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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 10, 1983)
Page 2 Portland Ob—rvw , Augurt 10, 1963 EDITORIAL/OPINION MHRC backs down to Strachan It would be difficult to find anyone in M u lt nomah County who really believes that the M et ropolitan Human Relations Commission should lose its staff and programs or that it should be held in the grip o f one politician. Yet, that is happening. This is especially serious when that politician has a poor civil rights/human rights record. She speaks of justice while voting for a substantial police budget increase, while gutting programs designed for prevention. She speaks of open government while wheeling and dealing in secret. She speaks of human rights while destroying the only public body dedicated to human rights. She speaks of equal employment and women's rights while demoting the City’s highest ranking black/female employee and while trying to eliminate her only female direc tor. She speaks of services while withdrawing funding to feed poor elderly Hispanic people. She speaks o f civil rights while attempting to pit whites and other minorities against black peo ple. It is, perhaps, understandable that a politician seeks power, that a politician forgets her role is to serve. But it is unbelievable that citizens would allow demagoguery to develop. Citizens have come forward and demanded a full restoration o f M H R C ; they are prepared to go to the City Council with their demands, hoping that the mayor or Commissioner Schwab will see the light. But the Metropolitan Human Relations Commission itself is now willing to "negotiate” for the return of some of its budget, to accept the politician’s dictates to receive crumbs. The power of the government resides in the people. When they give up that power — or allow it to be taken from them — they allow tyranny to take the place o f democracy. U.S. finger on the trigger? The overthrow of General Efrain Rios Montt of Guatemala by General Oscar Humberto Mejia Victores looks like a U.S. job. Not only did Mejia meet with high U.S. officials the night before the coup, but he was quick to praise Reagan's Central America policy. So much for Reagan's continual praise of Guatemala's “ progress” toward "democracy.” Could it be that Rios M ontt, with his death squads, was not tough enough for Reagan? Now Reagan will adopt a new general, heap the same inane praise on him that he gave his predecessor, and seek his help to overthrow the government of Nicaragua and subvert the efforts of the people of El Salvador to find freedom. And the people of Guatemala will continue to suffer. U.S.: might, not right The Reagan administration seems intent on making war. While the Organization of African Unity is calling for negotiations in the worsening situation in Chad, the U.S. is choosing this time to make a show of naval force o ff the coast of Libya $25 million in arms is being shipped to the fourth poorest country in the world — a country whose people need food. The U.S. is also showing its muscle in Central America with the Navy stationed o ff both coasts of Nicaragua and U.S. troops maneuvering along the Nicaraguan border in Honduras. Neither o f these actions is designed to pro mote peace. Wha, the U.S. government must learn sometimes is that the desire for indepen dence overrides fear and that U.S. military might cannot stop the search for freedom. ne^ ^ ! ,^ ^ ing,°" M any o f us going to this month’s March on Washington, D .C ., do not know that the 1963 effort was inspired by an earlier event. In 1941, A Philip Randolph, the leader o f the Brotherhood o f Sleeping Car Por ters, initiated a major campaign against the racist policies o f the Roosevelt administration. To under stand the dynamics o f our current campaign against Reaganism. it is essential that we remember the issues confronting an earlier genera tion o f black freedom fighters. Despite the reforms made by Roosevelt during his first two terms in office, the New Deal was orga nized on strictly segregated lines. Civilian Conservation Corps camps were segregated by race; provisions in the Public W orks Administration which mandated certain percentages of Black workers in th construction of buildings were blatantly ignored; benefits from the Agricultural A d justment Administration were often denied to Black rural farmers through fraud and outright corrup tion. One area o f the racially stratified labor market in which the federal government played a decisive role was in defense-related industries. Already suffering under twice the unemployment rate experienced by whites. Black workers found it nearly impossible to obtain jobs in defense plants. From January- March, 1941, for example, 1,066 employees were hired in electrical equipment firms which held federal government contracts. O f these new workers, only five were black. In the same period, aircraft industries with war department contracts hired 8,769 workers, and all but 13 were white. During the presidential elec tion o f 1940, a number o f civil rights and liberal organizations — the N A A C P , the Allied Committees on National Defense, and the Com m it tee for participation o f Negroes in the National Defense — began to criticize the Roosevelt administra tion’s failure to