Page 4 Portland Observer, April 25, 1984
Black power
EDITORIAL/OPINION
T»gO’ S
New voters change politics
Opposition has surfaced to the recent practice
o f registering new voters at government social
service agencies across the nation. Local officials
claim the registration process disrupts regular
business at hospitals, Y W C A ’s, day-care centers
and disabled facilities: but, perhaps their op
position is due to figures showing unregistered
persons are far more likely to identify with the
Democratic party than with the Republicans.
In a recent New York Times-CBS News poll,
72 percent o f unregistered Blacks said they ten
ded to identify with the Democrats, versus 44
percent o f unregistered whites polled.
Officials o f both parties admit voter
registration drives could decide the presidential
election this year. And Jesse Jackson’s strong
showing in both New York C ity and
Philadelphia can be partially attributed to
massive voter registration w o rk.
Research also shows the most common
profile, among unregistered persons consists o f
being young, low-income and with little or no
college education; and, once registered, usually
show up to vote.
Here in Oregon, both the Jackson campaign
and the Human Service Employees Registration
and Voter Education campaign are helping to
increase the ranks o f new votes. Their efforts
could change the outcome o f Oregon’s May
15th primary.
reak cycle not dancing
As the sunset o f the 1983-84 school year
slowly approaches, the under education o f A fro-
American and low-income students continues.
Who is responsible for this death at an early
age? We all arc!
Parents who were casualties o f a school
system which scattered their desires and am
bitions a decade ago in schools outside their
neighborhoods are creating a cycle o f
educational genocide by assuming the school
system w ill educate their children.
Teachers say they are bombarded with be
havioral problems which evaporate the ex
pectations o f Black and low-income students to
learn. They are feeding the cycle with their
inability to maintain a challenging educational
environment for those students who are at grade
level vs. those students who are struggling two or
three grades behind.
Portland Public School administrators whose
hands arc tied by the unions arc afraid to tackle
the problem aggressively or creatively. Business
as usual is bankrupting the future o f our
children.
It’s frightening, when the minds o f our future
Malcolms, Martins and Mary McLeod Bethunes
will never be given the chance to be cultivated
and grow.
Parents should never depend on a school
system, which under-educated them, to educate
their children. D on't give your future to the
system. There are libraries, resources and parent
ing skills classes available for the asking.
Teachers need to rely on other sources o f in
formation and forget the social-economic “ boo
boo” which says poor children can’ t learn
because their environment is poor. Children w ill
learn if you expect them to learn.
Administrators need to break free Irom the
handcuffs o f unions which discourage merit
pay and creative teaching.
Community leaders should develop after-
school institutions in homes and churches that
w ill teach discipline, basic skills and Black
history. We should not allow the mass media in
Portland to portray the only thing Black stu
dents are doing as break dancing.
These simple steps, if implemented soon, w ill
alter the waste o f minds in Portland. Survival in
the year 2000 w ill depend more on how our
children use their minds and less on dancing,
dressing or talking fast. Our grandchildren are
dependm« on us, in 1984, to break the under
education cycle.
Four vie for state senate seat, Dist. 8
(C ontinuedfrom page t)
talked to gave him one. No one can
pin bad ratings on an individual that
no longer works here."
Bill McCoy
( ( 'onlinuedfrom page I. column 3/
districts. I couldn't get that over
because
everybody
was
too
em otionally
involved,"
he ex
plained.
In 1981, his opposition to the
lines that were drawn led to more
than a dozen people picketing his
home in St. Johns.
“ If District 18 had been carved
out years ago, when people were
conscious of people gerrymandering
and making fools out of them, then
N A A C P would have brought a
suit," he added.
When asked if his stand tinted his
appeal lo voters in District 18 who
supported the lines (hat were drawn,
M cCoy replied, "Those people
would not have supported me in the
first place.'*
M cCoy also supports the original
school bussing plan which bussed
Hlack children from their neigh
borhood schools. Various segments
of the Black and white communities
joined forces against scattering
children from their neighborhood
schools.
He said, " I was not opposed to
bussing and I went around and
talked with other parents who were
not opposed to bussing.'*
In August, I98J, the Willamette
Week first came out and I had a little
problem with the editor o f the
paper People thought (hat I should
do something against another per
son of color. I goi quite emotional
that anyone would suggest th a t."
M cC oy declined to elaborate on
that point, but Willamette Week's
editor, M ark Zusman said, “ He got
a poor rating because people we
• MHt •
In the legislature, M cCoy was in
favor of having a commission of all
people o f color rather than a
separate commission
for
each
group.
