Moses
Malone
Page 10
Hearty
soups
Civil
rights
Page 7
Page 2
Volume X V , Number 10
January 2 , I9K5
25c Copy
7 W fc Seel ion*
W S «ft«»«»
r isr
« .. /*. ,«M
Rev. Jackson to speak
by Lamia Duke
Most recently, Jackson assembled
the Rainbow C o alitio n in his bid to
win the Democratic presidential nom
ination.
G R A S S R O O T N E W S , N .W . —
Jesse Jackson, recent presidential
candidate for the Democratic nom
ination, w ill be in our sister city —
Seattle, W ashington — January 16,
1985, at the Paramount Theatre.
Jackson will honor the memory of
Dr. M artin Luther King, Jr. His ap
pearance is at the in v ita tio n o f the
Pacific Northwest Bell C entral C ity
C om m unity Relations T eam . H e is
the featured speaker at the Central
City C .R . Team's seventh annual Dr.
King Birthday Celebration.
This years p ro gram , "R e n e w in g
The D re a m ,” w ill be held at 6:30
p.m. at 907 Pine St. Tickets are avail
able at no charge by sending a self-
addressed. stamped envelope to:
M L K T ic ke ts, P .O . Box 2027,
Seattle, Washington 98101.
"R e v . Jackson has done more to
keep alive the dream o f D r. K in g ,"
said M ary M oore, Central City C .R .
^chairperson. " W e are honored that he
has agreed to participate in our pro
gram.’’
Karen LeVasseur, also o f P N W
Bell, said, " W e wanted to do some
thing special, and there is nothing as
special as listening to Rev. Jackson.**
Jackson gained n atio n al p ro m i
nence in 1966 when he and others
founded Operation Breadbasket. He
Portland started the naw year w ith a naw City
Council: (l-r) newly elected Commissioner Dick Bo-
9,e- Mike Lindberg, newly elected Mayor Bud Clark.
Mildred Schwab and Margaret Strachan.
(Photo: Dan Long)
served as national director of the Sou
thern Christian Leadership C o n fer
ence from 1966 to 1971. In 1971 he
New Right eyes anti apartheid movement
by James Ridgeway
W A S H I N G T O N , D .C . — A n t i
apartheid dem onstrations have by
now become a permanent feature o f
the W ashington landscape. South
A fric a has also been the focus o f
events which are much less visible but
may be fare more significant.
This city still has not recovered
from the sharply critical letter sent the
South A fric a n am bassador by 35
conservative House m em bers, f o l
lowed soon th ereafter by President
Reagan's ow n c ritic a l com m ents.
Ever since, conservatives have been
arguing among themselves about the
correct policy toward South Africa.
Conservatives now dom inate the
political scene here, but liberals have
not disappeared. M ic h ig a n D e m o
crat John C o n yers, an in flu e n tia l
m ember o f the Black C aucus, has
charged that current policies o f "con
structive engagement" toward South
A frica are, in effect, a cover for ac
tions that encourage repression by
the ruling white minority.
In their letter, the 35 Republicans,
many o f them " N e w R ig h tists ,”
threatened to support economic sanc
tions against South A fric a unless
there was an im m ediate end to the
current violence and "willingness to
move more progressively and aggres
sively towards real human rights re
forms.**
T he letter originated in the C o n
servative O p p o rtu n ity Society, a
group o f 15 New Right House mem
bers, and was d ra fte d by R obert
W alke r o f Pennsylvania, w ho con
sulted w ith Black Caucus members
before releasing it. T h e actio n u p
staged later efforts by main-line Re
publicans like Senators Richard Lugar
and Nancy Kassebaum who w rote
the President privately urging greater
d ip lom atic effo rts but staying well
clear o f a call for sanctions.
O n the most obvious level. W a lk
er’s letter is part o f a parliam entary
g u e rrilla w ar being waged success
fu lly by N ew t G in g rich and other
COS members. They want to project
an unconventional "firebrand" image
to build a far broader political base
than conservatives have ever im ag
ined. Blacks are viewed as potential
allies o f this new campaign
Some conservatives also reason,
more narrowly, that opposing apart
heid is p o litic ally advantageous be
cause it deflects criticism that the
Right is racist. In foreign policy, the
argument goes, such a position frees
the New Right to vigorously back
anti-communist forces in such places
as M o za m b iq u e , A n g o la and N a
mibia. And at home, it may provide
some p olitical cover against liberal
criticism s that e ffo rts to cut social
spending hurt minorities.
A ll in all, the C O S letter probably
represents a drift toward pragmatism
by people who now see themselves on
the threshold of greater political pow
er Certainly, the President felt prod
ded to fo llo w . “ W e feel a m oral re
sponsibility to speak out on this mat
ter," he said on International Human
Rights D ay, " t o emphasize our con
cerns and our grief over the human
and s p iritu a l costs o f a p a rth e id .”
H e w ent on to say th at sometimes
"quiet diplomacy is not enough.**
Conyers’ charges followed hard on
the President’ s speech. H e says the
State Department is ignoring a 1977
arms em barg o, w hich the U n ited
States has signed, and that the ad
ministration has also permitted South
A fric a to im p o rt equipm ent which
can only be used for internal repres
sion.
But whether challenges come from
liberals or conservatives, there is con
siderable question as to whether eco
nom ic ties between South A fric a
and the United States can be changed.
