Page 4 Portland Observer, June 27, 1984
New levels o f democracy needed
EDITORIAL/OPINION
by Dr Manning Marable
"From The Grassroots"
City run by w hite males
The City of Portland needs to be taken to task
for its pitifully poor Affirmative Action record.
The populace w ith in the city lim its are as
cosmopolitan in ethnic background and racial
identification as Oregon will ever be.
However, this multi-cultural and racial com­
position is not reflected in how the City spends
our tax dollars fo r employment. The most
glaring insult to the goal of equal opportunity in
employment is the fact that when a person of
color or a woman scored among the top three on
the Civil Service test, they were still not hired.
The M etropolitan Human Relations Com ­
mission’s affirm ative action evaluation o f the
City of Portland has been met by self-righteous
excuses from those indicted by their poor per­
formance the City Commissioners.
I hey insult our intelligence by refusing to ac­
cept responsibility for their bureau managers
who tend to hire someone like themselves—a
white rnale—as a representative o f the labor
force In light of the MHRC report, which shows
promises and commitments made to secure
maybe we ought to change Portland's theme
from, “ The City of Roses,” to “ The City Run
by White Males.”
Also, le t’ s remind those liberal com ­
missioners, fresh from the sweat o f the 1984
election, that it was the rainbow coalition that
gave them their margin of victory. It is after the
election that the rubber hits the road and
promises and com m itm ents made to secure
votes ought to be implemented instead o f just
discussed.
The flury of activity from the commissioners
as they rebound and react to the M HRC report
should be monitored by local organizations who
demand more accountability and less excuses.
We should challenge our new mayor to hire a
staff that reflects the rainbow o f colors who
voted for him.
The metropolitan area demands a com m it­
ment based on action rather than words. We
applaud the C ity Commissioners fo r their
willingness to crack down, but just sending
memos to bureau heads is too little, too late.
Initiatives deserve support
Oregonians arc extremely fortunate to live in
one o f the twelve states where citizens are
guaranteed the right to use an initiative process
to directly make laws which govern them. Any
non-constitutional matter can be placed on the
tatewide ballot after submission of 62, (XX) valid
sign »lures of registered voters, and no fewer
than 32 groups sought to do so this year. Nearly
all of these efforts will fail, with perhaps as few
a five actually appearing on the November 6
ballot.
Initiatives often generate the controversy
la, king m most election years and do much to
increase voter turnout. This is particularly im ­
portant this year when, many observers agree, a
high turnout is needed to defeat Reagan.
I he initiative sponsored by the Oregon State
I’ d i Interest Research Group (OSPIRG) calls
It
lion of a ( itizens U tility Board (CUB) as
a ii.r ,. of controlling utility rates. C UB would
I funded by voluntary ratepayer donations and
it will truly represent consumers’ interests rather
tl in that o f the telephone, gas, and electric
npanies It is sure to be subject to a negative
mass media campaign
It a m a jo rity o f the voters approve the
U‘- jesse
iackçcxv
Oregon Marijuana Initiative (OMI), possession
and cultivation of marijuana for personal use
will become legal. It would still be a crime to sell
marijuana. Currently, under Oregon law, it is a
worse crime to grow one marijuana plant than
to commit manslaughter. O M I organizers say
thousands of young people have registered to
vote because o f the measure, and most w ill
surely vote against Reagan in November.
Oregon presently has tons o f im properly
stored radioactive wastes and the Radioactive
Waste Disposal in itia tive seeks to restrict
disposal o f such wastes only to suitable
locations. “ Suitable” is defined by the measure
as being removed from ocean, river or creek
erosion plains, away from geologic faults and
landslides, and not in areas experiencing
volcanic activity within the last two million years
(60 percent of Oregon’ s land mass).
Each o f these three measures are now in
initiative petition form because the legislature
has continually failed to address the issues they
reflect. The November election is sure to be
more exciting and Reagan’ s re-election e ffo rt
more difficult because of them.
we must harness the
ewepcry op
WE MUST MAINTAIN
OUE FAITH IN 6 0 0 -
The Rainbow C oalition, the
slogan o f the Jesse Jackson cam­
paign, has reshaped presidential
politics in 1984. N o w the
challenge is to redefine American
politics by building a permanent,
nation al R ainbow C o a litio n : a
union o f Blacks,
L atino s,
w om en, lab o r, the unem ployed
and others who comprise the real
American majority.
W h a t should the R ainbow
C oalition become after the 1984
elections? Forem ost, the R a in ­
bow C o a litio n must be a
C o a litio n fo r D em ocracy o f a
new, m ore advanced type.
Democracy has always assumed
d iffe re n t in s titu tio n a l form s
throughout history. The Greeks
had a “ democracy": a tiny hand­
ful o f citizens ruled and voted,
w hile the m a jo rity were either
non-citizens, or slaves. When the
U n ited States was founded tw o
thousand years la te r, a sim ilar
elitism prevailed: three out o f
four white males, all women, and
o f course, all Blacks were unable
to vote. In the past two decades,
with the achievements of the Civil
Rights M ovem ent, Black people
and others have achieved a
measure o f social and p o litic al
eq u ality. Y et, like earlier forms
o f dem ocracy, the rules o f the
game have remained essentially
the same. A new level o f
dem ocracy would expand and
deepen the p o litic al process to
give power to those w ho have
been too long denied it: it would
tilt the scales o f social justice
away from the corporations and
P entagon, back to w ard the
people.
