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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 22, 1984)
EDITORIAL/OPINION THt D6NWXCAT& C W ?ollUT6 TRIS CAMPM&N WITH DEUAfrOCrUGRy... D istortions , dece ? now, scare NAME-CALUNÉr, HYftXfllSy I INTEND To CUKZ ON MV <?P N0N6ERtN&... Mondale needs Rainbow Jesse Jackson called it a ‘ 'lovers’ sp at" when Mayor Andrew Young expressed his frustrations Thursday, August 16th, in fro n t o f a group o f Black journalists in A tlanta, Georgia, when he called M ondale's campaign sta ff a "b u n c h o f smart-a d white boys,” because they refused to listen to him. Young prefaced his assessment o f M ondale’s s ta ff by statin g tha t Blacks need to vote fo r Mondale because we could not face another four years o f Reagan. Young was part o f a group o f Black leaders who s p lit w ith th e ir populace by su p p o rtin g M ondale d u rin g the p re side n tial p rim a rie s. Young went beyond the call o f duty by stating he did not th in k Jackson was q u a lifie d to be president. His inflexible stand fo r Mondale, during the National Democratic Convention, and his sup port for the racist "d u al prim ary” system netted boos and cries o f “ shame on you” from Black delegates. Y oung has experienced a case o f chicken- coming-home-to roost. The same insensitivity and arrogance exhibited by Mondale’ s staff to the concerns o f the “ rainbow ” constituency is being mirrored towards those Blacks who stood up for Mondale by sitting down on Jackson. As im portant as it is to defeat the policies o f the Reagan administration, Mondale supporters and campaign staff are not making the necessary overtures to the ten m illion new voters who will give Mondale the margin o f victory in Novem ber. Outbreaks, such as Young’s, will only fuel the apathy among grassroot people. We challenge the local M ondale committee to give the ra in bow a reason to come out and glow in Novem ber. Hatfield mistake won't die State Senator Margie Hendriksen (D-Eugene), once considered a long shot, is now edging closer to incum bent M a rk O. H a tfie ld in the race to represent Oregon in the U nited States Senate. H atfield himself put Hendriksen there, th ro u g h engaging in questionable business relationships and then trying to buy o ff public opinion by donating the money in question to a charity— after the episode has been exposed. H e n d rik s e n , by refusing to make the ap pearance o f impropriety a major campaign issue and concentrating instead on H a tfie ld ’ s poor voting record, is showing admirable restraint. The release o f considerable evidence that Hat fie ld 's real estate agent w ife , A n to in e tte , received payments totaling $55,000 in exchange fo r the S e n a to r’ s active su pport o f a trans- African oil pipeline is shaking Oregon. The scan dal began with the publication o f two articles by syndicated columnist Jack Anderson and is now front page news across the nation. Hatfield had been know n in W ashington circles as " M r . Clean". Greek tycoon Basil A . Tsakos, the promoter Street Beat by Lam ta D u k e and R ichard B ro w n o f the pipeline, has been linked to illegal efforts to sell U.S.-made helicopters to Iran and other weapons to Ira q . C o n tinu e d armed c o n flic t makes an African oil pipeline an attractive alter native to exposing oil shipments to the Middle East conflict. The Senate Ethics Committee, at H a tfield's request, and the F.B.I. (on its own initiative) are now both investigating the Senator’s connection w ith Tsakos. H a tfie ld adm itted to arranging meetings fo r Tsakos w ith U.S. officials and to w riting letters to foreign officials. This was at the same time payments were made by Tsakos to H a tfie ld ’ s wife; supposedly for real estate ad vice. H a tfie ld characterized as " a m ista ke ” allow ing his w ife to do business w ith Tsakos w hile he p rom oted the pipeline. E xpecting O regonians to exonerate him fro m any wrongdoing, on that basis is another H atfield m istake— and one w hich ju st m ig h t help catapult Margie Hendriksen to an upset victory in November. As the Bhagwan broke his vow o f silence to answer questions fo r a d eposition, the Street Beat team asked, " D o you think the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh has been treated fairly?” _____________________ Ferraro should thank Jackson by Dr. Manning Marable ' 'From The Grassroots ' ' In recent weeks, most o f the Presidential campaign spotlight has focused on Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman vice presidential candidate of a major party. Nearly everyone sings her praises. Ms. magazine describes her as "a ttra c tiv e but not beauty pageant beautiful,” "a t ease with the old-boy network” in Congress, and "h a p p ily married with two children and a dog." The three-term representative was the one woman whom "the men in the back room find most palatable.” Most political observers credited Ferraro’s selection by Mondale as a m ajor victory for the N ational O rganization o f Women (N O W ). Judy Goldsmith, NOW president, declares triumphantly, "W e said we would change (he political land scape, and we have.” In Ferraro’s acceptance speech before the con vention, she characterized her nom ination as the realization of " th e American dream ... The daughter of working Americans tells all Americans that the future is within our reach—if we’re willing to reach for it." She praised Mondale as "o n e o f the g re a t" future Paula Brown Administrative Aaalatant "Yes He came to Oregon. Oregonians like to keep Ore gon to themselves. He is up against tradition.” "N o t really, they are trying to get back at the man for stand ing up for what he believes. If he took a vow o f silence, it should have been respected ” Reprint appreciated To the