pressure these cor porations to hire blacks. In Septem ber, 1940, a group of middle class black leaders met with Roosevelt personally in an effort to obtain concessions, but came away empty- handed. N A A C P leader Walter W hite was not even allowed to meet with Roosevelt after the Democrat’s victory over Wendell W ilkie in N o vember, 1940. In White's words, "Bitterness (was growing) at an alarming rate throughout the country." In January, 1941, A Philip Ran dolph consolidated the anger of black workers into a call for an un precedented march on Washington, D .C ., to be staged on July I o f that year Randolph was a familiar figure within the black movement, and a socialist nemesis o f several past presidents. In the black press. Randolph justified the necessity for black workers to surround the W hite House. "O n ly power can affect the enforcement and adop tion o f a given policy," he declared. "P o w er is the active principle of only the organized masses, the masses united for a definite pur pose We loyal Negro-American citi zens demand the right to work and fight for our co u ntry." Randolph issued the march's ambitious de mands: an executive order forbid ding government contracts to be awarded to any firm which prac ticed racial discrimination in hiring; an executive order abolishing segre gation in the armed forces; an exec utive order abolishing racial dis crimination in government defense training courses; an executive order requiring the U .S. Employment Service to supply workers without regard to race; an executive order abolishing Jim Crow in every de partment o f the federal government; and a formal request from Roosevelt to the Congress to pass legislation forbidding any benefits of the National Labor Relations Act to unions denying membership to blacks. The demands represented something qualitatively new in black protest strategy: the active pursuit of executive intervention to over turn the major pillars o f Jim Crow. Individually, none o f the demands was revolutionary; taken together, they were a series o f transitional and militant reforms within the frame work o f American democracy. Historians August Meier and Elliot Rudwick correctly note that Randolph’s "M a rc h on Washington Movement clearly foreshadowed the goals, tactics, and strategy o f the mid-twentieth century civil rights movement___ Unlike the older Negro movements, the (march) had captured the imagination o f the masses." By A p ril, 1941, the Negro March on Washington Movement had 30,000 members who had paid one dollar or more toward the cam paign. All-black rallies and demon strations in churches, schools and union halls occurred across the country. By late Spring, the Roosevelt ad ministration had clearly begun to panic. The spectre o f an estimated 30,000 black workers surrounding the W hite House grounds at a time when Nazi Germany was winning its war against Britain caused consider able anxiety Eleanor Roosevelt, the president’s principal liaison with Cities mobilize for "We Still Have A Dream" march —- Ormimi U ■J P iilii.-.lio f. * A M N f V S .|i.H > p r Portland Observer H Th« P o rtla n d O h it r r e r (U S P S 969 6801 *» published every Thursday by i»re Publrehing Company. Inc . 2201 North Killings worth Portland. Oregon 97217 Post Ottice Bos 3137. Portland Oregon 9/208 Second class postage paid at Portland Oregon § j iH i.» h o n The 76« i/und TTAurrw was established in 1970 Subscriptions »16 00 per year m the Tri County P o* ’ m aster Send address changer, to the Portland O t n m r r , P O MEMBER Alfred L. Henderson, Editor/Publisher A! Williams, Advertising Manager Affooahon * founded fM 5 ™ ™ ™ 7»™ ™ ™ 7 urges 7>/7t7r™ wspaper. PORTLAND OBSERVER News fo r and about you- PLEASE PRINT _ M.ni in Portland Ubeetvet rg.utit — -- --------------------------------------- ■ ■ A titlrt’ss _________________________ I I 283 2486 Bos 3137. Portland. Oregon 97208 Bue 313/ Portia-ul Or «yon 97208 C i t y _______________________ S ta le N atio n a l A dvertising R ep resentative A m a lg am a te d Publishers Inc N a w York Subscribe today! Yea, I would like a aubacription to the Portland Observer. I have enclosed my check or money order for $15, for a one year aubacription M ore than 310 cities will be repre sented at Ihe August 27th March on Washington for Jobs. Peace and Freedom. From Anchorage, Alaska to Bangor, Maine, local delegations are expected to converge at (he L in coln Memorial in record numbers, arriving by bus, car, plane, train, fool and even bicycle. "Freedom trains," walkathons and trucker caravans are among the activities planned to mobilize parti cipation from wide segments of the country. Coordinators from some 43 stales are reporting mounting en thusiasm as the 20th anniversary o f the 1963 March on Washington draws near. The 1963 march, in which Dr M artin Luiher King, Jr., delivered his famed ” 1 Have A D ream " speech, marked one of the largest mass gatherings in America’s history. Coining the theme, "W e Still Have A D ream ," the upcoming march has captured a mood of dis content among diverse contigents including civil rights, labor, youth, women, church and community or ganizations. Together, they have forged " A New Coalition o f C on science," to renew the spirit of D r. King's dream o f social and econom ic