Page 4 Portland Observer, September 7,1983
I
EDITORIAL/OPINION
Help Indians save Comumbia
While anti-nuke and environmental groups
are waging a campaign against government
plans to expand production o f plutonium at the
Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Eastern
Washington, the Yakima Indian Nation has
tackled the U.S. Department of Energy’s (D O E )
hopes to designate Hanford as a permanent de
pository for up to 70,000 metric tons o f nuclear
waste.
D O E has postponed its plan to sink a test
shaft in 1983, the first step in the search for the
nation’s first permanent repository for commer
cial waste. The Yakima Nation and the
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission
requested the delay because the drilling violates
the Nuclear Waste Act o f 1982; it could lead to a
premature choice of Hanford, D O E ’s pet candi
date for the site; and a waste dump could ad
versely affect Columbia River salmon, steelhead
and other life in (he area. The site is only 13
miles from the Columbia River.
The 570-square-mile site would be a politically
expedient choice because it is federally owned
and has a history o f use as a nuclear site. The
Indian groups say the selection must be made
not on political expediency but on the area’s
geologic potential for a safe site, groundwater
hydrology and protection o f the river.
The Yakima Nation has successfully petitioned
for designation as an “ affected Indian tribe”
and the Umatilla tribe’s application is pending.
This gives them the right to information, consul
tation and financial assistance to enable them to
participate in carrying out the act.
Before drilling, D O E must complete selection
criterion guidelines and provide environmental
assessments. Substantial public involvement is
also required. A ll o f this is what D O E attempted
to avoid.
The Columbia River also flows past Portland
and is a vital element in the economic life o f the
city and o f the state o f Oregon. The people o f
Oregon need to join with the Indian tribes in re
quiring that the regulations are followed, that
the necessary research is done and done proper
ly, and that information is provided.
Attention to the protection o f the Columbia
and its surroundings will insure that the H an
ford site is rejected.
U.S. children need medical care
Six million children in the United States are
denied medical care because states arc allowed to
set their own guidelines and eligibility standards
for Medicare or to reject the program altogether.
a
Thirty states, including Oregon, exclude chil
dren of two-parent families from Medicare. In
29 states the income cut-off line is 50 percent of
the federal poverty level. In 19 states, women
who arc pregnant for the first time are not eligi
ble until after birth. About 330,000 pregnant
women from low-income families are not eligi
ble for Medicare and many receive no or inade
quate prenatal care.
The number o f children living in poverty rose
from 15 percent in 1970 to 22 percent in 1982. In
1982, 13.5 million children lived in families with
incomes below the poverty line. At the same
time the number o f children covered by M edi
care dropped from 10.2 million in 1979 to 8
million in 1982.
President Reagan recently discovered that
there are hungry people in the U .S.; he should
now learn that babies are dying for lack of
medical care. The push is on for a greatly ex
panded military budget and new tools o f war.
Just a few cost overruns could provide basic
medical care for the nation’s children.
Letters to the Editor
Prostitution law said irresponsible
To th a Editor:
Portland City Council unani
mously passed an irresponsible ordi
nance on July 13. 1983, mandating
jail sentences for prostitutes, despite
extensive testimony proving that
legal suppression o f prostitution re
sults in greater criminal involvement
and more violence and V .D . for
both prostitutes and the community.
Since prostitution is the result o f
women's second class economic and
social status in society, this ordi
nance, by attacking the prostitute,
encourages the growth o f prostitu
tion. T o punish the prostitute for a
situation imposed on her is hypo
critical and immoral. I am for the le
galization o f prostitution as the only
humane solution and greatly appre
ciated the 8/31 Oregonian article
exploring this option.
A recent series o f articles on pros
titution in the August 21-23 Ore-
to m an presented the viewpoint that
•At Mitt >
til
O regon
Newv.pjper
Publishers
AtSOr '.ihon
legalization oppresses prostitutes,
and that decriminalization is the so
lution. Nevada's system is used as
an example o f legalization's effects.
The conditions in Nevada are very
oppressive, and I believe, illegal and
unconstitutional, but they are the
results o f decriminalization and not
legalization. Nevada has no laws
making prostitution illegal, but also
no laws legalizi tg it. In such an un
protected situation a whole series o f
practices that grossly restrict the
lives and rights o f prostitutes are
being enforced by local law agencies.
