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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 29, 1983)
—V .- ■.’l .- i [.Hl. . *»... I . «» — Il II Portland Observar, June 29,1963 Section I Page 5 South Africa threatens world peace by Oladapo Fafowora Nigerian Ambassador lo the U .N . Apartheid South A frica is an un mitigated evil which cannot be jus tified or tolerated under any circum stances by the international commu nity. The apartheid system is so in herently evil and abhorrent that it represents a negation o f all the in trinsic values that all civilized na tions so dearly cherish. The interna tional concern aroused by apartheid South A frica is not merely (hat racial discrimination exists there. There are many other countries where discrimination on the basis of race, color, or creed also exists. W hat is so uniquely abhorrent about South Africa is that racism and racial discrimination have been totally institutionalized, enshrined in law, and made all pervasive. It to tally dominates all aspects o f the lives o f South Africans, white or black, and it has the full support of (he law. It is also vigorously and ruthlessly enforced by (he white minority South African regime. The apartheid doctrine under which the black m ajority of about 80% o f the total population are denied their basic and fundamental human rights has engendered a pro found and widespread frustration among young blacks in the territory. M any have already left the country to join the liberation movements — the A N C and the P A C . M any more w ill do so in the future since there is little or no hope o f reforms in South A frica. The strategy o f peaceful demonstration and protests has been abandoned in favor o f violence, because o f the ruthless suppression o f any dissent in apart heid South A frica. Many blacks have been shot, as in Sharpeville. for protesting against the unjust laws o f the South African regime. A rising tide o f violence now seems to engulf both white and black not only within South Africa itself, but beyond South Africa's borders. The apartheid regime, in a misguided attempt to suppress internal rebel lion and conflict in South Africa, has embarked on a reckless cam paign o f military attacks and other attinst neighbors o f the Frontline States. It has also sought to weaken, divide, and undermine the Frontline States, particularly Angola and M ozam bique, by sponsoring and financing dissident movements in these coun tries — the so-called M R M , and U N IT A . The upshot o f all this is that as the circle of violence widens on the African continent, even far away countries like the U .S. will be sub jected to strong conflicting pres sures to support one side or (he other. The ensuing debate could quickly mobilize African political and economic pressures against those Western countries that appear to be either indifferent, or that overtly or covertly support the apartheid regime. T o put it bluntly, if South A frica fails to deal justly and effectively with its own internal racial problem, that failure will not only present (he Western world with a crucial dilemma, but may well lead to a conflagration from which the Western world will not be able to escape. And the prospects o f such a conflagration have been made even greater by South A frica's develop ment o f nuclear weapons capability. The danger which a nuclear armed racist South A frica presents to the African continent is an ex tremely grave one. It calls for urgent and prompt response from the A fr i can states. Is it any wonder, there fore, that at the recently concluded summit o f the O A U , the outgoing Secretary-General, M r. Edem Kodjo, in his valedictory address, also called on A frican states to abandon their policy o f denucleari zation o f Africa in favor o f (he de velopment o f a nuclear weapons capability. And we know that at least three African states are now within the threshold o f achieving nuclear weapons capability. The danger which a proliferation o f nu clear weapons states in A frica pre sents to world peace and security is obviously serious. Apartheid is a system o f racially biased laws which wholly circum scribes every facet o f the daily lives o f the blacks in South A frica, lim it ing their economic liberties, and prohibiting any significant voice in the government that controls their existence. W hat is the racist regime doing to redress this situation? The answer is little or nothing. The regime is fully aware o f both the in ternal and external criticism o f its racist policy. But apart from a par tial relaxation o f the so-called petty apartheid, it has not taken any con crete steps towards (he elimination o f the notorious apartheid laws. The basic structure o f apartheid remains virtually intact. Prospects for the future W hat are the prospects for the future? The racist regime o f South Africa is determined to maintain its obnoxious apartheid system at all costs, and against all odds. It has refused to confront (he issue o f poli tical participation for the blacks. The prospects for a peaceful change are therefore bleak. Already, there are growing signs that fundamental changes will come only through rev olutionary violence. The young blacks have now reluctantly accept ed violence as the only means o f overturning the system, and the growing acceptance o f violence as a tool for change has stimulated inter est in