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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 20, 1984)
Page 4 Portland Observer, June 20, 1984 hie * ve 6öT * i o D educe T e ENA ôe UNEMPLOYMENT - EDITORIAL/OPINION ldwec the minimum w N je w them DVClNér THE SUMMED MONTHS Supreme Court sets back clock The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling which placed seniority over A ffirm ative Action is as d etrim en tal to A fro -A m e ric a n s as their “ separate but equal“ ruling in 1896. The court legitimized the illegitimate notion o f “ reverse discrimination.** Affirm ative Action was the only active redress to systemic and institutional policies that ex cluded Americans by race and sex. I f an em ployer discriminated against people of color and women in the past, A ffirm ative Action allowed for numerical readjustment. Under the Reagan Administration, society has disclaimed any responsibility for making people o f color social, economic and political m in o rities. W h ite males are in a position o f reaping benefits for acts which they claimed they played no part in. “ W hy should I be laid o ff when I ’ve put in 15 years at the plant and this Black guy has only been here for 4?” , says a white worker in defense of his seniority rights. However, if the plant did not hire Blacks 15 years ago, the Black worker could not reap the equality o f security granted his white counter parts. He or she will be laid o ff in recessions and barred fro m prom otions because of discrim inatory acts ten or twenty years ago. People of color will continue to pay for the sins o f those who would not hire them because of their color or sex. The seniority system in the collective bargaining agreement between company and the union perpetuates or “ locks in” the effects of past discrimination. When Congress and the courts made white male supremacy illegal in employment, both the fo rm al and in fo rm a l system o f selection remained in tact. There was the " o ld boy” system o f fillin g vacancies by word o f mouth and preferences for sons and nephews o f em ployees. Also, stereotypes held by personnel directors about the kinds o f people best suited for certain positions, and assumptions that certain ethnic groups had a natu ral m onopoly in other positions, perpetuates past discrimination. Federal agencies and the lower courts were willing to confront these much more complex obstacles to equality by imposing goals and quotas The limited progress of the past ten years was wiped out with the single stroke o f a pen. And we must regroup and develop our own economic systems to prevent second-class citizenship from resurfacing. Support cultural boycott Besides being talented and successful enter tainers. Ray Charles, Tina Turner, Isaac Hayes, Della Reese and Johnny Mathis have another thing in com m on: they have all appeared on stage recently in South Africa. Chances are few Blacks in that country o f apartheid had the o p p o rtu n ity to enjoy their shows. Chances are the Black South Africans who com prise the vast m a jo rity o f the population, were not allowed into the posh con vention facilities, g o lf courses and nightclubs where both Black and white Am erican show business stars perform. These entertainers earn fat paychecks while their fellow Blacks are denied basic human rights, the choice of where to work and where to S tre e t B e a t by Lanita D u k e and R ichard B ro w n live, and are forced to live separated from family members even in their own country, which is com pletely dom inated by the racist white minority government headed by Prime Minister P.W . Botha. A boycott of Mathis’ recordings and concerts, as well as boycotts of other entertainers who go to South A fric a , is an excellent method o f calling our attention to the excesses of the apar theid government there and to those who inad vertently help to legitimize it. Portlanders organized fo r South A fric a n Freedom (P O S A F ) who organized the Mathis boycott, deserves a round o f applause for educating the public on this critical issue. This is how some of the people re acted to, "should employers be pena lized for hiring an illegal alien?” Joyce Fletcher Hum an Resource W orker “ No, we have got to the point where most people in our coun try are not doing the work. High school kids come out of school wanting 510.00 an hour. The aliens are serving this coun try and I hate to see someone penalized for doing work no one else wanted to do.” “ Right now I'm undecided. I feel it does take away from jobs. I don't know if employers should be given a fine or a war ning.” WON'T THIS UMtfL OTHER. WN3ES AND WSUEN THE UNION'S ? Towards a lasting Rainbow Coalition by Dr. Manning Marable ’ 'From The Grassroots ’ ' The Democratic Presidential primaries are now history. Walter M ondale’s victories in New Jersey and West Virginia, combined with the unnamed delegates yet selected by party officials, assure the former Vice President the nomination. All eyes are turning to San Francisco and the inevitable struggle over the party platform . H art's triumph in California and other states seems to represent the transferal o f power within the party to the technocratic "neoliberals” after 1984 And the most charismatic and progessive candidate, Jesse Jackson, has rewritten American political history by placing the demands of the Civil Rights Movement into the very heart of the electoral system. I would urge Jesse Jackson, and all members o f the Rainbow C o a litio n , to think beyond the Democratic convention and beyond the Novemeber, 1984, presidential election. No matter what con cessions the political power brokers make to us in San Francisco, and regardless of any quixotic Third Party challengers, the American public will be faced with a choice between