1 believe legalization is necessary
to improve the status o f prostitutes
because it gives the prostitute an ac
tive role, a voice and a weapon. De
criminalization simply leaves her at
the mercy o f the status quo o f a
sexist and racist society and criminal
justice system. Alternative laws
against loitering and drugs could be
used to harass her under decriminal-
ization. There can be no hope that ■
Monzuzn o f Jew in an intensely hostile
system can protect the prostitute, as
is shown by Nevada's system.
Legalization recognizes that the
prostitute must fight back and gives
her a legal base on which to fight for
protective
legislation,
overtime
laws, wage and hour laws, rights to
protection against harassment by
police, johns or pimps, protection
under the N L R B , etc.
In order to end prostitution, the
U .S . government must reverse its
status as the most backward o f in
dustrialized nations on human
services programs, and provide job
training, education, quality child
care, health care, employment and
truly adequate wages for all the dis
enfranchised. U n til then, I believe
the prostitute's best chance for pro
tection and survival is legalization.
/V
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Mw%»ae«a
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.S ta te .
by Dr. M anning M arable. "F ro m the Grassroots' '
I t ’s now all but official. As o f this
writing, Jesse Jackson will probably
announce his candidacy for the
presidency before the end o f this
month.
Ivanhoe Donaldson, a veteran o r
ganizer o f the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Comm ittee and top
aide to Washington, D .C . mayor
M arion Barry, will lead the cam
paign. Already a number o f major
Black political leaders and elected
officials have given private assur
ances o f support to Jesse’s cam
paign, including Newark mayor
Kenneth O ibton and G ary, Indiana
mayor Richard Hatcher. M any re
spected members o f the Congres
sional Black Caucus, including John
Conyers (D -M ichigan), G u i Savage
(D -Illin ois), and Ronald V . DeUums
(D -C alifo rn ia) will either aggressive
ly support Jackson, or out o f politi
cal solidarity, at least will remain
neutral.
There are exceptions, to be sure.
Detroit's Coleman Young has al
ready committed himself to W alter
Mondaie. But it’s clear that few
major Black elected officials can a f
ford to denounce Jackson, unless
they have Coleman Young’s type o f
raw political power and a strong
patronage
machine,
Andrew
Young, once firm ly behind M o n
dale, has suddenly acquired cold
feet, and is trying to placate M o n
dale and Jackson supporters simul
taneously.
The sudden groundswell o f sup
port for Jesse Jackson's campaign
for the W hite House should not be
interpreted as general Black approv
al o f Jesse per se. It is no secret that
Joe Lowery o f the Southern Chris
tian Leadership Conference and
Coretta Scott King share no great
love for the charismatic “ Country
Preacher." For years, Black nation
alists, labor union leaders, and
N A A C P activists have privately
criticized Jackson's tendency to pos
-Z ip
ture, his flagrant inability to cany
out hard organizational tasks, his
flights into florid and often illogical
rhetoric.
W hat has changed has been the
overall national political climate
since the victory o f H arold Wash
ington in Chicago, and the failure o f
most Black middle class leaders to
comprehend the growth o f political
militancy and independence across
the Black community. The Congres
sional Black Caucus largely ignored
the repeated calls for a Black chal
lenge inside the Democratic Party
primaries. Now it is too late for any
other political spokesperson, chiefly
someone o f the national stature o f a
Parren M itchell or Ron DeUums, to
make the run. In short, Jesse was
smart enough to move while nearly
everyone else went to sleep. For
better or worse, Jackson is the only
candidate to emerge from the ranks.
W hat must we do? We have no
choice except Io support the Jack-
son f o r President campaign. There
are at least three solid reasons why
Jesse must be supported in 1984:
(1) Neither o f the two likely
Democratic Party nominees in 1984,
John Glenn and M ondale, will ne
gotiate with the Black and national
minority communities unless they
are absolutely forced to do so. The
Jackson effort could become the de
cisive “ balance o f power'* at next
year's San Francisco Convention,
given that the Southern candidates
will eventually get behind Glenn,
and the white liberals will support
Mondale.
Political
negotiations
must take place from a posture o f
strength, not weakness. Ben Hooks
and Coleman Young ought to
reread MachiavelU’s “ The Prince.”
(2) Jackson's campaign, like that
o f Harold Washington, will bring
thousands o f new Black voters to
the polls. This should help to estab
lish a stronger electoral base to
defeat the Reaganites in the Senate
and House races in 1984, plus create
a more activist-oriented, politically
involved Black electorate. The cam
paign would be a long-needed Black
revolt inside the Democratic Party,
just as Harold's campaign was the
vehicle for us to attack the Daley-
Byrne regime in Chicago.
