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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 13, 1984)
Page 4 Portland Observer, June 13, 1964 EDITORIAL/OPINION War and Rose Festival don't mix Portlanders should be proud o f their Rose Festival—an annual celebration o f spring and the fragrant blossoms that grow so profusely here— and of the pageantry and participation it attracts. Tourists come from around the country to witness it , and the spectacle is beamed via satellite to millions of TV viewers. There should, however, be no room in the Rose Festival for the increasing public display o f m ilita ris m evident this year. Police and m ilita ry organizations played a much too visible role, from the Seattle motorcycle police team which has begun the parade for several years now, followed by Navy men brandishing rifle s equipped w ith bayonets, follow ed by m ounted s h e r iff’ s posses, to the ships o f destruction and in tim id a tio n docked fo r six days on the Willamette next to the Fun Center. Spectacle and celebration are fine. That is what parades are all about. Bu, using symbols o f our aggressive foreign policy as a focus is to ignore the realities of war and the suffering of those touched by it. The U.S.S. Leahy, one o f the larger vessels that visited Portland last week, is a guided missile cruiser that can carry nuclear weapons. Although the Navy will no, affirm or deny the presence o f such weapons on its ships, all vessels in the Leahy’ s class arc outfitted with nuclear missile launchers, and the Leahy itself underwent an expensive refining several years ago to upgrade it to accommodate the nuclear missiles. The Leahy is named for a Navy admiral who bears the ignominious distinction of having led the 1912 U.S. invasion o f Nicaragua. The vessel also was the flagship for the fall, 1983, m ilita ry exercises o f f the coast o f C entral Am erica, which were, and are, designed to terrify the people of Nicaragua and threaten its government—all because the Reagan A dm ini stration doesn’ t approve o f its policies. Portland voters have spoken ou, both on a nuclear freeze (2 to 1 in favor) and on U.S. in tervention in Centra) America (2 to I against). It’s time to ac, on these sentiments. Let’s welcome the sailors to Portland for the Rose Festival, but let’s no, welcome dangerous symbols o f U.S. m ilita ry aggression to our city. Nuclear liability crux of debate P ro b a b ly few people have heard o f the Price-Anderson Act, a 1957 federal law that places a $585 m illion liability lim it on a utility following a nuclear plant accident. This means tha, after an incident such as Three M ile Island, the u tility ow ning and operating the facility could be liable for only that am ount (w hich w ould be p a ltry in the even, o f m a jo r co n ta m in a tio n ) before the federal government kicks in with the res,. The ac, is due to expire in 1986, and Congress is now considering new legislation to extend and change it. Some want the liability lim it raised. Some, including the federal Dep artment of Energy, want nuclear waste dumps included under the act. The H a n fo rd Nuclear Reservation in W ashington State is now being considered along with nine other sites as a repository for the n a tio n ’ s high-level radioactive wastes. Washington State is concerned that the federal government w ill no, pay for damages should an accident during transportation or disposal o f such wastes occur. Leaks o f radioactive materials at Hanford have occurred in the past. The C olum bia River, which flows through Hanford, used to be called "th e most radioactive river in the w o r ld " d u rin g the 1950’ s. A lth o u g h some cleanup has been done, the river recently showed increasing levels of some radioactive elements. The State o f W ashington, along w ith residents of Oregon who live near the Colum bia, is correct to worry about this issue. An ac cident at Hanford could bankrupt Washington (and perhaps O regon) and render the area uninhabitable, not to mention causing injuries and deaths. Those who advocate nuclear power generation and all the dangers it poses should pay when it goes awry. I f the federal govern ment imposes a high-level radioactive waste dump on Washington State, the private sector firm s involved and the federal government should bear the fin a n cia l re sp o n sib ility if, heaven forbid, an accident occurs. Letters to the Editor To the Editor: The letters I wrote lo you recent ly brought both positive and negative responses. I am glad I ru f fled a few feathers, this way I know the city is awake and listening I would like to reiterate my stand, when I referred to the white system looking at our Black leadership, to find weakness. Maybe Fran A riniello is having a problem with what I said because (he or she) is white and doesn’ t understand the struggle Blacks have gone through, and are still going through in this city. I know it is out of the norm for a Black to criticize the white power structure. I realize that what we all have strived for, for a long time is to have the unity between races. I have lived in Portland since 1944 and lit tle has changed I am not trying to be vindictive or shallow in my thinking, but I am a real is* ic person, with battle scars received over sixteen years