What steps are needed to create
a more dem ocratic, nonracist
Am erica? Some constructive
suggestions are found in an essay
en title d ,
" V o tin g
Is
Not
E n ou g h ” by p o litic al scientist
B enjam in R. Barber in this
June's issue of Atlantic Monthly.
Barber argues that “ T h e real
choice we face in the coming
years is not between Republicans
and D em ocrats, or between the
supply-side and the welfare state
is between an ever more
meaningless and weak fo rm o f
dem ocracy
in
which
we
p erio d ica lly ru b ber-stam p the
bureaucrats and politicians who
govern fo r us and over us and in
our
stead,
and
a
strong
democracy in which we reassume
the responsibilities o f self-
government."
Barber gives some interesting
ways to create a “ strong
d em o crac y,”
including
“a
national system o f neighborhood
assemblies, in itia lly lim ited to
discussion and deliberation" and
a “ n atio n al in itia tiv e and
referendum process p erm ittin g
popular initiatives and referenda
on congressional legislation, with
a multi-choice voting form at and
a two-stage voting procedure.”
Barber’s list also includes reform ­
ing the c rim in a l ju s tic e system
wherein m inor disputes, such as
" p e tty m isdem eanors, fa m ily
quarrels (an d ) m oving tra ffic
v io la tio n s " w ould be settled by
citizens on surrogate civic juries.
There are m a jo r omissions in
B a rb er’ s agenda— certain ly the
E lec to ral C o llege, the most an ­
tiqu ated and elitis t structure in
A m erican politics ought to be
abolished. A n d Barber doesn't
deal effectively w ith the central
political question: what groups of
Am ericans w ill com prise the
political force necessary to obtain
in s titu tio n a l changes? Some
p o w erfu l
vested
interests,
especially the corporations and
the banks, w ant to keep the
system’ s inequalities exactly as
they are.
The Rainbow C o a litio n com ­
prises the fo u n d a tio n fo r the
creatio n o f a m ore dem ocratic
American society. I t ’s immediate
constituency are those women
and men who cast votes for Jesse
Jackson. Jacksondidn’ t win the
nomination, but he demonstrated
that there are literally millions o f
...Il
Support our
advertisers
as’*'
©ai
Street Beat
by Lenita Duke and Richard Brown
vA"
progressive-minded voters who
are ready to use the ballot in the
b attle fo r eq u ality and social
justice. The figures alone tell it
all: Jackson won over 42 percent
o f the total vote in Louisiana, 16
percent in O h io , 23 percent in
N o rth C a ro lin a , M a ry la n d and
New York State, and 20 percent
of all Democrats’ primary ballots
this spring. T h e Jackson c a m ­
paign placed the most sensible
and progressive p latform before
the electorate in modern history:
fu ll em ploym ent, m a jo r reduc­
tions in war spending, increased
housing
and
h ealth -care
program s, and an expansion o f
civil rights and o p p o rtu n ity for
a ll.
A
fo rm a l m em bership
c o a litio n o f these voters, c o m ­
bined with the pow erful support
o f the Black Church, Black labor
leaders
and
Black
social
o rg an izatio n s,
w ould
elect
thousands o f Blacks, w om en.
Latinos and other liberals into
public o ffic e . T h e R ainbow
C o a litio n , w orking w ith the
N A A C P and other civ il rights,
en viro n m e n ta l,
peace,
and
w om en ’ s groups, w ould be a
p o w erfu l lobby on C a p ita l H ill
and in state houses across
America. Neither the Democratic
nor Republican Parties could dic­
tate the terms o f the p o litic a l
agenda: we would be a national
power in the fight for democracy,
jobs, peace and freedom.
N o m atter who is elected in
1984, it should be clear to all that
the A m erican p o litic a l system
needs to be fu n d am en tally
challenged to include all o f those
who have been victim ized by
racism , sexism, p o v erty , and
u nem ploym ent.
Basic
in ­
stitutional reforms must be part
o f our agenda. But the Jackson
campaign is unfinished, if we fail
to move to the next logical step.
Dem ocracy " f o r the fe w ” must
become “ democracy for a ll.”
PORTLAND
OBSER VER
W ith all the a ctivity centered
around the possibility o f a woman
vice-presidential running mate on the
Democratic ticket, the Street Beat
team asked, “ What are your feelings
about a women as vice-president?”
AND \NE MUST BBlNúr ABOUT
( HANGE JHPOU6H OVE VOTES
Christine Poole
Librarian
“ It m ig ht give an o ther
woman the o p p o rtu n ity to
out
there
and
become
president.”
Portland Observer
H a» ’’ I * i .
*»a’ *•»
“ I l is ab o u t lim e w ith the
num ber o f women voters and
q u a lifie d candidates th at are
available."
L. Smith
Ratlrad
" I ’ m not against the ladies,
but it is not going to help (hem.
I ’ m a Republican and Reagan
is going to get in there.”
*/
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Loo Ella Jackaon
Telephone Service
Johnny Johnson
Roadla
" T h e y should let w om en
ru n . T h e y m ig h t be m ore
fo rceful and p ow erful fo r the
Blacks.”
X woman has just as much
lege as a m an. W e might
Gary Hartman
Studant
“ I think i t ’ s great W e need
someone new and someone to
look up to. I t ’s a start.”
z