(3) By running Jesse in 1984, we
are building Black political power
for the 1988 contest. Jackson
cannot win the nomination, to be
sure — but neither can Reuben
Askew o f Florida or Alan Cranston
o f California — and no one asks
whether these white candidates have
the "rig h t” to run for office. L et’s
suppose a Parren Mitcheii or Julian
Bond ran four years hence. Their
political credentials are equal, i f not
superior, to any white candidate
now on the scene. W e have to devel
op a political infrastructure which
unites Black, Latino, peace, envi
ronmentalist, feminist and labor
voters, in order to contest for elec
toral power.
W hat about the six white males
currently contending for the Demo
cratic Party’s nomination? M o n
dale, Glenn and Company —
known in some circles as the “ Somi-
nex Six” — have few if any political
attributes other than their ego-driven
desires to reside in the W hite House.
The most progressive candidate
among the sorry lot, Cranston, has
no visible support among Blacks,
most Latinos, and labor.
I f we continue to believe that a
bland white male with moderate to
conservative political credentials
must lead the nation, we condemn
ourselves to a life o f political servi
tude, dominated by the corpora
tions and the elites which run both
major parties. It's time to bring the
Freedom Movement into the center
o f the electoral process. Every pro
test march begins with the first step.
The time for taking that step is now.
BUF protests South Africans' visit
(Continued fro m page 3 col. 3)
Adrienne Weller
Portland Observer
Subscriptions 1 ,5 00 per year In the Tri County area
Run, Jesse, Run
meeting with O D O T to talk about
technical matters in regards to how
you fund highways. It was a stan
dard form request."
Rick Gustafson, Executive Officer
o f M E T R O , said M E T R O was in
volved because “ the interest o f the
South A frica officials was to see
how metropolitan transportation
problems are handled. These gentle
men went to several different states
to see how transportation problems
were handled." Gustafson said at
no time did the racial policies of
South A frica ever come up. “ W e
didn't talk about South Africa. W e
talked about M E T R O and transpor
tation planning in the Portland
area ."
Vicky Rocker, the Public In fo r
mation O fficial from the Oregon
Department o f Transportation, said
"T h e y were interested in how we get
money to finance our projects and
how we set priorities. They came to
our office end talked with our plan
ners. They wanted to know where
and how we used our tax money.
They really wanted to know how we
did all the work that needs to be
done with the limited monies that
were available. W e treated them the
way we treat any other government
person that comes over here and
they come on a regular basis."
Herndon said he viewed those re
sponses as excuses. " A n y time an
official in this state who occupies an
office paid for by tax dollars turns
around and hosts a representative
from the government o f South
A frica, that shows that they have no
concern for the millions o f Black
people who suffer daily. The money
that these representatives has comes
directly from the blood that is ex
tracted from Black people. It is one
o f the worst countries in the world
and their system o f racial segrega
tion is the only one in the w o rld ."
Herndon also said he believes the
responses given were "w eak and
tinted with racism ."
Paul Bay from T ri-M e t said he
understood how the courtesy which
was requested from their funding
source, the Federal Highway A d
ministration, could be construed as
insensitive. "B u t all I did was to
give them a little pamphlet that we
hand out by the thousands — and
that was i l l "
Herndon concluded his remarks
by stating, “ Anything that a repre
sentative from South A frica talks
about is going to be harm ful for
Black people. The inform ation re
quested by these two representatives
will enable that country to come up
with a better way to exploit Black
people in South A frica. Here you
have white local officials talking
with white representatives from a
country whose entire aim is to ex
ploit Black people. It almost ap
pears as if it was a meeting between
a Ku Klux Kian member and latent
Ku Klux Kian sympathizers."
Free lunch policy
Revised eligibility guidelines for
free and reduced-price meals for the
1983-84 school year will affect stu
dents in Portland Public Schools.
Prices for school lunches w ill be
90 cents in elementary schools, SI in
high schools. The price for break
fast, available at most schools, will
be 60 cents.
Qualifying students will receive
these meals without charge or for
the reduced price o f 40 cents for
lunch and 30 cents for breakfast.
Application forms, with a letter
to all parents or guardians, will be
sent to all student homes the first
week of school. The forms alio will
be available at school offices.
Applications may be submitted at
any time during the year.
Requests for an appeal hearing
may be sent to Robert L . Honson,
director o f food services, P .O . Box
3107. Portland. O R 97208. Phoned
requests for appeals should be d i
rected to Honson at 249-2000. Ext.
393.