
Rep. Ron Dellums (D -C a l.) con
tinued his effort to reduce the U.S.
military budget by introducing an
amendment last week that would
remove the Pershing I I missiles
from the budget.
In December o f 1979 the U.S.
agreed with N A T O to deploy
Pershing I I missiles in the N A T O
nations o f Western Europe if no
progress was made in negotiations
with the Soviet Union.
The Carter plan for the Pershing
I I was to use it as a bargaining chip
in negotiations. The Reagan adm in
istration, however, is intent on ac
tually deploying the missiles.
Dellums based his opposition to
funding and deployment o f the
Pershing Il's on four premises:
1) There is no m ilitary rationale
for deploying the missiles. Their
targets can be hit by existing N A T O
missiles and missiles owned by the
French and the British.
2) It is too dangerous. " T o deploy
is to create a permanent Cuban
missile crisis in E u ro pe." The
Pershing I I is the fastest and most
accurate missile designed. I f fired it
would reach its target in from 6 to 8
minutes, not long enough to provide
time to assess a situation. Currently
it takes 23 to 40 minutes for a
missile to go from the U .S. to the
Soviet Union or vice versa. Although
there have been several computer
errors that indicated Soviet missiles
had been fired, the time lapse pro
vided time to discover the error.
W ith missiles only 8 minutes away
from control silos o f the USSR, the
USSR would have to use "launch on
warning” and have no time to re
consider.
"T h is is a miniscule amount o f
time to talk about a nuclear holo
caust," Dellums said. " I t is incredi
bly dangerous. M y voice is crying
out to you for millions o f people in
this country and on this planet who
do not want to plunge the world into
a nuclear holocaust."
3) The Pershing I I would under
mine the N A T O alliance. A t the
time West Germany asked for the
decision on the Pershing I I , the U .S .
was ready to ratify S A L T I I and
negotiate S A L T I I I . It was com
monly though that there was a
degree o f stability. S A L T I I was not
ratified and. "there is great calamity
in the w o rld ." The situation is d if
ferent and the U .S ., "needs to re
think the incredible desire to de
p lo y ." N A T O never intended that
the Pershing I I be deployed, but
hoped its threat would bring a
Soviet reduction. "T h e USSR did
say they would reduce their SS20's,
but President Reagan clung to the
zero-zero option and turned down
the USSR effort to reduce the SS20
and not to deploy the 21, 22 and 23 ."
N A T O has always included the
missiles o f France and Britain in the
count, although Reagan attempts to
ignore them. There must be an
agreement on the ratio between
Israel rejects Ethiopian Jews
by John Blank
n
The black Jews o f Ethiopia —
sometimes known as “ Falashas” —
could well disappear in a new
“ holocaust," according to Simcha
Desta, a Fa las ha who recently es
caped from Ethiopia.
Simcha, who spoke to approxi
mately 100 people M onday night,
said that teachers and students in
Falasha schools, himself included,
have been arrested and tortured, for
learning Hebrew and practicing
their ancient form o f Judaism.
Simcha, his wife, and their daughter
(3 months old at the time) were im
prisoned for 11 months; he and his
wife were tortured, in order, he
said, to terrorize the other Falashas,
(or "B eta Israel," as they call them
selves). " T h e government tells us,
‘ You are not Jewish, you are black.
You must become Christian. ’ . . . We
have to die for our relig io n ." In
addition, he said, the Beta Israel
face other forms o f persecution;
internal and external travel is severe
ly restricted. Hebrew books have
been confiscated and burned, and
the Jews have been ordered to hold
their market day on Saturday, the
Jewish sabbath, during which work
is strictly forbidden.
The Ethiopian government's mo
tives for persecuting the Beta Israel
do not seem to be directly political,
as the Beta Israel have not opposed
the Dergue (as the government
which came to power in 1974 is
known); in fact, the Beta Israel have
received harsh treatment from op
ponents o f the regime, such as the
rebels in Eritrea and Tigre as well as
from internal opposition groups.
They are "caught between the ham
mer and the an vil,” Simcha said.