Reagan and Mondale this November. I f Reagan wins, the crisis in C entral America will probably become a full-scale war with direct intervention by American troops. The current stalemate in arms negotiations will worsen, and billions of dollars from Social Security, food stamps, health care and jobs programs w ill be seized to feed the bloated Pentagon. C iv il rights, peace, and labor ac tivists w ill come under increased political attack. If Mondale wins, the probability of nuclear and con ventional war w ill decrease, but more modest increases in m ilitary spending will continue. The brutal slashes in social services w ill be halted, but funding levels probably w ill not be restored to pre-1980 levels. Domestic civil rights will be strengthened, and we should an ticipate a more liberal Supreme C o u rt. Yet the fundam ental Carol Flint Office M a n a g e r I ! "They should bring in people on a temporary, but organized, basis to work and then let them return to their own country." “ Yes, people in the United States are not working and aliens are taking over our jobs.” * a > • ’ - « PORTLAND OBSER VER na*to*ai Subscription* »15 00 p«r year in th * Tn County area P o tt m a tte r Sand address change* to the Portland O b trrvtr, . p o Bo« 3137. Portland. Oregon 97708 Alfred L. Henderson, Editor/Publisher A I Williams, Advertising Manager Portland ’s largest black-o w nedne wspa per. PORTLAND OBSERVER ! News fo r and about :you. I ! I j 283 2486 National Advertising Representative Am algam ated Publishers, Inc New York Subscribe today! I I Yea, I would like a subscription I to th« Portland Observer. I □ I have enclosed my check or money order for $15. for a one year subscription PLEASE PRINT Man to Portland Ohservet Bo* 3137 Portland Oregon 97208 N a n i r __________________________ Address _____________________ C ity _____________________State. V» KM 4 Say You Saw It in The The Portland O b strv tr was established m 1970 k tto c itlio n - Founded IM S Steve Duncan Unemployed Support our advertisers The Portland Observer fU S P S 959 680) is published every Thursday by E«ie Publishing Company, Inc . 2201 North Killings worth. Portland, Oregon 97217, Post Office Bow 3137, Portland. Oregon 97208 Second class postage paid at Portland Oregon “ Yes. The United States ought to take care of their own. There are a lot o f us starving and out of work.” N ï WIA pe * " N o , everybody should be given a chance to work.” people, are demanding a redefinition of American democracy. A country which con temptuously dismisses their rights, and the demands o f the homeless and hungry, the elderly and the poor, cannot claim to be democratic. The right to a job must be seen as “ inalienable” as the right to vote; the right to a world climate without the omnipresent specter of nuclear holocaust is as basic as the right to life and liberty. The arc of the Rainbow should embrace all these groups who cherish social justice and human eq uality— the very essence of democracy. But we must be certain that this fam ily of democracy is not simply another coalition for the Democratic Party. O f course, we must support all progressive Democratic party can didates who challenge the system’s inequality, such as H arold W ashington, John Conyers, and Ron Dellums. We must redouble ef forts in voter registration and education. But to win democracy, we must also use every avenue o f political organizing outside the elec toral system: demonstrations, mar ches, neighborhood organizing, union activity. The Democratic par ty is only a very limited vehicle to fight for democracy, as the Jackson campaign has shown. H istorical opportunities are always fleeting moments. Now is the time to build a permanent Rainbow C oalition, a national membership organization for jobs, peace, and freedom. Portland Observer At W HI • member John Judge Construction economic problems which created the basis for Reaganism, might push Mondale to the right— as they did former President Carter in 1978-80. The central question then, is not whether and how Reagan is to be defeated— but how democratic and multiracial groups must prepare for and respond to the political realities of January, 1985, and after. A permanent, national R ain bow Coalition is absolutely essential to deepen the momentum o f the Jackson campaign o f this spring. If Reagan wins, millions of Americans will be demoralized and may retreat from political activity. Those few achievements o f the C iv il Rights Movement which have not yet been attacked im m ediately w ill be on Reagan’s hit list. Keep in mind that we have not yet seen the real Reagan. Once he's reelected, he cannot run again. As the clock of his presiden tial tenure ticks away, he'll be more anxious to reshape society into an even more racist, undemocratic or der. Most people do not become politically involved when they are under ceaseless, brutal assault by the governm ent— they often acquiesce, conform , and accom modate. It could take years to revive the current level of political momen tum in the Black community. Yet, if M ondale wins— thanks primarily to the Jackson campaign and to the millions of new voters it brought to the polls— there will be a tendency to relax organizing efforts. The clearcut “ e v il" has been removed from office, but without constant public pressure from the grassroots. M ondale w ill fa il to carry out even his own moderate political agenda. Frederick Douglass' dictum — "P o w e r con cedes nothing without demand” — still rings true. The Rainbow Coalition is still a promise in the making, and not a political reality. M illio n s o f L a tinos, Native Am ericans, Asian Americans, feminists, progressive labor leaders, peace activists and environmentalists, as well as Black - » * • • . ♦ X •'w • . X ■ Z'P I I I I I I I I I I I
