Portland observer., May 16, 1984, Page 4, Image 4

Page 4 Portland Observer, May 16, 1984
EDITORIAL/OPINION
Congratulations!
The rainbow coalition shined brightly
throughout Portland’s local election. Although
Jesse Jackson did not garner enough votes for a
delegate, his candidacy inspired and influenced
the victory of Margaret Carter and Bud Clark.
The issues raised by Jackson entered local
debates, campaigns and action. The effects will
be felt long after November and the infrastruc­
ture organized by Carter and C lark’s campaign
will provide a catalyst for change in Oregon.
The masses of people cleaned themselves of
the dirt that was spread throughout the various
races. They voted on principles, with their hearts,
and most importantly, with their minds.
A true victory for the people of Portland. The
rainbow coalition has won.
lack families acquitted
The Center for the Study of Social Policy
recently concluded that the reasons for the rise
in Black female-headed households were not
social trends or welfare but the inability or reluc­
tance of employers to hire Black men. “ Without
jobs, Black men are unlikely to head families.”
The Black family was indicted by white
America by Daniel P. Moynihan who in 1965
said, “ the deterioration of the fabric of Negro
society is the deterioration of the Negro
fam ily.” Moynihan vindicated white America
for having any responsibility for the social op­
pression of Black people. He said the matriar­
chal structure (Black women and mothers)
emasculates the Black male.
Although the Moynihan theory has been
refuted many times, it is still used as a rationale
by mis-informed critics to interpret the crisis in
the Black family. What makes the Moynihan
report so detrimental to the survival of Black
people is that it is based on misinterpretation
and maneuvering of statistic, dialectic reasoning
and white mythology. It influences many
welfare programs, both public and private, and
the effects on the lives of Black children are far
reaching.
The social policy study stated what many in
the Black community have lived. Black men
have been unable to give their families the
economic foundation desirable for family
stability.
In 1982 , 54 percent o f all working-aged Black
men had jobs, while 78 percent o f all working-
aged white men were employed. In addition, 1.2
million Black men were unemployed, 1.8 million
had dropped out of the labor force, 186,000
were in prison and 925,000 were classified as
missing.
The Black family has become America’s
scapgoat. Blaming it for all our oppression is
like blaming an abandoned child for not being
wanted by its parents.
The Center for the Study o f Social Policy
ought to be commended for concluding, “ The
boom in Black families headed by women is
...pervasive and insidious discrimination.” They
called the shots as they are and not how others
want to see them.
The Uncivil Rights Commission
by Dr. Manning Marable
‘ ’From The Grassroots ‘ ’
Letters to the Editor
faith in human nature.
Faith restored
Cathy Siegner
To the Editor:
For those Portlanders whose faith
in human nature is flagging, or
perhaps, non-existent, I would like
to relate a recent experience:
Several purses, including mine,
were stolen M ay 6th, at a N .E . Port­
land nightspot. This is a distressing
event for anyone, but I was sad­
dened more by the dishonesty and
hostility exhibited by such an act
than I was by the missing personal
items.
After I had given up any op­
timistic thoughts o f getting anything
returned,
and
any
optimistic
thoughts about human nature, I was
pleasantly surprised by two d if­
ferent families who had found some
of the purse’s contents and went out
of their way to return them.
I want to thank the Evans family
of N .E . 19th Ave. and the M c­
M urray family o f N .E . 17th Ave.
for not only returning the items they
found, but for helping to restore my
Protest KKK
To th t Editor:
The recent acquittal o f six Ku
Klux Kian members and three Nazis
chilled me to the bone. W ith T V
cameras
as
witness,
they
assassinated five members o f the
Communist Workers Party at an
anti-Kian demonstration in Greens­
boro, North Carolina in 1979. And
now they're free, with a judicial
stamp of approval, to do it again.
D o we have two American Con­
stitutions— one for those who agree
with the government and one for
those who dont? Are the lives of lef­
tists and civil rights activists ex-
pedable in the name o f vigilante
patriotism?
The Kian and Nazis have one
agenda for communists, people
o f color, Jews, feminists, les-
bians/gays, trade unionists and
immigrants— cold-blooded annihi­
lation. There are over a hundred
years o f mass bloodshed in their
name to prove it. The federal court
acquittal o f the Greensboro m ur­
derers has given a green light to the
most notorious assassins in history.
Everyone has a democratic right
to march and demonstrate in protest
of social problems without fear of
being murdered. And everyone has
a right to justice in the courtroom.