of trying to change things in Portland. I appreciate Fran A rin ie llo ’ s thought and sentiment, but we have always had these white liberals who get offended when the truth is told But when the whites advance and the Blacks go backwards, hoping and dreaming is not enough. We must have good Black leader ship to pave the way for the unity that you speak of, in District 18. the State of Oregon and America. Fetia i>B'eere l oving To the Editor: The Portland Observer, with its editorial ’ ’ Black Victory Discoun te d " showed extreme callousness and completely missed the point of the recent Oregonian article by Foster Church. It was very clear from the article that the cohesion of the Black Community in Portland was the deciding factor in the Primary victory of Margaret Carter for Representative in District 18. H ow ever, in using the article as another excuse to attack Represen tative Ed Leek, you have lowered your standards and diminished the impact of Margaret C arter's vic tory. Rep. Leek’s alledged arrogance, his support of George McGovern, and his rating by lobbyists have nothing to do with the point of the article What is important was his support of the Democratic program and legislation that put people ahead of profits; support which earned him the emnity of the A lli ance for Economic Development with its big business bias My letter to Bill Thomas (not, by the way, an official reprimand) had nothing to do with Rep. Leek's qualifications for office, and hardly deserves mention in your editorial Ed L eek’ s record in support of the citizens o f our community as well as the rest of the city and state is unchallengeable. To pin your credibility on his support o f the precious civil rights o f juveniles because one rapist was released prematurely is tantamount to ad vocating the reinstatement o f the death penalty because one ex-con commits a crime You tread on very thin ice. W hile acknowledging the fine, outstanding qualifications of M argaret Carter and the positive support of her com m unity, it is a disservice to her to continue to un fairly attack her opponent and his commendable record. If Ed Leek owes Margaret Carter a congratulatory phone call or let ter, the Portland Observer owes Ed an apology. I would wager Margaret will get the former before we see the latter Dick Celsi, Chair Democratic Parly o f Oregon To the Editor: A meeting at the King Neigh borhood Facility Friday, June 1st, was ostensibly called to marshall community support against the choice o f R A Hatch C o ., for receiving over seventy percent of contract dollars awarded by Tri-Mct for the light rail project. The meeting instead provided a platform for union sympathisers lo assail the Black community as being "lazy and disinterested." Tw o proposals were put forth without being enacted upon. One was the call for an "in ju n ctio n against H a tc h " which the union lawyer publically advised Nate Proby against pursuing in this district because the court would not be responsive to the evidence to be presented by the union M r. Proby was admonished to use a judge in Washington, D C . who would be more inclined to issue an injunc tion. The other proposal was a call to "v io le n c e ” by a Black union organizer, who later recanted his call on the basis that, " th e com munity was not together" of similar verbage What really came out in the meeting was the degree to which the union is prepared to use mem bers of this community for (ree. The Operator's union spent something to the tune of $1 4 million dollars in an attempt to close down Hatch. It is u nfortunate that a union could bankrupt itself against a merit shop and not even offer to spend a little change for supporting related actions by qualified Blacks. Black leaders have forgotten Black leaders who publicly went against the wishes of their constituents are now running to Jesse Jackson with open arms, taking credit for a victory they had nothing to do with. The reality o f Black leadership that benefits from the status quo vs. progressive change for their people is a dark historical chapter in the book of Blacks in America. Some of our leaders have forgotten wha, it is like to be cold, hungry and imprisoned by poverty. Most live better than the people they are representing. I, makes us wonder who they represent—themselves or their constituents. Cuba ’s People ’s Power by Dr. Manning Marable "Erom The Grassroots'’ l ast month a delegation ol Black American intellectuals was invited to visit Cuba D uring eight busy days, I met with hundreds of Cuban teachers, political leaders, artists, physicians and students Contrary to the Reagan A d m in is tra tio n ’ s polemics, the Cubans have developed, despite many d if ficulties, a productive and well-run society in the twenty-five years since the revolution. The two things which most impressed me during my visit were C u b a ’ s political system —which is not a totalitarian regime—and the island’s amazing achievements in the field of medicine Cuba’s basic governmental struc ture. termed "Peoples' Pow er," is very dilfcrent from that found in most Communist nations. All elec tions begin at the neighborhood level, and each electoral district has between ISO and 3,000 voters. Each district of "Peoples' Power" is sub divided into " a re a s ” o f several