“ The Indian Commission had
money I felt ought to be shared. But
everyone wanted their own. The In
dian Commission was set up with
federal dollars, (he Black C om
mission got one dollar and the
Hispanic Commission got one
d o llar."
In the grassroot communities,
many stated M cCoy was an " in
visible Senator". “ That might be
in someone's mind, but it is not
tru e," he replied.
The state senate seat race is full of
contrasts. The incumbent is facing op
position from a liberal, a conser
vative
and
secretary
for
the
Democratic house in District 17.
Bill Stevenson
(Continued fro m page I. column 4)
will be one o f conciliatory. "Y o u
don't let anyone take over the
show— union, labor or even govern
ment. What we have to do is
develop bridges between labor,
management and government."
Stevenson wants to repeal the
unitary tax. “ It was adopted in
187$. It was keeping jobs out of
Oregon and is inequitable. Oregon
lost a Japanese concern to North
Carolina and it was due to that tax.
We have to put ourselves in a com
petitive advantage."
He also wants the legislature to
pul the sales tax, the lottery and in
come tax revisions on the ballot.
“ Let Oregonians decide how they
want to pay for their government.”
Stevenson has been the bunt of
criticism that he was recruited to run
by a political action group. " N o one
has ever asked me to file. I stood up
on my own. I'm just getting a lot of
help from people who share my
view. But I'm learning on the door
steps of residents in District 8. They
are fed up "
He is not well known in the
progressive segments o f the Black
community. W ill he feel uncomfor
table dealing with confrontational
organizations?
" N o ! The Black United Front has
been able to accomplish quite a bit.
Their tactics are o f their own
choosing. I would welcome input
either before or after the election."
Stevenson represents a serious
challenge to incumbent Bill McCoy.
He is thoughtful, intelligent and soft
spoken. And he has placed his
record as labor commissioner as an
example to the rainbow coalition of
colors and concerns in District 8.
Observer
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Democratic party lacks democracy
by Dr. M anning M arable
"F ro m The Grassroots"
As a presidential candidate,
Jackson has demonstrated that the
Black electorate as a whole is clearly
more progressive on policy issues
than most white voters, and is
several light years ahead of the two
remaining Democratic aspirants,
W alter Mondale and Gary H art.
Clearly desperate for victory. M o n
dale attacks Hart simultaneously
from the left and the right, stating
that he favors more social programs
than the Colorado senator, but (hen
assailing him for being “ weak” and
naive about the Communists. H a rt,
the candidate o f the white upper-
middle class, tries to blur his anti
labor positions through slick adver
tisements and outright lies.
Ironically, H art's success as a
candidate would not have been
possible without Jackson, who first
shattered Mondale's crucial support
within the Black electorate. As
author A m iri Baraka states, " H a rt
is like Elvis Presley, who got rich as
a 'cover* for Black blues artists.
Once a Black artist made a hit record,
the record industry would get a
white singer to make the same tune
for the ‘white m arket,’ keeping the
music-listening public segregated,
just as in the rest o f society."
Neoliberal G ary Hart raced to
public
prominence
only
when
Jackson
had
garnered
media
coverage away from Mondale.
Jackson's race clearly illustrated
the lack o f democracy within the
Democratic party and within the
American
political
system.
In
Mississippi,
Jackson
trounced
Mondale and H art, winning almost
half o f the votes in the March 17th
caucuses. But because o f the state’s
regressive caucus rules, Jackson and
M ondale received roughly the same
number of delegates. In Illinois,
Jackson won a fifth of the statewide
vote, but obtained no delegates. In
Arkansas,
Mondale
narrowly
A lfred I.. Henderson, Editor/Publisher
A l Williams, Advertising Manager
trounced.
Finally, something must lie noted
about the internal contradictions
within the campaign which have
modified if not entirely negated its
progressive potential. Most o f the
principal advisers in the cam
p aig n -in c lu d in g M ayor Richard
Hatcher o f G ary, Indiana, national
campaign director Arnold Pinck
ney, Congressman Walter Faunt-
roy,
New
York
businessman
Eugene
Jackson,
and
former
M anhattan borough president Per-
cey Sutton— are moderates within
the Black political spectrum. Other
than New York State Assemblyman
Al Vann of Brooklyn and C alifornia
Assemblywoman Maxine Waters,
most o f Jackson's aides have tried
to keep the mobilization within (he
safe boundaries o f status quo
politics. Most have no desire to
"b u rn their bridges” with the M o n
dale forces, since their concep
tualization of Jackson's campaign is
clouded by their own parochial am
bitions. Thus, when Jackson was
debating whether to accept an in
vitation to (ravel to Nicaragua in
February,
his
advisors
over
whelmingly urged him not to go.