W ho can sit by and discount the
obvious and ominous threat that the
Greensboro decision poses? W ho
cannot ask, will I be next? W ho has
not had enough o f the insanity of
the Kian and the Nazis? Object we
must, and object loudly and ac­
tively. I f they come for me in the
morning, they will come for you at
night...
M arguerite Elia
The Observer welcomes Letters to
the Editor. Letters should he short,
and must contain the writer's name
and address (addresses are not print
ed). The Observer reserves the right
to edit f o r length.
The Pori la i d Observer wet established in 1970
Subscriptions S15 00 per year in the Tri County area P o tt
m a tte r Send eddrett changes to the Portland Observer. P 0
Bon 3137 Portland Oregon 97208
Alfred L. Henderson. Editor/Publisher
A l Williams. Advertising Manager
Aatocrabon - Founded IM S
'newspaper.
! PORTLAND OBSERVER
S News for and about
:
Subscribe today!
I
Y e a . I w o u ld lik e a s u b s c r ip tio n !
to t h e Portland Observer.
I
□ I have encldsed my check or
money order for 815, for a
J
J
PLEASE PRINT
Mail to Portland Obnarvet
J
■
National Advertising Representative
Amalgamated Publishers. Inc
New York
you.
I
!
283 2486
■ ™— — — — — — — — — — #
r ■ " " " " "
Bo« 3137
Portland Oregon 97208
«■■■■■■■■■■a
N a m e ._________ _______ ___________
A d d re s s __ _________________ _____
C ity ___________________ .Stale,
Linda
Chavez,
argues
that
high
unemployment rates, the gross
disparities
of
income
between
national minorities and whites, and
the continued existence of the ghetto
have nothing directly to do with
racism. Chavez also opposes "c o m ­
parable w orth,” the proposal that
individuals should be paid equal
salaries for jobs which require com­
parable educational requirements
and technical skills.
Reaganite
Commissioner John H . Bunzel, a
Democrat, is even more crude in his
shoddy attempt to blame the victim.
Bunzel states, " I t is a gross over­
simplification to suggest that racism
and discrimination are still the root
cause o f income and educational
inequality.
Does anyone really
believe that the special ills which still
trap the Black underclass in poverty
and failure can be blamed solely on
discrimination?”
The N A A C P argues cogently that
this new C ivil Rights Commission is
actually worse than having none at
all. So the Washington office o f the
Association has begun to pressure
congressmen and senators to defund
the Commission. W ithin the C om ­
mission, however, a small m inority
still preserves the original integrity
and vision o f the old Commission.
In the battle against racism, M ary
Frances Berry has become the new
political conscience o f the civil
rights tradition. As Ms. Berry
states: " T h e Civil Rights Com ­
mission has become a twin o f the
civil rights division o f the Justice
Department, and the bank of
justice, as M artin Luther King used
to say, is now bankrupt. The C om ­
mission is no longer the conscience
o f America on civil rights. I despair
for women and minorities in this
co u ntry." Along with Ms. Berry we
must commit ourselves to an un­
conditional struggle to restore a
truly
independent
Commission,
freed from the hypocrisy and hatred
which the Reaganites have used to
combat the principles o f justice and
equality.
Margaret Carter unites District 18
The Portland O bterver 7USPS 959 M O I it publithed every
Thursday by E«ie Publishing Company. Inc . 2201 North Killingt
worth Portland. Oregon 97217. Pott Ortice Bon 3137. Portland,
Oregon 97208 Second cleat pottage paid at Portland. Oregon
MEMBER
panel, which had endorsed the use
of racial quotas as a “ Last resort”
in attacking racism, the new C om ­
mission urged the Supreme Court to
strike down all racial quotas. The
six Reaganite members declared:
“ Such racial preferences merely
constitute another form o f un­
justified
discrimination,
(and)
create a new class o f victims.” In
short, white officers, many o f
whom had been advanced in rank
over more qualified Blacks, now
comprised a poor, defenseless,
"class o f victim s!"
Since this ruling, the floodgates
of racism and reaction have been
opened wide. The Commission has
strongly hinted that it would soon
repudiate its historic commitment to
busing as one o f several means to
desegregate public schools. It has
authorized a study o f the "adverse
impact”
o f affirm ative
action
programs on whites o f southern and
eastern European descent. On March
27th,
the
Commission
recom­
mended that the Congress allow the
government to penalize an entire in­
stitution when only part o f that in­
stitution is guilty o f discrimination.
In theory, the position seemingly
asserted a tougher position on civil
rights. But as dissident C om ­
missioner M ary Frances Berry put
it, there were so many restrictions
written into the resolution that it
was like throwing “ red meat to the
wolves” who want to terminate all
civil rights enforcement. Finally, to
muzzle the progressive work o f the
SO state advisory committees on civil
rights, the Commission voted to
tightly control the publication and
distribution of the state committees’
reports.
