1,1964
talk
no T A L K
talk
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no talk
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EDITORIAL/OPINION
Oregonian wrongs Jordan
The editorial board of The Oregonian newe-
peper has again stuck its foot in its mouth as
they continue to assail Charles Jordan during his
last weak as City Commissioner.
Their moat recant bumbling of the perspec
tives behind the facts was an editorial on Sej>
tember 23 They criticized Jordan for saying, if
ha could, ha would appoint a Black as his suc
cessor.
'The Oregonian's editorial board implied that
if Jordan appointed a Black to his seat, ha or
aha would not ba qualified.
Jordan reasoned that an Afro-American
would bring a much-needed perspective to an
otherwise all-white City Council. A look at the
city's Affirmative Action record is enough to in
dict the city for discrimination. If Jordan did ap
point a Black, ha would have made sura that
parson's qualifications would ba unquestion
able. Using the divide-and-conquer tactics of an
oppressor, the editorial board said Blacks make
up less than eight percent of the population in
Portland. Since other minority groups form simi
lar population numbers, the same claim could be
made for the rights of their representation on
the Council.
Other pecplo of color can and should de
mand to be represented in elected office. Very
few majority politicians understand the com
plaints and daily hassles of those darker than
blue. Those who are sensitive are currently un
der the gun to compromise away our accom
plishments.
Politicians of color would only understand
that they have lived in an America where the
status quo places them one step above apart
heid.
If the editorial board of The Oregonian was
truly concerned about the political status of its
readers of color they would sound an alarm to all
the Afro-American candidates in the City COun-
di race. These candidates may be cutting their
noeee off to spite their faces becauee the results
of these next five weeks may leave Portland
with no Bieck representation at the county or
city level.
The all-white, male editorial board at The
Oregonian has constantly exhibited a sharecrop
per's attitude towards Jordan.
Earlier, when Jordan announced hie Inten
tions to leave for Austin, The Oregonian said he
had a responsibility to the voters to stay But as
Jordan said lest week in an interview, "Bectfve
office is an informal contract between me and
the voters. They can put me in and they can
take me out. I should be free to go in and go
on. 99
Jordan's desire to keep a little color on the
Council is prefaced by experience. He was orig
inally appointed to his seat on the Council and
wonder if the voters ten years ego would have
elected a former Medal Cities director.
With the type of arrogance and narrow
mindedness expressed in the editorial pages of
Oregon's largest newspaper. Black political
growth in Portland would have to run fast just to
stand still before we satisfy their perceptions.
All Jordan wanted to do was to give another
Black the same chance he had. He knows that
Blacks have been locked out of the political
arena and during the next five weeks, many are
destined to make mistakes. But w e have the ex
ample of Jordan's leadership to maneuver politi
cally in the future.
The editorial board has yet to accent the posi
tive aspects of Jordan as he packs his bags and
waves good-by. Their editorial writing reflects
the double standard of journalism as it observes
a Black politician.
This latest round of editorials makes them li
belous for disseminating misinformation.
Letters to the Editor
No to prostitution
than
the
career
opportunities
discussed in school; the parent whose
daughter finds greeter security in a
pimp than in her family, w e see them
aU and seek to help them wherever
we find them. Our purpose ■ to make
people whole and to make neigh
borhoods safe places in which to rear
families. To lend support to the
legalization of prostitution is to make
our work more difficult. W e expect
better from the City Club
Given that proetitution is illegal in
the State of Oregon, and It, Ilka other
business ventures, la governed by the
law of supply and demand, w e could
solve the problem of proetitution If w e
could muster enough support for the
arrest of both the prostitute and the
To The Editor:
W e. the Board of Elders of the
Mallory Avenue Christian Church,
wish to express our disappointment
with the Portland City Club’s recent
vote to legalize prostitution.
Perhaps you would have to spend
a day or two at Mallory to understand
the formidable task of ministering to
the needs of individuals and families
whose Uvea have bean ramshackled
by the social milieu of prostitution.
The school child waiting on the cor
ner for a school bus who is mistaken
for a prostitute; the elderly woman
whose back yard is used instead of a
motel room; the parent whose son
finds pimping to be more attractive
-
' •■•Hi
'
/A ri/flS
Avp T etu àn ero*
<
iW « S W
K>urxAl erATtte
V ------ ----
'S
client when caught in violation of the
law. Our currant laws have not been
vigorously upheld and enforced by
elected and appointed public officials.
W e challenge the Portland City Club
to go on record in support of OUR
public officials enforcing OUR laws.