Pinckney finally had to fly to New
Hampshire to insist that Jackson had
to stay home.
Despite these moderating factors,
the Jackson campaign has become
something larger than the candidate
himself. It represents a new stage of
political history which transcends
the limitations o f the civil rights and
desegregation era. N o longer will
any white Democratic presidential
candidate take the Black electorate
for granted. N o genuine coalitions
across racial barriers can occur
unless they are forged on the basis
o f equality: and the Jackson cam
paign has created the terms for such
coalitions.
Letters to the Editor
Carter clarification
T o the Editor:
Your news article on Margaret
Carter was fair and balanced
However, I would like to add a few
points o f clarification about the so-
called "inexperience" o f Margaret
Carter's campaign committee.
The Margaret Carter campaign
has Rose Gangle and Kent Ford,
two experienced former candidates
for District 18 state representative
on staff and the endorsement o f two
others, Bob Boyer and Charles
Stoudamire. N o other candidate for
the District 18 office. Democrat or
Republican, has any. They also
engineered the upset o f Harold
r
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Williams at the community forum in
NovemEier, a forum which he was
heavily favored to win. Margaret
has the endorsement of unions,
women’s groups and (he business
community. In addition, she is the
only candidate endorsed by the local
Jesse Jackson Coalition.
M ay 27th at the Multnom ah
County
Primary
Endorsement
meeting, it was widely speculated
that Ed Leek would win the party
precinct
endorsement.
Margaret
Carter beat Ed Leek two to one.
Margaret's campaign slogan, " A
candidate for all the people,” has
been able to do just that, focus on
the entire District 18 community,
Portland’s largest black-owned newspaper.
PORTLAND OBSERVER
News fo r and about
you.
9
not just a narrow segment. Our staff
is all volunteer. Sure, some o f us are
new, but while others areTocused on
our political "inexperience", we
just keep on going about our
business registering voters (in one
day alone, over 100), canvassing,
and telling District 18 residents
about Margaret C arter— the best
candidate in the field!
Kenneth A d air
The Observer welcomes Letters to
the Editor. Letters should be short,
and must contain the writer's name
and address (addresses are not p rin t
ed) The Observer reserves the right
to edit f o r length.
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N atio n a l A d v a rtla ln g R ap raaantatlva
A m a lg a m a te d Publiahara Inc
N a w York
defeated
Jackson
in
statewide
caucuses, M i l votes to 6011, while
Hart ran a poor third. But Mondale
was given 20 delegates,
Hart
received 9, and Jackson only six. In
South Carolina, white Democrats
blocked efforts to endorse Jackson
as their “ favorite-son” presidential
candidate. One frustrated Jackson
supporter. Clarendon County party
chairman Billy Fleming, told the
press. “ I f Jesse Jackson were a
white man, this would not be hap
pening."
Even
the
House
Democratic Study G roup, meeting
after the New Hampshire primary,
drafted a joint fund-raising letter to
aid House candidates with M o n
dale’s and H a rt’s signatures. After
mailing 60,000 letters, someone
finally noticed that Jackson was still
in the race, and hadn’t been invited
to sign! Between caucus gerryman
dering and repeated snubs from
national Democratic officials, the
Jackson campaign represents a
genuine challenge to democratize
the Democratic party.
The Jackson race demonstrates
the failure o f leadership within the
national Black community, and the
ineptitude o f the m ajority o f its elec
ted officials to express the interests
o f Blacks.
In
Alabam a,
Bir
mingham’s
influential
mayor,
Richard Arrington, and Joe Reed,
chairman of the all-Black Alabama
Democratic
Conference,
urged
Blacks to “ be realistic" and not to
"th ro w their votes aw a y." A
m ajority of Alabama Blacks still
voted for Jackson. In Georgia,
Atlanta mayor Andrew Young and
Coretta Scott King championed
M ondale’s credentials— but over
two-thirds o f the Black electorate
went with Jackson. In Illinois, 79
percent o f Afro-A m erican voters
supported Jackson. The “ lesser-of-
two-evils” line offered by Black
Mondale proponents was effectively
Man to P o la n d Uhservet
Box 3137
N a n i» -______ _____________________
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P ortland O regon 97208
C i t y ________________________S tate.
Z i p _______
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