Page 4 Portland Observer, October 19,1963_________________________
EDITORIAL/OPINION
Make his dream a reality
The U.S. Senate has joined the House in vot
ing for a holiday to honor Dr. M artin Luther
King, Jr. A ll that remains is for Ronald Reagan
to sign, and this being a pre-election year, he has
indicated that he will.
The credit goes to Rep. John Conyers and
other members of the Congressional Black Cau
cus who have submitted the bill year after year
without losing the hope that someday their col
leagues would join them.
This is not only the first U.S. holiday to honor
a Black man. It is also the first holiday to honor
a man who struggled to bring an end to racism
and poverty at home, to imperialism and war
abroad. It is the first holiday to honor a man
who was harassed, threatened and perhaps even
killed by agencies o f his own government.
Although he is recognized as a hero now by
many Americans o f all political stripes, while he
lived King was attacked by officials of all levels
of local and national government. Some o f
those who voted for the King holiday today were
among those who fought him and what he stood
for hardest. Those who now understand and ac
cept the challenges of King's life and death,
while they honor him, should continue his strug
gle. The Senators who voted today are in a
prime position to make many elements of his
dream a reality.
EEOC role still essential
The General Motors Corporation, the na
tion’s largest automobile manufacturer, has
signed a settlement in a IO-year-old complaint of
racial discrimination brought by the Equal Em
ployment Opportunities Commission.
The agreement sets numerical goals, includes
a $15 million scholarship fund, earmarks $8.9
million for training of minorities and women for
white-collar jobs, and sets aside $4 million for
back pay and relief to resolve individual discrim
ination complaints. The total package will cost
G M $42 million, the nation's largest monetary
settlement.
While the EEO C was negotiating this E E O C ’s
own life is in danger. President Reagan has di
minished the Commission’s role by replacing its
members with his own appointees— persons who
do not endorse affirmative/equal opportunity
principles. Congress has attempted to intervene
by creating new positions so Reagan can keep
his appointees and former Commissioners can
remain. If Reagan does not accept, Congress has
threatened to end the Commission’s funding.
The value of a commission— free of political
interference— can be seen in the G M settlement.
Press aids CIA covert wars
The C IA and its allies have stepped up their
war against Nicaragua since September, when
CIA-owned airplanes bombed the airport at
Managua. Mercenaries and ex-Somoza national
guardsmen, world-renowned for their brutal
murder and torture during the 5O-year Somoza
dictatorship, are stepping up their war against
Nicaragua.
In recent weeks the Somocista ’’contras’’— re
cruited. trained, supplied and armed with U.S.
lax dollars— have increased their raids across the
borders ol Honduras and Costa Rica, destroy
ing villages, roads, bridges, communications
and oil storage sites, and killing the peasants and
villagers. This, together with a U.S. economic
blockade, is crippling the ability of the Nicara
guan government to provide for its people. This
in turn— and its build-up of arms for defense—
is used as reason for the U.S. attack.
Why are the citizens and the taxpayers of the
U.S. sitting idly by while our government wages
war against innocent people?
Could be the slander campaign in the U.S.
press. The press refers to the Nicaraguan gov
ernment as the Sandinistas— never referring to it
as a legitimate government. The Sandinista Lib
eration Front is referred to as ’’leftist,” “ com
munist,” and "M arxist,’’ while the mercenaries
attempting to overthrow the government are
called "anti-communist.” The U.S. govern
Williams
( l ontmued fro m />age I col. ) l
more Black reporters hired ai The
Oregonian.”
Prior io coming to City H all, W il
liam* covered the I egislature during
it* off-season. ’ ’ O regon has some
really talented legislators, especi illy
from Portland But the Legislature
reflects the state, w hich is ru ra l,
small town. The attitude of some of
the legislators is very provencial and
parochial In some cases it has hurt
the concerns of Portland, which is
more urban and cosmopolitan
As fo r the p olitics behind C ity
H a ll. W illia m s said. “ A t times I
have been amazed at some o f their
reasons fo r doing things the way
they’ ve done them. A lot o f issues
have been decided on personality.
This is a problem with government
in general Sometimes they make de
cisions based on fa c t* and other
tim e* they are based on how they
felt when they got up in the m orn
Ill
•• MW»
Oregon
Nrvs .pjper
Publishers
Association
ment and the press treat the two sides as if
they were equals, when in reality one side is the
government (won from the Somoza dictatorship
through the sacrifice o f 50,000 lives), and the
other is traitors.
