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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 8, 1984)
Portland Observer. August 8, 1984 Section II Page 3 Herndon to work for permanent Rainbow by Chuck Goodmacher Ron Herndon, one of the earliest supporters o f Jesse Jackson’ s presidential bid. is now working to build a permanent presence for the Rainbow in Oregon. H e r ndon granted this interview to the Observer to discuss the plans and hopes of the Oregon Rainbow Organizing Co mmittee as well as his personal views on the Democratic Convention. OBSERVER: You and several members of the Jackson for President steering committee just mailed out a letter asking support fo r the Oregon Rainbow O rganizing Committee. What will the political agenda of this group be? Ron Hamdon. co-chalr of tha Portland Black Unl- tad Front and Oragon'a only dalagata commlttad to Jackaon. (Photo: Richard J. Brown) H E R N D O N : To address several different issues, and as I see it. all of them revolve around the quality of life in this state for the average person...what can be done to im prove that. W e ’ re talkin g about unem ploym ent, education, or the lack thereof, energy issues and so on. O: How will the Rainbow pursue that agenda while at the same time helping to get Mondale elected? H: W e’ll be getting people together from around the state that worked on the Jackson campaign to develop a clearly well-thought-out plan to move that agenda... O: The Mondale campaign apparently expects people who supported Hart and Jackson to help out, especially if victory appears near. What do you think about that? H: I t ’s a bad strategy. Their move, both locally and na tionally, should be to extend themselves...to try to bring everybody together and develop some relationship that will allow everybody to be involved in a manner that they reel is comfortable for them. The strategy that people will come to you presupposes a lot of things that aren’t true. It ignores the fact that a lot of people are bitter about the M ondale nom ination. Jackson won 85% o f the Black vote. The Black Mondale delegates only represented 15% of the Black electorate...Now if he thinks that because he’s got Coretta (Scott King) and Andrew (Young) that somehow that’s going to bring folks out in November, he’s mistaken. His best move would be to make some ac commodation with Jesse so that the things he feels are important can be...m ade part o f this campaign That likewise should be the move at the local level. O: What kind of outreach efforts will be made beyond the people who supported Jackson’s presidential cam paign? H: W e ’ re already talkin g with the G ray Panthers. W e’re also very interested in talking with people in the peace movement, those involved in the environmental movement, those who are really concerned about educa tion, those who are concerned about welfare...those who are overlooked by this society, those who feel there is more to life than the profit motive, getting together and making an effort to force, in this case the state, and in the broader sense, the nation, to respond to these issues. I think it can be done. O: What about at the city level? Do you see any possi bilities there, especially with the new mayor coming in? H: The same groups need to sit down and talk about economic development th a t’ s going to be helpful for more than just a few people and larger corporations. W ill economic development mean the development of some thing th at’s going to be labor-intensive? W h a t’s set up now is not helping those who need it the most. O: Getting back to the fact that many people are bitter about the nomination process and the defeat of Jesse’s platform planks, what do you say to people who state that is why they will not vote for Mondale? M: A couple of things. I understand it. A ll too often in this country you get placed in a situation like this: would you have wanted Hum phrey or Nixon? Given w hat’ s happened historically, I think most people would say, “ I wish Hum phrey had been in there.” W ould you have preferred Jimmy Carter over Ronald Reagan? I think I would have preferred Jim m y C a rter. T hat doesn’ t suggest that I agree with Jimmy Carter, but in terms of having someone in there that gives you at least the ability to make some moves while not watching your people slowly, or rapidly, destroyed in front of your own eyes. He (Reagan) has actually been responsible for the death of literally thousands of people in this country through starvation, through deprivation. The untold misery that Oregon dalagata Johnnie Bell enjoyed the frantic pace and commotion of the convention. She went aa an unpledged delegate and voted for Gary Hart. (Photo: Richard Brown) he has brought upon those who are most defenseless can’ t be measured. Now, is somebody telling me they prefer that to a situation where it would not exist? I think that Mondale would at least lessen some of the misery that those who are defenseless face today. O And through organizing the Rainbow you hope to create more room to Tight for those needs? H: Yes. I think that we bring a fresh view to the whole thing. That’s what Jesse did. You bring people together who have a history of working to improve conditions for people. Now you have people in the environmental move ment, they’re not doing that for a paycheck...people in the peace movement, they’ re not getting paid for that, but they’re working because they have a sense of morali ty...p eo p le in the civil rights m ovem ent.. .So y o u ’ re bringing together people whose lives have been spent in the service of humanity one way or the other. Generally we’re more creative than those who are only concerned with a d o llar b ill...w e have a sense o f vision they generally don’t. We bring to this whole discussion some solutions that are very, very creative and much different than those which have been put forth. WELCOME TO THE PORTLAND OBSERVER! • neighborhood action and outstanding local achievements • labor, business and economic news • hard hitting editorials • behind the scenes reports on stale, local, and national govern men I • sports coverage. Happenings entertainment page, and more Thu special section. Politics 94 beyond the Democratic C onvenlion. may be the firs t time you have read our paper The Observer. O re l on s only award winning m ulti-ethnic newspaper. u published weektv We hope you enjoy thu special edition and will consider a one year subscription fo r the low price o f only I/O — 15 o f f our regular rate We cover stories other papers merely mention or don *1 cover at all So, take advantage o f our special offer today to keep the Observer coming and yourself in form ed' ■ PORTLAND OBSERVER J Subscribe today! I PLEASE PRINT ■ N.f-»»». H A»JtlfrA\ ■ C»lv I I w o u ld lik a • a u b a c 'ip tio n SO Sha Portland Obseder I h«va enclosed my check O' ■ g _ money O'de» fa* HO fo* B ■ one year aubacnption | 'o Pcrt'4'’ d Obftfrve« ! M j ______________________ | Se«J’J’ • • r ,. • e Slate__________ Z ip ______ ■ * » ’ îu a f I (Photo: Richard J. Brownl ►'•Mrr