Sincerely,
Dorothy L. Alexander, Chair
The Board of Eldars
Mallory Avenue
Christian Church
The Observer ivr/rornrs / eiters to
rfir Editor Eetteri should he short,
and must contain the w rite r\ name
and address /addresses are not print
ed) The Obsei ver reserves the right
to edit f o r length
When is a Populist a Klansman?
by Dr. Manning Marable
"From The Grassroots"
On August 19. over 600 delegates
attended the first national convention
of the Populist Party in 88 years.
Meeting in NaahvWe. the Populists
nominated Bob Richards, an Olympic
gold medebst in the 1966 end 1960
Summer Gamas, as their 1964
rreswentiai nominee, ntenaros name
w * be on the baMot in forty states,
and the Populists already claim to
have
about
300,000
members.
Richards predicts that the Populists
could "present a serious challenge to
the Democratic and Republican can-
x- _a - - ---- »»
ooatm .
The sudden revival of the Populist
Party evokes historical reflections on
its predecessor In the 1890a, the
Populists nearly overturned
the
Democratic Party's domination of the
South. The petty united poor Bieck
and white farmers behind a b»-rsc«al
program of economic justice and
social reforms. It opposed the power
ful
planter
dess
and
railroad
monopolies, and in moat states
fought Jim Crow laws.
society-nation in which the minority
wvm .
in plain
tngnan, maaa
Populists are declaring war on aodal
welfare programs, desegregation and
ctv* rights, behind the partieRy-veled
rhetoric of anti-Semitism and white
supremacy.
The summer, 1964 edition of the
anti-racist publication. The Hammer,
obaarvea that "the name recognition
and whoiaaoma image of Richards,"
bast known for hie "Wheatiaa" cereal
commercials, has permitted the
Populist Party to mask its fascist,
racist origins. The real leaders of this
party are a "rogue's gaMary" of the far
right. The party's major leader is
Robert Weems, who in the late 1970a
was Mississippi chaplain of the "In
visible Empire" Knights of the Ku Klux
Kian. As late as Labor Day, 1982,
Weems spoke at a "unity" rally at
Stone Mountain, Georgia.
This "new " Populist Party also
denounces "international parasitic
capitalism" in Its program. It calls for
tariffs to protect American jobs,
federal spending to expend transpor
tation and communication facilities,
and parity for small family farmers.
These policy positions are wen within
the old Populist tradition. But the
"heart" of the new party is its am
phaais on what it terms, "respect
(for) racial and cultural diversity." The
new Populist program declare that
"every race" must "pursue its destiny
free from interference by another
race." Targeting Biecks, Latinos and
Jewish-Americans (not by name, but
racist innuendo) the program states
that
Populists
oppose
"nodal
programs which would radically
modify another race's behavior, (and)
demands by one race to subsidize it
financially or politically as long as it
remains on American soil.
The
Populist Party will not permit any
racial minority, through control of the
media, culture distortion or revolu
tionary political activity, to divide or
factionakze the minority of the
\N q \ n \ The
Other Populist leaders and public
spokesmen have long histonee in
racist, neo-fascist and anti-Semitic
organizations. From the Arkansas
KKK, there is Ralph Forbes, now a
"promoter" for the Populists. Some
may recall that Forbes was behind the
Kian rally in Washington. D.C. in late
1982. From J. B. Stoner's notorious
States Rights Party comes A. J.
Barker, now the Vice Chairman of the
North Carolina Populists Journalist
Tom Valentina, a frequent writer for
the viciously racist and anti-Semitic
journal. The Spotlight, has emerged
as Richards' presidential campaign
treasurer. One of the Populists' major
speakers is Jack Mohr, the national
defense coordinator of the "Christian
Defense
League,"
a
rightwing
extremist group. Other local Populist
leaders have been drawn from the
John Birch Society, Poeee Comita-
tus, the segregationist Southam
National
Party,
the
California-
based Independence Party, the W is
consin Constitutional Party, and other
racist, anti-Semitic, and/or violence
prone extremist factions.
not. Another recant group « the
Aryan Nation, which cads for the
deportation of every Bieck. Latino
and Jaw in the U .S . The Aryan
Nation's headquarters in Hayden
Lake, Idaho has a force of over one
hundred ax-Klansman and neo-Nazis,
protected by armed guards. The
"Christian Identity M ovem ent," a
ooalition of racist, rightwing funda
mentalist "churches," is also acquir
ing hundreds of new members each
month. Like Ronald Reagan, these
racists have learned to doek their real
agenda behind the slick and subtle
imegsa of Populism, patriotism,
stat* » rights, and Christianity. But
behiid the new facade stands the
rope and the burning croaa, racism
and
anti-SamMem
The
"new
Populist" is still a Klansman.
Portland Women's
Crisis Line
A Public Sanna, of th« Portland Observer
Check out
JOBS
in this
week's
Portland
Observer
The Populist Party is only the latest
effort to unite Nazis, Klansman, and
racists under one organizational ban-
Observer survey:
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