Page 4 Portland Observer. July 18. 1984
EDITORIAL/OPINION
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9720 J
9 7 2 1 7 W. o f 1-5
97229
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7 7 8 0 SW C a p i t o l Hwy.
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Double standards cloud ideals
The Dem ocratic party projects itse lf as the
party o f great diversity, representative o f all o f
Am erica’ s ethnic and social groups. San Fran
cisco has a similarly egalitarian image as the city
on the move; a city where politicians speak o f
their tolerance fo r “ divergent lifestyles.”
Underneath these glow ing images, though,
exists both a c ity and a p a rty where b la ta n t
inequality continues to exist.
Delegates to the Democratic National C on
vention roughly reflect the racial breakdown o f
A m erican society. W h ile this is a laudable
achievement, it is the only point on which the
delegates can be said to be representative.
W hile the fa m ily income o f the average
American is roughly $20,(XX), seventy-three per
cent o f the Democratic delegates say th e ir’ s is
over $30,000 per year. Only five percent o f the
X
>
>
Democrats characterize themselves as “ blue
collar’ ’ .
And even as the convention proceeded with
speeches on the need for greater fairness, Mayor
Feinstein’ s police arrested protestors (who had
committed no crimes) on the felony charge o f
conspiring to commit a misdemeanor. The move
was clearly intended to keep the protestors o ff
the streets, and away from the media limelight.
So, too, are the daily round-ups o f the homeless
throughout the convention area.
Progress has clearly been made by both the
Democrats and the C ity o f San Francisco, but
party rules locking out society’s long shots, and
the use o f police power to do the same, must
end. Much, much more progress remains to be
made before the glossy images accurately reflect
our American reality.
lacks still media outsiders
by Joel Dreyfuss
GRESHAM SENIOR CENTER
97024
50 NE E LL IO T . GRESHAM
97030
9 7 0 6 0 W. o f Sandy R iv e r
97008
97010
97019
acquiesce to the dem ands o f the N a tio n a l
O rganization o f Women. This is not the first
tim e w h ite women have benefited fro m the
stuggle started by Black people in America.
Following a decline in activity after winning
the rig h t to vote in 1920, the w om en’ s
movement re-emerged in the 1960’s only after
the c o n fro n ta tio n a l n o n -v io le n t d e m o n
strations o f the C iv il Rights movement which
incorporated the Equal Rights Amendment in
to its agenda. But the women’ s movement has
not alw ays been sensitive to the p lig h t o f
Blacks in Am erica or the struggles o f women
o f color.
Both N .O .W . and the Mondale forces ignored
co nside ra tion o f Black women as vice-
presidential candidates, even when the only
serious previous m inority presidential candidate
was Shirley Chisolm.
True equality for women can only be realized
with equality for all. Jesse Jackson has opened
the Democratic door fo r Ferraro to go in. We
hope she thanks Jackson as she goes through,
keeping the door open—and not just cracking it
slightly— for him.
3 pounds
F AMILY S I Z E
To r e c e i v e t h e s e fo o d ite m :» , y o u
m u st p r e s e n t p r o o f o f y o u r c u r r e n t
a d d re ss.
ACCEPTABLE f o r m s o f ID :
For the first time in the 208-year history o f
American politics a woman has been named as
a major party vice presidential candidate. The
door through which women pass to take their
rig h tfu l place as fu ll partners in the electoral
process has been s w iftly and p e rm a n e n tly
opened.
As we a p p la u d th is h is to ric ch o ice , o u r
know ledge o f h is to ry and p o litic a l analysis
dem ands a “ th a n k y o u “ , fro m G e ra ld in e
F e rra ro , to Jesse Jackson and the R ainbow
C oalition.
Serious discussion o f a female vice-president
was considered only a fter the challenge o f a
s tro n g Black male fo r the p residency.
T h ro u g h o u t a ll levels o f the cam paign, the
Rainbow C oalition advocated for political and
economic equality fo r women. It was Jackson
w ho fits t made a co m m itm ent to choose a
female running mate should he be nominated.
L o g ic w o u ld te ll us tha t F e rra ro was
nom inated fo r the num ber-tw o spot because
her male counterparts had their political party
reclaim ed and e le c trifie d by Jesse Jackson.
M o n d a le fo u n d it p o litic a lly necessary to
2 pounds
1 ........................................ S 540
2 ........................................ $ 728
PROOF OF ADDRESS
5 pounds
Ferraro should thank Jackson
P A C IF IC N EW S SEP W C£-Jesse
Jackson’s presidential campaign
could prove as upsetting to the
racial status quo in the news media
as it has been to national politics.