justice. U .S. Rep. W alter E. Fauntroy is National Director of the Twentieth Anniversary March. Co-Chairper sons include: Coretta Scott King, President, M artin Luther King, Jr., Center for Non-Violent Social Change. Dr. Joseph Lowery, Presi dent, Southern Christian Leader ship Conference; Judy Goldsmith, President, National Organization for Women; Asia Bennett, Director o.' the American Friends Service Committee; Rev. Jesse Jackson, President, Operation P U S H ; Dr. Benjamin Hooks, Executive Direc tor, N A A C P and renowned artist Stevie Wonder. A symbolic march will take place in Salem, O R on August 27 al I I :00 V m Marchers will assemble on the steps west of the stale capitol build ing for a program which includes speakers representing issues o f jobs, peace, and freedom. There will also be cultural entertainment from multi-ethnic groups during and after the program. (For more inform a tion please contact Paulette W ittwer at 239 9427 or Iris Bell at 283-3249 In Salem, please contact Elaine Zablocki at 371 8002 and in Eugene contact Donna Goetsch at 342-3167. The Seattle effort is chaired by City Councilman Sam Smith and Rev. Samuel McKinney The local coalition will send a delegation to Washington, D .C .. and will hold a rally in Seattle. In San Francisco, a coalition of 38 labor, church and community groups will hold a march from Golden Gate Park to downtown San Francisco for a rally at the Civic Center. civil rights leaders, visited Randolph in New York City and urged him to call o ff the demonstration. He bluntly refused. Subsequently, Roosevelt summoned Randolph to the W hite House. W ith both the Secretary o f W ar and the Secretary of the Navy, Roosevelt demanded that the campaign be discontinued. A t this moment. Randolph made a tactical blunder. He suggested that he would halt the march if Roose velt agreed to only one demand, an executive order to end racial dis crimination in federally funded war production factories. Roosevelt re fused Randolph then announced that (he march would bring 100,000 Afro-Americans to Washington, making the demonstration the largest in U.S. history at (hat time. W ith less than a week before the march, a mood o f near terror para lyzed white neighborhoods in the District o f Columbia. Civic leaders in this still segregated city warned of bloody racial violience in the streets. Barely seventy-two hours before the march, Roosevelt agreed to com promise. The president signed Exec utive Order 8802 which prohibited racial discrimination in (he hiring policies o f factories which held de fense contracts. Roosevelt also created the President’s Committee on Fair Employment Practices to in vestigate violations in private indus tries affected by the executive order. In turn. Randolph called o ff the march. Historians will continue to debate whether the Negro M arch on Washington should have been held. Conversely, the Negro March on Washington Movement sparked a new level o f black resistance and black organizing which touched every level o f the Afro-Am erican community throughout W orld W ar II. For instance, the N A A C P experi enced a new wave o f recruits among the black working class after it pub licly endorsed for the march. From 50,600 members and 353 branches in 1940, the N A A C P grew to almost 450,000 members and 1,073 branches in six years. The March on Washington organization continued to exist after 1941, challenging the racist policies o f Roosevelt. A series of new political formations oppos ing Jim Crow were born during these years. The vision and courage o f Dr. M artin Luther King is a prime factor in mobilizing millions of Americans against Reaganism, racism, and the dangers of nuclear war. Bui as we build for the future, let us not forget A. Philip Randolph's first March on Washington, his leadership, and that early contribu tion to the struggle for freedom. CHAD (C ontinuedfrom Page I, Column 6j other U.S. officials resulted in a search for assassins thought to be attempting to smuggle themselves and their missiles into the U .S .; the U.S. deployed A W A C S to Egypt last year to watch for a rumored Libyan attack on Sudan On August 4th — in the midst of the Chad conflict — Reagan de clared thai the G u lf o f Sidra, which Libya claims as its territorial waters, is "international waters" and that the U.S. Navy will use the gulf for maneuvers. This announcement came hours afier Libya had notified ihe U.S. that it will resist the entry o f the "Eisenhower" (which was maneuvering 150 miles o ff the coast) into the gulf. On numerous occasions, Khadafi has said that the gulf "contains our factories, our in dustries and our petroleum ports and anyone who peneiraies it de dares war on the people o f L ib y a ." The Soviet Union has demanded lhat ihe U .S ., France and othei narions cease (heir intervention i the internal affairs o f Chad an. their provocations against Libya The USSR denounced the involve ment o f airplanes and mercenaries of the U.S. and France and the U.S. propaganda campaign against Libya, saying, " it is evident that they are looking for a pretext for an armed confrotation." The news agency TASS continued that Ihe U.S. and France seek to reestablish domination over the African nations, to restrict their sovereignty and to deprive them o f self-determi nation.