radical ideologies. A t the United Nations and other international fora, the African states have consistently expressed their total opposition to racist South Africa and aim at the total diplo matic isolation o f the racist regime. Among the Western powers, too, there is considerable anxiety and concern about the dangerous direc tion in which South A frica is hell bent on moving, for in the event o f a bloody conflict, the Western coun tries will sec (heir considerable eco nomic and Financial investments go up in smoke. There are many in the West, par ticularly here in the United States who continue to underestimate the inherent danger which the apartheid regime represents for long term eco nomic relations between the West and Africa. M any are still disposed to blame the conflict situation in South Africa on what (hey call Soviet expansionism. Such people are quick to denounce black agita tions and their liberation move ments as communists. But this is a profound error o f judgment on their part. The struggle o f (he blacks in South Africa for freedom is not ideological. The freedom fighters are not Soviet proxies or puppets. They have taken to arms not to ad vance any particular ideology but to advance the cause of freedom in South Africa. They are defenders of the freedom and values which are the foundations o f civilized govern ment. Because South A frica is the dom i nant military power in A frica today, many people in the West believe that the regime will be able to take care o f things. But it is only a question of time before South Africa's military superiority is reversed. As the eco nomic strength o f the African states increase, they w ill gain the resources to support the liberation struggle in side South A frica. In (he event o f a military conflict, the West w ill be unable to stand in strategic alliance with South A frica because to do so would be regarded as supporting a political system that is a complete negation o f the basic human rights o f its own population, and hence unacceptable to their own people. Some are sympathetic, but argue that what is needed is economic re form . A program o f economic reform is highly desirable in itself, but it is unlikely to bring about the necessary political reforms fast enough. But the political issue must be confronted squarely. For the blacks, social and economic advance is not an adequate substi tute for political power. Proposal offers tax relief by Charles Goodmacher A proposal giving immediate property tax relief for homeowners by closing income tax loopholes cur rently available to the wealthy, passed the Senate Revenue C om m it tee Friday. Comm ittee Chairperson Chuck Hanlon. D-Corneiius, pre dicted a vote on the measure this week. The Hanlon measure calls for a reduction of S3 per S I,000 of assessed value in residential property taxes for schools. Critics say that this flat rate reduction form ula favors rural and wealthy areas whose tax rates are currently lower than urban rates. The homeowner-only aspect o f the Hanlon plan differs drastically from the (ax relief called by (he House-approved sales tax measure. The sales tax proposal called for re At the end o f 1982 there were 412,303 inmates in U .S. state and federal prisons. Also, an estimated 210,000 persons were confined in the nation's jails on June 30, 1982. Thus, jails held one inmate for every two inmates held in state and federal prisons. Three of every five o f those persons who were in the nation's local jails had not been convicted o f an offense. The unconvicted were waiting to be formally charged (arraignment), waiting for pretrial release (bail, re lease on own recognizance, etc.), or waiting for trial. The convicted were awaiting sentence, awaiting revoca tion hearings on a technical viola tion o f parole or probation, aw ait ing transfer to a prison or other cor rectional facility, or serving their sentence in jail. Statistics show that 19 states held 6,900 prisoners in county jails because o f prison over crowding. About 58 percent o f the ja il in mates were white, 40 percent black, and 2 percent persons o f other races. The most recent racial distri bution o f prison population (D e cember 31, 1981) was 52 percent while. 46 percent black, I percent other races, and I percent not re ported. From a statistical viewpoint it is apparent that our penal system is grossly overcrowded. The problems that result from prison overcrowd ing are not hnrd to visualize — an increase in the financial necessity for new prison construction, a breakdown in mental and rehabilita tive treatment and service programs, a greater likelihood for violent dis turbances and the general deteriora tion o f a humane environment. These problems are readily ap parent, but the societal neglect that takes the form o f overcrowding also breeds subtle silent germs that erode the souls o f men confined. The des olate dislocation o f desocialization, suppressed passion, homosexuality, brutality, reinforced criminal men tality, and the age-old ghoul of racism are the diseases caused by these germs. One has to ask how someone can return from such bleak conditions to become a productive contributor to society. The answer is most often negative — the grave that is prison holds its corpse and most prisoners are little more than socioeconomic vampires when they are returned to the community. There should be little wonder that