The press also persists in portraying Nicara
gua as a Marxist state controlled by the Sandinis
ta party and directed by Cuba and the U.S.S.R.
Nicaragua has and plans to retain a mixed econ
omy— with both public and private enterprise.
Nicaragua has eleven functioning parties— all
protected by law— which participate in the na
tional congress along with representatives of all
segments of the population. The nation is devel
oping a new constitution and system of elec
tions, with the election to be held in 1985.
Little can be found in the press about the
great strides Nicaragua has made— in spite of
U.S. opposition— in education, medical care,
agrarian reform, and including the people in de
cision-making.
Perhaps this is why the American people are
willing to participate in the murder of thousands
of people— mostly poor peasants— who only
want to live in peace and control their own des
tiny.
We do have to question the motives and the
ethics of the media who are willing to spread lies
over and over again.
ing.”
W illia m s kept her ear to the
ground and was able to predict
Charles Jordan’s removal as Police
Com m issioner. " T h e re were some
people in the Black community who
thought they had gotten a co m m it
ment out o f Ivan cie that Jordan
would continue >s Police C om m is
sioner. T hat was a c o n flic t w ith
know facts. Ivancie was very close
to the Police Union, who never hid
the fact that they did not like Jordan
as a Commissioner. The scandal in
the police dep artm en t and the
'possum incident gave Ivan cie a
convenient reason to rem ove Jo r
dan.”
Becaues o f this and a few other
victories, W illiams said she believed
the Police Association is sutrounded
by a perception o f power. “ I f you
go back and look at the record they
did not support M ike Lindberg,.Neil
Goldschmidt and a number o f can
didates who won over their o bjec
tions. Their biggest defeat was mea
sure SI which was the measure to
prevent the Police A u d itin g C o m
mittee.”
L in d a W illia m s w ill go down in
the history o f A fro -A m e ric a n s in
P o rtla n d as a re p o rte r w ho de
veloped a grassroot connection with
the community. A n example o f this
connection was an editorial (Febru
ary 23, 1983) exposing police harass
ment o f Black males who are
stopped and detained while police
o ffic e rs exhaust th eir com puter
banks looking for something to ar
rest them for.
" T h e main reason I wrote about
him ( C l i f f W a lk e r) is th at he was
among many Black males w ith the
same c o m p la in t. S econdly, there
was something on the record I could
use other than his w o rd ."
Her editorial stated that the police
officers' determination o f a "suspi
cious person” is loo often based on
rae. Her research validated the com
plaint and as a staff w riter for The
O regonian the vio latio n o f in d iv i
dual rights was exposed to the entire
state.
,
Portland Observer
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P O R T L A N D , O H —Oregon C on
gressmen
Le*
AuCoin
warned
Friday that the United State* faces a
tightening "nuclear noose" world
wide and stalemate in Central
America because it is trying to apply
military force where it w on't work.
Speaking to the City Club of
Portland, A uCoin said the United
States "obviously need* adequate
military strength, or there w ill be no
negotiations" to control nuclear
arm*. “ W e have that strength. In
real-world combat capability, we
and our allies are the strongest pow
er on earth.”
But he said while western military
equipment and tactics are superior
to those o f the Soviet Union, the
West remain* insecure, with the
“ noose o f nuclear war growing ever
tighter,” because it ha* misused it*
military force in an attempt to solve
problems around the world.
As an example o f faulty strategic
thinking, A uCoin cited the idea o f a
nuclear weapons build-down, cur
rently being promoted in Washing
ton, which he said will not help de
terrence or reduce the risk o f nu
clear war.
Under the builddown concept,
two older strategic missile* would be
dismantled by the United State* and
the Soviet Union for each new mis
283 2486
M atronal A d vertising R ep resentative
A m a lg a m a te d Publishers Inc
N e w York
sile deployed AuCoin said that be
cause o f advance* in technology,
new classes o f weapons would be
faster, more accurate and more leth
al than the one* they replace.
M aking a distinction between
sheer number* and destructive capa
bility, AuCoin said, "one o f the
best policies we can make is quali
ta tiv e arms control, because it’s in
the qualities o f new weapon* that
the danger lies," especially in such
"quick-paralyzing,
first-strike”
weapon* as the M X Missile.
The great strength o f the nuclear
weapons freeze, which passed the
House o f Representatives earlier
this year, said A uC oin, is that it
"w ould stop these new technolo
gies. They have to be flight-tested
before any war-planner would have
enough confidence to use them.