Instead, the motice seems to be
old-fashioned
Christian
" a n ti
semitism," especially on the part o f
M ajo r M elaku Teffera, head o f
Gondar Province, where most o f the
Jews live. Peasant superstitions
against the Jews, such as that they
"bring the evil eye.” are being
stirred up; Jews are forbidden to
own land; foreign contact with the
Bachelor« • Bachelorette«
Tired M others
Do you need domestic care for
your home?
I will clean at low coat.
Call for apppolntmsnt
Ms. Spic-n-Span
Cleaning Service
Call 287-3309
Jews is strictly lim ited to interviews
conducted through Christian " in te r
preters,” according to D r. Jerry
M alino o f Eugene, who organized
M onday night’s program.
Nor is it the case that the Jews are
being
persecuted
because
the
nominally M arxist, Soviet-support
ed government is anti-religious, for
the m ajority Coptic Christian reli
gion is not discouraged at all.
Authorities disagree on the o ri
gins o f these Ethiopian Jews. A c
cording to some, they are descen
dants o f Ethiopians converted to
Judaism around 2,000 B.C. by Jews
from Egypt and Yemen; others say
that they are the descendants o f the
tribe o f Dan, which made its way to
Ethiopia after the destruction o f the
temple in Jerusalem in 386 B.C.
However they got there, they
multiplied and became powerful,
and at times dominated Ethiopia
until the 4th century A .D ., when the
Empire converted to (Coptic) Chris
tianity. A t that time, the Jews re
treated to the mountains, where
they maintained their own state.
There followed a 350-year period o f
war against these Jews by the Chris
tians and the Moslems (who con
tributed the name "F alas h a ," which
means "o utcast;" the Jews' own
name for themselves being "B eta
Israel,” meaning "House of Israel” ),
culminating in their defeat in 1830,
at which time there were approxi
mately 100,000 o f them left in
Ethiopia.
Almost completely isolated from
the outside world for the last 2,000
years, they practice a pre-rabbinical
form o f Judaism. They observe
Shabbat (the Jewish sabbath) very
strictly; during Shabbat drawing
water, making fires, and other work
is prohibited; even in wartime, they
won't fight on the sabbath unless
they are attacked. Other Jewish
customs, such as ritual bathing for
women who are having their
periods, and dietary restrictions, are
practiced; the m ajor Jewish holi
days are observed
Today there are an estimated
23,000 Beta Israel left; 20.000 live in
Gondar
Province,
where
the
m ajority o f them are sharecroppers.
Although they were supposed to
have obtained land in the land re
forms following the 1974 change o f
government, this has not happened,
because peasant committees and
local officials would not let Jews
own land; where they were allowed
to own land, it was the poorest. In
addition, the Beta Israel are hand
craft workers — weavers, potters,
blacksmiths, etc. — who are consid
ered the lowest stratum o f Ethiopian
society, according to Samah.
Population estimates do not
count an unknown number o f Beta
Israel who outwardly converted to
Christianity, but practice Judaism
in secret, as did the Jews o f Spain
during the Inquisition.
The plight o f the Falashas has
been little recognized by the world
at large. Although some sections o f
the world Jewish community has
taken an interest in them, (through
organizations such as the American
Association for Ethiopian Jews —
A A E J ), they were not officially rec
ognized as Jews until 1973 (by
leading rabbis in Israel). The Israeli
government has only recently taken
a stand in their favor.
During the 1930’s and 1960's,
then-Ethiopian
Emperor
Haile
Selassie prohibited em igration, but
Falashas have said that he could
have been persuaded to allow the
Jews to emigrate, according to D r.
M aliner, o f the Eugene branch o f
the A A E J . O nly after public dem
onstrations by the few Falashas who
managed to make their way to Israel
has the Begin government begun a
public human rights campaign, but
has limited this campaign to "quiet
diplom acy,"
arguing
that
this
would "b ring greater results in the
long ru n ." However, some Mossad
(Israeli
secret
service)
agents
assigned to the Falasha program
told a N . y. Timas correspondent
that the Begin government uses this
argument to "cover up its own in
activity." Some speculate that the
Israeli government's low profile in
the rescue o f these Jews — in con
trast to the noise made about res
cuing the Jews o f Russia — has to
do with the fact that the Falashas
N A T O and the Warsaw Pact,
The USSR sees U .S. escalation as
requiring a reaction. Deployment o f
the Pershing I I will force the USSR
to increase its missiles and that will
split N A T O .