hundred persons, where public meetings are held to nominate municipal delegates from the neigh borhoods. Persons nominated to run from various " a re a s " run against each other for the district’s seat. After 30 days, there is a direct and secret ballot; voters must be 16 years or older. The candidate win ning a majority is elected, but if no one wins 50 percent, the top two dandidates face each other in a run o ff election in one week. Once the municipal delegates are elected, the municipal assemblies in turn elect representatives to the provincial assembly. P rovincial assemblies elect national delegates who set national legislation in Havana What is interesting about the C uban electoral system is that voters are given a selection of from two to eight candidates, and membership in the Communist Party is not required to run for office. Throughout the country, about 30 percent of the municipal delegates who won local o ffice were not Communists. In the A pril elections this year, 98.6 percent o f all eligible voters cast ballots—all the more impressive in a country where there is no legal requirement to vote. Three of this year's delegates in Havana were only 16 years old, and the youngest was a teenage girl who was not a member of the Communist Party. The basic economic system of Cuba is, of course, socialism, but elements of capitalism are permitted to exist, and even to thrive. In rural areas, 25 years ago, almost all of the best farmland was owned by a select elite o f Cuban fam ilies and Am erican businesses. The Revolution seized these estates, and over the years, created agricultural collectives for the landless peasan try. Still today, about 15 percent of all Cuban agricultural output is in private hands. The gross wage differentials bet ween the peasants and the powerful have long been elim inated. The m inimum monthly salary for everyone in Cuba is 85 pesos; the maximum salary, 450 pesos; and the average salary, 170 pesos Most medical doctors, for instance, would earn about 370 pesos per month, and skilled laborers could receive probably half that amount But stale control ensures that cer tain consumer items, when available, are accessible to all. A quart of milk in Cuba costs only 20 cents; a pair of leather shoes, 15 to 20 pesos; an average lunch at a restaurant, 70 cents. All workers, from janitors to Castro himself, receive 30 days paid vacation per year. The greatest surprise I had however, was in the rem arkabli cultural diversity of the island. When visiting Santiago, the second largest city, our delegation was en tertained by a local Cuban student choir— who sang traditional Negro spirituals from the U .S .! The lead singer and director, a handsome and very dark Afro-Cuban, was familiar with A fro American gospels and "Freedom Songs” from the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s Throughout the streets of Santiago and Havana, music is continuous: sometimes a mixture o f A frican rhythms and a Latin beat, which is the heart of Cuban music, but more frequently, especially on Cuban radios, the sounds of Gladys Knight, Aretha Franklin, M arvin Gaye and Stevie W onder. O c casionally I came across a sight I ex pected to find only in Black America: young Afro-Cuban males, donning knit caps, bopping along with huge portable radios. It is fair to say, at least from my obser vations, that the Revolution has learned to live with Donna Summer, Gloria Vanderbilt-type jeans, and a broad diversity in its popular culture. Portland Observer •• Mrs- the Portland Observer AJSPS 959 6801 it published every Thursday by E s ie Publishing Compeny. Inc . 2201 Nnrth Killings worth. Portlend, Oregon 97217. Post Office Bos 3137. Portlend. Oregon 97208 Second cless postage paid at Portland Oregon The Portland Observer was established in 1970 MEMBER Subscriptions $15 00 per year in the Tri County area Post m a tte r Send address changes to the Portland Observer. . P 0 Boa 3137 Portlend Oregon 97208 Assocrafton - Founded IM S ? Alfred L. Henderson. Editor/Publisher A l Williams. Advertising Manager Portland 's largest black-owned ! r newspaper. 283 2486 National Advertising Representative Am algam ated Publisher«. Inc New York Subscribe todav! PORTLAND OBSERNER ! News fo r and about you. J. H ill The Observer welcomes Letters to the Editor. Letters should be shot, and must contain the writer's name and address /addresses are not print ed! The Observer reserves the right to edit fo r length These men and women have forgotten the golden rule o f leadership. A leader does not lead the people. The people lead the leader The masses o f T h ird W o rld people in Am erica cast th e ir vote fo r the Rev. Jesse Jackson while some of their mayors played it safe. Like crabs in a barrel they fel, threatened when other crabs reached for the top. National unity in the community demands this togetherness. Le, the so-called leader beware. The people will never forget. And we w ill reclaim our leaders while laying a path for progressive change for our communities. Yes. I would like a s u b s c rip tio n ! to the Portland Observer. I have enclosed my check or money order for $15, for a one year subscription PLEASE PRINT Mad to Portland Observe! Bo< 3137 Portland Oregon 97206 N.inie A d d ress C i t y ____ .S ta te . I l Zip