This testing can’t be hidden, and the
freeze would prohibit it .”
AuCoin added that the freeze is
not based on trusting the Soviet*.
" I f it were, no rational American
could support it. It ban* only what
is verifiable," he said, "and flight
testing o f ballistic missiles is very
easy to verify.”
M ilitary force is being misapplied
not only in arms control strategy,
but in El Salvador, AuCoin said,
where U.S. m ilitary aid is being used
to "protect the status quo . .a gov
ernment power structure made up
o f, or dominated by, extreme right
wing elements with dose tie* to the
military who in any normal society
would be considered m afia-type hit
m en.”
Some 30,000 civilian non-combat
ants have been killed and mutilated
over the last three year* in El Salva
dor becuase they were suspected of
sympathizing
with
insurgents,
AuCoin said, and not one A rm y o f
ficial ha* been brought to trial.
"T here is a lim it to how long a
people will take such repression be
fore those governments are invari
ably toppled; when they are, the
countries that bankrolled those gov
ernment* are equally blamed— a
fact which create* diplomatic open
ings for our adversaries.”
A uCoin said now is the time for
the United S u te* to “ turn away
from a military strategy which em
boldens right wing elements in the
current government,” and to em
brace the approach called for by the
Contadora nation* and the Pope:
“ unconditional negotiation* among
all parties in the civil war, leading to
a coalition government o f national
reconciliation, with elections to fo l
lo w .”
Portland plans anti- missile rally
P O P T L A A D — Oregonian*
will
be protesting the planned U .S. de
ployment o f Cruise and Pershing II
missiles in Europe at a march and
rally to be held in Portland on Sat
urday, October 22.
Marchers will parade from the
South Park Blocks by Portland
State University, beginning at 10:00
a m ., to W aterfront, where various
nationally and locally known speak
ers will address the themes o f the
rally:
• No Cruise and Pershing missiles:
Stop first-strike weapons.
• Support the nuclear weapons
freeze campaign.
• Employment for peace, not de
ployment for war.
Grenada
Protests are being registered
throughout Europe, Canada and the
United States on October ¿2 to pro
test the deployment o f the Cruise
and Pershing I I missiles in Europe,
scheduled to begin in December.
Such deployment by the United
states would heighten tensions in
Europe, would increase the chance of
nuclear war, would initiate a new
round o f nuclear arms escalation on
both sides, and would seriously un
dermine the prospects o f achieving a
comprehensive and verifiable U .S .-
U .S .S .R . freeze on all nuclear weap
ons.
The march and rally are being or
ganized by a coalition o f peace and
religious groups throughout O re
gon, under the auspices o f the Peace
and Disarmament Com m ittee o f
Ecumenical Ministries o f Oregon.
Herb
Cawthorne,
Portland
school board member, w ill be mas
ter o f ceremonies o f the local rally.
(Continued fro m page I column 3/
controls 60 percent o f the nation’s
prise and to erase symbols o f colon
Grenada had no relations with
Cuba. Grenada refused, and accept
ed help from Cuba and a number of
other nations in building its new air
port.
Reagan has charged that the air
port, which was planned during the
colonial era but never constructed,
is really a landing strip for Cuban
and Soviet fighters. U ntil the airport
is completed, in March o f 1984,
tourists must travel from Barbados
or Trinidad, both o f which are com
petitors for the tourist dollar.
The New Jewel Movement is a
member o f the Socialist Internation
al, but Grenada does not have a so
cialist economy. Although there has
been a development of cooperatives
and unionization, with new rights
for workers, agriculture, the major
industries and commerce are in the
hands of private enterprise, which
economy.
Grenada is a member o f the B rit
ish Commonwealth and recognizes
ialism.
IÍSÍ‘ta f t'k.r-an
the Queen.
One o f the reasons for Bishop's
removal is believed to be his reluc
tance to nationalize private enter
The last news from Grenada prior
to Bishop's death indicated that the
option to retain his position and
share power was still open to
Bishop.
"Brown Beauty” ¡a reputed to be the name of the
horse Paul Revere rode when he warned the country
side of the approach of the British.
__ - c - ______
l U S t í t . . --------------------------------
- t' .S
“Vrr-idt.
- W - . .........................................
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Teepees and wigwams are not the same things. A
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while a wigwam is a hut or dome-shaped wooden
house.
We do not do business w ith South Africa
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AuCoin challenges deployment
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