recidivism exists, and that the petty thief becomes a murderer or rapist when there is no healing o f the cancer called prison. Recently black prisoners in the tradition o f Ghandi and D r. M artin SPECIALS” CURL SALE tcb Curl Regular $65.00 NOW $40.00 (includes Cut, Curl, Conditioner and Style) Cellophane Hair Color Regular $20.00-$25 00 a NOW $10.00 Hair Cuts Regular $15.OO-$2O.OO NOW $10.00 II q butch coore X - *- K £ O H a i r D e s ig n F o r M e n & W o m e n 1 4 1 0 N .E . B ro a d w a y . P o r tla n d . O r e g o n 8 B 4 -1 8 9 7 ’. -S V •V Luther King, staged a non-violent silent protest at Oregon State Peni tentiary. They are concerned with the disproportionately high number o f black prisoners incarcerated at the prison. Blacks compose 17% of the prison population while the black state population is less than 2% . Oregon ranks second national ly in the incarceration o f blacks, Indians and Hispanics per capita. Other areas o f concern for O re gon's prisoners o f color are segrega tion in job placement, the need for a permanent Muslim Im am to service state institutions, racial harassment by prison guards, the need for a black psychologist to diagnose and treat black prisoners, the need for adequate black literature, the ab sence o f ranking black prison guards, the cultural isolation caused by (he limited television and radio media access (it is my understanding that this grievance is being ad dressed through the installation o f a new antenna system), the lack of black cosmetics and cards at (he prison commissary, and the inherent racist qualities of the parole matrix system. It should be noted that the prison administration has agreed to meet all grievances it deems legitimate and a mediation process is under way. W hile this reporter commends the open attitude o f the prison ad ministration, it is necessary to stress the importance o f a permanent reso lution o f these problems. This reporter would also urge added community support for the brothers behind the walls. It is going to be a long hot summer. The over crowding and the other aforemen tioned problems could produce a fire that might rage out o f control. Let us not be caught reading head lines and shaking our heads in tears and shame because we didn't get in volved in the problem solving. Let all concerned citizens, organizations and religious groups marshal their support for those who so desperate ly need it. Remember that you can prevent prison fires and vampires do exist: contact Homer Clay, »43391, Uhuru Organization, 2605 State St., Salem. O r , 97310 (378-2446) or M r Ron M artin, M inority A ffairs, 2605 State St., Salem, O r., 97310 (378-2443). tax). Most Portland area senators told the Observer that they are either un decided or opposed to the Hanlon plan as currently written. Senators M cC oy, D -Portland, and Gardner, D-Portland, are undecided. Senator Ryles. R-Beaverton/W est Portland, is against the measure as is Senator M onroe. D-Portland. Senator Jan Wyers, D -P ortland, told the Observer that he strongly favors the closing o f (he income tax loopholes proposed by Senator Hanlon. The $5 cut in property tax rates will cost the slate about $394 m illion o f which $82 million will be recap tured from the $800 million federal tax breaks given to wealthy O re gonians over the past three years. (Please turn to Section / / Page S) The U.S. National Academy of Design held an an competition and awarded second place to a work which the judges then learned had been hanging up side down. • Scholars today have some doubts as to whether Americus Vespucius, for whom the Americas are named, ever traveled here at all. • Do you have a morbid fear of the number 13? Then you have triskaidekaphobia. W e do »sot do business w ith South Africo £03 (Excerpts fro m address o f June I8th, Portland State University) OSP inmates demonstrate by Asm ar A bdul Seifullah ductions in all property taxes, com mercial as well as residential (even though business w on't pay any sales Street Beat by Lanita Duke and Richard Brown American State Bank AN INDEPENDENT BANK Head Office 2737 N. E. Union Portland. 0'egon 97212 Last week Sally Ride made history as (he first American female astro naut. The Street Beat reflected on this event with, “ Was it significant that Sally Ride was the first Ameri can female astronaut?” Associated Manager Wendy Johnson Housewife "1 thought it was really neat. I never watched any o f the space splash downs until the one last week. I watched it a ll.” "Y e s, I think it was, just be cause she's a woman. I think because o f her more women would develop an interest in th.* space p ro gram ." Gary Harshaw Plumber " I t really didn't mean lhat much to me. I ’m glad she went up. but the fact that she is a woman didn't mailer to m e.” Phil Robinson Accountant Debra Teare Sandra Arnold Unemployed " N o . I don't like listening to stuff about women being the first this and the first that. I really don't like them sending up men.” " N o , it wasn't. I look upon her as I would look upon any other astronaut. The flight was a m ajor event, but I didn’ t look at her as being a part o f the m ajor event." L .P .N . " N o , it wasn’ t. I think it was for show. I don't think she played a specific part in the flight. I'm interested in the tech nology and the byproducts that come out o f the space program rather than Sally Ride being the first woman in space.”