The political philosophy behind
this reactionary assault on civil
rights is Reaganism— a vicious,
cruel, and in the end, criminal
distortion o f the social reality of
American racism. Its apologists
come in all races and in both gen­
ders. The Reaganite S taff Director
o f the C ivil Rights Commission,
(Continued fro m page I, column 6/
Portland Observer
•• MAI »
Nearly three decades ago, the
C ivil
R ig h ts
Commission
was
created to study prejudice and
discrimination “ on the basis o f
race,
color,
national
origin,
religion, sex, age, and physical han­
dicap.” Its goal was to serve as the
moral and political conscience o f
the nation, to suggest the steps
essential in the construction o f a
non-racist and democratic society.
It had no legislative power, but both
Congress and the President had to
come to terms with its findings.
Even when headed by Republican
chairmen, the Commission was an
effective instrument in the struggle
for equality.
It has now been five months since
the Reagan Adm inistration suc­
ceeded in uprooting most o f its
liberal opponents from the C om ­
mission. In effect, through his own
appointment powers and through
Republican Congressional appoint­
ments.
a
solid
m ajority
of
Reaganites
of
both
parties
dominates the Commission. The
leading Black participant in this
“ sell-out”
o f social justice is
Clarence M . Pendleton, the C om ­
mission’s chairman. It would be un­
fair to describe Pendleton as a
modern version o f Booker T .
Washington, the architect o f the in-
famous
1895
“ A tlanta
Com ­
promise,”
which
embraced
separate-but-equal laws. This would
be an insult to W ashington, who
despite
his
accommodationist
rhetoric built two great institutions,
Tuskegee Institute and the National
Negro Business League. A new
epithet must be created to represent
Pendleton's sleazy brand o f neo-
Uncle Tom ism.
Since January, there have been a
series o f devastating decisions by the
“ Uncivil Rights Comm ission.” On
January
16th, the Commission
voted 6 to 2 to denounce the use of
numerical quotas for promoting
Blacks from sergeant to lieutenant
by the Detroit Police Department.
Reversing the rulings of the old
-----
I
Z ip ______
I
. . . . . . . . J
“ I'm excited! W e worked hard and
ran a very good campaign. W e did
not count our chickens before they
hatched. Now that the votes are
counted, we see, hear and feel the
effects our rainbow coalition had on
people in the district.”
Ross
Danielson,
District
18
Democratic party Leader, broke
with
party
regulars
who
traditionally back the incumbent.
" I have worked for more par­
ticipation in the democratic process.
I ’ m very very pleased a candidate
like Carter came forw ard, who
wanted to bring the entire community
together for a new direction in
politics.”
Political observers said C arter’s
victory was due in part to an
ag gressive, grassroot campaign that
registered hundreds o f new voters.
Carter campaign manager, Johnny
Bell, said, “ W e went to taverns,
churches and door-to-door to get
people involved in the political
process. W e used our managerial
skills that we learned outside the
campaign to manage people and get
things done. W e are looking fo r­
ward to a victory in Novem ber.”
On November 1st, in the General
Election, Carter will face Chad
Debnam, the Republican candidate.
But Cawthorne stated, “ In this
district, the person that wins the
democratic primary w ill win the
general election.”
Throughout the District 18 race,
charges and counter charges were
tossed about by incumbent Ed Leek
who stated Carter was in the pocket
of business. And Harold W illiams
who said he was the most qualified
for the job. Now that the race is
over.
Carter,
Herndon
and
Cawthorne said they want to em­
brace those factions to unify the
community.
Carter said, “ I want to lend
myself and my energies toward
healing this community. I want to
see our community loving in the
sense we can have respect for each
other; also, together on the issues
that impact our com m unity.”
M any Observers view C arter’s
victory as historical. Vesia Loving,
the first Black woman to run for
District 18 in 1982, said. “ H er vic­
tory shows a woman can get out
there and win. I hope the men un­
derstand we women are not going to
keep our mouths shut and wait for
someone to come along and do what
has to be done. Her victory is a vic­
tory for every man, woman and
child in District 18, Portland and
the State. W e should be very proud
o f ourselves.”
CORRECTION
I f you’ve been trying to call the
Safari Club summer camp at the
Ainsworth Goodnews Daycare Cen­
ter, N E 30th and Ainsw orth, the
correct phone number is 28S-S3M.
Let Portland Observer
classifieds
work for you I
call 283-( I 14 •