O pp o sitio n to the new right in i
tiative, for example, came not from
liberals but from corporations long
linked to the region. By mid-Decem
ber, ad hoc meetings were being held
in Washington involving representa
tives from the U.S. Chamber o f Com
merce and the N a tio n a l Assn, o f
M an u factu rers, as well as c o rp o ra
tions like M o b il, Dresser In d . and
C a te rp illa r. The executives quickly
agreed to lobby as a group against
proposals banning new investment,
or bank loans, or imposing any re
strictions on U .S . firm s in South
Africa.
Perhaps the most im p ortan t eco
nomic relationship between the two
countries is in the area o f minerals,
which conservatives here have long
argued are vital to our defense.
For example, the Soviet Union and
South A fric a are the w o rld ’ s largest
producers o f manganese, essential in
the manufacture of steel, and chrome,
needed for the stainless steel so vital
to armaments and aircraft. Shutting
o ff South A frica, the argument goes,
would leave the west to the mercies of
the Soviets
South A fric a is the w orld 's third
«larg est producer o f u ra n iu m , and,
again along with the USSR, the larg
est producer o f platinum — used in
catalytic converters and upgrading
gasoline, both essential in U .S . e f
forts to curb air pollution from auto
mobiles.
But on examination, the case is not
so strong. Manganese is found else
where — in B razil and even hard-
to -fin d chrome exists in large if de
clining deposits in Zimbabwe and in
small low-grade deposits in Turkey,
Pakistan and the Philippines.
A c tu a lly , U .S . dependence on
South A frica has grown not because
o f its m ineral deposits but because
U .S . firms have established refining
operations there. Under the current
setup, even if platinum were mined in
U ta h it w ould have to be sent to
South Africa for refining.
Beyond this is a much larger ques
tion — the lit tie-not ices rise o f South
A fric a ’ s business as an independent
element. Its mining companies have
considerable global influence — the
AngloAm erican C o rp ., for instance,
owns the U .S -based Engelhardt M in
erals C o ., w o rld ’ s largest precious
metals firm. And South Africa’s third
largest co rp o ratio n , the R o th m an /
Rembrandt G roup, accounts for one
in 12 cigarettes sold in the non
communist world.
In the past, the new conservatives
have not been u nw illing to rally
rhetorically against the "eastern busi
ness establishm ent,” yet when push
came to shove they lined up as loyal
supporters o f big business interests
in Congress. But with the apartheid
issue com m anding so much atten
tio n , some observers wonder if the
game will have to be played according
to new rules this time.
Although he fell short of the nom
in a tio n , Jackson rem ains a strong
force in national politics. His speech
at the Dem ocratic C o nvention was
considered to be the highlight o f the
year.
JESSE JA C K S O N
founded O peration P U S H (People
United to Save Humanity).
"Jackson has been instrumental in
bringing many previously disenfran
chised groups into the American po
litical system," M oore said. " H e has
brought hope to those who had
none.”
Jews oppose apartheid
by Robert Lothian
A coalition o f Jewish groups led
the d em onstration in fro n t o f the
South African embassy in Washing
ton, D .C ., on Christmas Day.
Representalivca o f the groups said
they wanted to a ffirm the close ties
between Jews and Blacks in the strug
gle for justice and human rights, and
to give C h ristian s involved in the
demonstrations a day off.
Somex:hanied Jewish prayers and
carried menorahs (candle holders)
m arking the celebration o f H an u k-
kuh, an eight-day Jewish holiday.
The seven-week-old d em o n stra
tions have brought many arrests and
are spreading across the country, but
South African leaders appear as un
moved as ever.
One 61-year-old Jewish woman
compared South A fric a ’ s leaders to
Nazis. " A p a rth e id is precisely the
same thing as the control o f Jews in
the ghettos o f Europe by the Nazis,"
she said. "A s a Jew, I know what dis
crim in a tio n and prejudice are all
about. That's why I ’m here."
P artic ip a tin g in the W ashington
demonstrations were the Am erican
Jewish C om m ittee, the New Jewish
Agenda, the Jewish Labor C o m m it
tee, and the Washington Association
of Reformed Congregations. About
250 persons took p art (Condensed
fro m the L .A . T im es-W ash in gto n
Post Service).
Sandy Polishuk, board member of
the New Jewish Agenda in Portland,
said " a lot o f our members are in
volved” in the local demonstrations.
The National group has endorsed
the protests and the local group will
discuss taking a stand in early Janu
ary, said Polishuk " I certainly would
like us to be associated w ith it. I
would be surprised i f they didn’t en
dorse it ," she said.
She said her group received a piece
o f hate m ail recently " fr o m people
calling themselves fascists,” w ith a
message that was an ti-Jew , an ti-
Black. anti-gay and anti-communist.
The Christm as dem onstration in
Washington was in a long tradition of
Jewish people volunteering on Christ
mas to give Christians the day off.
said Polish u k. New Jewish agenda
members have been active in the Rain
bow Coalition and in the Herb Caw
thorne campaign, she added.
A ttorney Beverly Stein, co-chelr of the Dem ocratic Soclallate of
America end Pequlta L. Qaretee, student employee In the Bieck Stu
dies Department end history ma|or at P.S.U ., receive citations after
being arreeted tor treepeeelng at the business office of Calvin Van Pelt,
who Is also the Honorary Consul to South Africa. Outside, about 60
people proteeted treatment by the minority white government of the
country’s Bieck majority under the system of apartheid.
(Photo: Rlcherd J. Brown)
Sar related story ' 'AJncan an d Black A mencan connections'' on Page 4.