Editor: Howard D. Willits Civil rights now John Edeline Food Broker "Y e s , he gets treated like everybody else Also, I think his press coverage has been more than fair.” Every significant advance in hu man rights or social equality ever achieved by any oppressed group in the U.S. has evolved directly or in directly from the A fro -A m erican Freedom Movem ent. In the nine teenth century, suffragists like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton first acquired their political skills from the Black abolitionist movement. A century later, the modern fe minist movement largely evolved its tactics and agenda from the civil rights and Black Power movements. Ferraro is liberal on many economic issues, but she voted against busing for school desegregation, and sup ports the Pershing 2 missile and the Trident nuclear submarine, which take billions of dollars from human services needed by poor women. Blacks and workers. It is certain that Ferraro— who is not one-tenth as qualified for vice-president as M ary Berry or Shirley Chis holm — owes Jesse her current claim to fame. And it is equally cer tain that most Black women and men who will vote for the Mondale/ Ferraro ticket will do so for only one basic reason—THE DEFEAT OF R O N ALD REAGAN Letters to the Editor Thank you very much for reprin ting Jesse Jackson’s speech (before the National Democratic Conven tion). I read every word o f it. It is very readable, concise, very meaningful and very quotable. I read parts of it to our church. I hope Mondale makes Jackson an impor tant part of his administration. He could be Secretary of State. Other nations would listen to him and act with him. You are doing a great jo b of educating all of us on the real issues o f the day. You are much better than the Oregonian. Best of success! Rudla Reaves Security Guard Presidents. She also applauded Sally Ride and John F. Kennedy for "beckoning America” to new fron tiers. But in a dependent clause— not even a full sentence— she briefly praised Jesse Jackson, "the descendant of slaves” who ran for President. What Ferraro d id n 't say, and should have declared honestly, was the follow ing: " I would not be standing before this convention tonight as your vice presidential nominee had Jesse Jackson not run this year. Jackson, more than any other candidate, consistently raised women’ s issues; he kept Mondale from capturing all of the Black vote, and in so doing, denied the front runner an easy, uncontested nomination. I thank Jesse for being the firs t candidate to commit him self to a woman as a running mate. I praise Jesse and the entire Black electorate for its historic revolt against the established Democratic Party leadership, which created the political opportunity for a white, upper-class woman like myself to advance into power.” To the Editor: This year, 1984. marks the 20th anniversary of passage of the land- MMt mark, historic C ivil Rights Act of 1964, the most far-reaching civil rights law in our nation’s history. This is an appropriate time to con sider the state o f civil rights to America, and to determine whether the direction in which Reagan is taking us is the direction in which we choose to go for four more years. The same Reagan Justice Depart ment that argued in favor of giving tax exemptions to provide univer sities that discrim inate, that op posed extension o f the Voting Rights Act, that missed no oppor tunity to oppose affirmative action, and that convinced the Supreme C ourt to narrow T itle IX , which prohibits discrim ination against women and girls in education, now shows every sign that they are about to enter the Washington State pay equity case on the side o f the discriminator. This case will likely be one of the most important in the history of our battle against sex discrimination in employment. The outcome could determine whether employers may pay workers in female-dominated jobs less than they pay workers in male-dom inated jobs, simply because women predominate. The impact of the case cannot be over stated. When Reagan ran for president four years ago, he insisted that although he opposed the Equal Rights Am endm ent, he favored equal opportunity for women. His actions to date show no such com mitment. A Justice Department in tervention in this case on behalf of Washington State would leave no doubt that Reagan will continue to use the powers of his office to deny civil rights to women and minorities. Patricia M Shockey The Observer welcomes Letters to the Editor. Letters should be short, and must contain the writer's name and address (addresses are not print ed) The Observer reserves the right to edit fo r length Portland Observer The Portland Observer rUSPS 959 6801 it published every Thurtdey by E«ie Publishing Company. Inc 2201 North Killings worth. Portland. Oregon 97217. Post Othce Bos 3137, Portland. Oregon 97206 Second clast pottage paid at Portland. Oregon teg The Portland Observer wes established m 1970 MEMBER Association • Paul Mayara Studant Sunni Waters Computer Operator " N o , there is too much dis crimination here in Oregon. He has not had the opportunity to get a fair shake. Those that are against him have political clout to make everything he wants a struggle.” "Yes, even though he does not cooperate w ith the legal system He came in and made his own town. I do not think that is right.” Paulette Winston Computer Operator "Yes, but he hasn’t treated Oregon fa irly . I have mixed reactions. I'm against religious cults." Founded 1885 Subscriptions »15 00 per year in the Tri County area Post m a tte r Send address changes to the Portland Observer. P 0 Bos 3137. Portland. Oregon 97208 Alfred L. Henderson, Editor/Publtsher A I Williams, General Manager 283 2486 National Advertising Representativa Am algam ated Publisher», Inc N aw York