Though news executives say
coverage of Jackson's campaign is
fair and im partial. Blacks have had
quite a different response— and this
disagreement raises some issues
about the news media that go far
beyond presidential politics.
M any white journalists have
praised Black W ashington Post
reporter
M ilton
Coleman
for
repeating Jackson's off-the-record
reference to Jews as "H y m ies .” But
many Blacks, including some jo u r
nalists, have publicly criticized both
Coleman and media coverage of
Jackson's campaign
Some news executives dismiss
such protests as knee-jerk reactions,
but they actually reflect long
standing
animosities.
Through
much o f American history. Blacks
have viewed the news media as the
enemy. From the end of the Civil
W ar to the civil rights era, many
newspapers in the South instigated
mob violence and urged that Blacks
"b e put in their place.”
Coverage of Blacks improved for
a w hile in the 19 6 0 's — the c iv il
rights movement was "the story” of
the decade, and many news outlets
assigned their best reporters to cover
it. The moral pressures o f the
movement—and the hostility of
Black militants— also led some
organizations to seek out and hire
Black journalists, many of whom
covered the changes then taking
place in Black communities all over
the country.
But white editors soon turned
elsewhere— to Vietnam, Watergate,
•n d then the self-indulgence o f the
late 1970’s. Younger reporters,
Black and white, were urged to put
their energies into " M o re important
topics” than Blacks or Black issues
New, more fashionable minorities
were discovered; Hispanics, the
Vietnamese. But, like the Blacks
before them, they were covered as
anomalies, to be dealt with in one
story or a series, then forgotten.
Of
course,
a
number
of
newspapers and local stations have
worked vigorously to desegregate
their news coverage, but they are
notable exceptions. In too many
large city papers, the only Black
faces which appear are those of
criminal suspects and athletes.
Efforts to cover the political
emergence of Blacks reveal these
shortcomings. For example, many
journalists credit the Black political
surge to Jackson, while it actually
Analysis
started well before he announced his
candidacy. And when Jackson ap
peared at the United Nations with
African ambassadors and Black
leaders, many white reporters could
not distinguish the former from the
latter.
This limited perspective can be
found all over big-city newspapers;
not just in the failure to grasp the
breadth of the Black political
awakening, but in something that
may seem as trivial as a Sunday
feature article about poets and
springtime that features white male
poets only. It reflects, in part, the
fact that Black politicians them
selves usually lack the close social
contacts prominent whites have with
media executives.
Coverage o f
minority
com
munities, while well-intentioned, is
often paternalistic, with quotes
from white experts and a few well-
known Blacks who are treated as
authorities on all aspects o f Black
life.
At the root of this ignorance is the
co n tin u ed segregation o f new s
rooms a ll over the co u n try . A c
cording to one study, 70 percent
of the newspapers in this country
have no minority journalists on
their staffs. Television stations have
placed a number of Blacks in visible
positions,
but
few
work
in
newsrooms, and non-whites in
decision-making roles are virtually
nonexistent.
These employment practices un
dermine arguments by media in
stitutions that they can deal fairly
with minorities. It may also help ex
plain why questions have been
raised about the impartiality of
Black journalists, hut not about ex
government officials covering the
agencies they used to work for, or
Jewish journalists covering Israel.
It is not surprising, then, that
most Blacks feel excluded from the
public the media supposedly serves.
Minorities are covered from a white
perspective— the question is, what
•re “ they” up to? Rarely do
minority readers or viewers see their
point o f view used as the basis for
reporting a story.
Nor is it surprising that many
Blacks view white-owned media as
preservers o f the racial status quo.
This creates the dilemma that faced
M ilton Coleman: Black journalists
who are seen as too committed to
their employers are accused of par
ticipating in this repression. Yet
Black-owned media rarely have the
resources to reach as many Blacks as
white-owned outlets.
O f course, wrongdoing by leaders
and elected officials, regardless of
race, should be routinely reported.
But when the perception in the
minority community is that such
reporting is done selectively, and
when the selection is seen as color-
coded, news organizations lose their
credibility.
News executives must make a new
commitment to bring in minority
talent and to place experienced
minority journalists in positions
where their perspectives have real
impact. Otherwise, minorities will
have to conclude that these in
stitutions have no intention of ac
commodating to the changes in
American society.