4) The SS20 does not give any new
capacity to the USSR. The negotia
tions between the U .S. and the
USSR need more time. The U.S.
must count French and British
missiles and accept an equal global
force — the Western Alliance and
the Soviet Bloc's. The talks on
various missile systems must be
merged.
Once deployed, the Pershing 11
will no longer be a bargaining chip
but will be a new missile system d i
rected at an enemy. N o missile sys
tem, once deployed, has ever been
removed.
Dellums asked his colleagues to
debate the issues o f the military
budget and look at the facts and the
consequences rather than push for
an early vote.
If all the hamburgers Americans eat each year were
stretched out side by side, they could circle the earth
four times.
According to Irish folklore, if you meet a weasel on
the road, you're sure to have good luck.
The ancient Egyptians bathed with soda instead of
soap.
•
The Sahara Desert is as large in area as the
continental U.S.
W a do not do busineaa w ith South Africa.
American State
Bank
AN IMPORTANT BOOK
THC BLACK R f SOUACC OOiOC
(4
btech toectory)
r»M unsqwo t '• p«g« >»acko»y * h o w « you Io t — c A »ay
Ofacki anywMre *s t o U 1 M Mg t o Aameg aoo was*«
and p W « Otffftov« o< Ova 'too (Me» « I O C grxJ
o»gao* «atoo«
t * 5 00 •<> B*a« » Regostaf o e m
• fo’ OoAKUPt NW
toa/wvgton UC JOO’ »
(JOJ1/91 4 3 0
AN INDEPENDENT BANK
Head Ottica
2 7 3 7 N. E. Union
Portland, Oregon 9 7 2 1 2
Street Beat
by Lenita D uke and Richard Brow n
K
J
Clift Smith
Tgachgr
" I was opposed (o ihe idea of
anyone paying to build a nuclear
facility because I'm against
nuclear power. I remember
when they first started talking
about building nuclear power
plants, they said it would be too
cheap to meter. As it turns out,
it is the most expensive.”
Last week a legal decision was
----- handed down in Washington which
released a group of public and
private utilities from their indebted
ness to Washington Public Power
Supply System. The Street Beat team
asked, "H o w do you feel about cer-
___ tain utilities being excused from their
bond obligation?"
Blaka Washington
C ra w Laadsr
" I 'm not fam iliar with all the
details, but it would be interest
ing to see who will pick up the
final tab. From what I under
stand, they didn’ t have the
power to get into a contract. It
is a big messy situation."
Elder Frank Martin
Mlnlatar
" I feel it's unfair for anyone
not to fu lfill their obligation.
You shouldn't take advantage
o f anyone just because you have
the opportunity."
are black. A similar point might be
made about the Am erican govern
ment, which otherwise has been
eager to support the "v ic tim s" of
the
Soviet
Union
and
its
clients— except perhaps when these
“ victim s" are black.
"The tw o graatast stimulants
in tha world ara youth and
dab t."
Benjamin Disraeli
Triam inic* Syrup
Triam tnicin* Tablets
or
Triaminic-12* Tablets
For Allergy Relief
that's notning to
sneeze at.
* '* •
'a w A .- Ina
latawaww»« (V> « a a ,4
Im cafc Netwsate M V l
Nancy Wong
Credit Interviewer
Richard Bucklay
Postal Employa«
" I f I had a debt I would be
forced to pay. I'm opposed to
the way the whole situation sur
rounding
W PPSS
it.
It's
w rong."
" I f anyone has a debt they
should be responsible for it.
Anyone that incurs a debt
should be able to pay it o f f ."
Both Watorman
Nursa
" I don't like the fact that
sooner or later, we, the public,
will have to pay for it. I f private
individuals have to pay their
debts then I feel businesses
ought to ."