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