Page 4. Portland Observer, January 23, 1986
EDITORIAL/OPINION
National racism must be fought
As 58 pcrccnl o f I he 31 percent o f registered
voters who voted placed a crown on the head of
Ronald Reagan, black leaders and organizations
sidelined by his politics arc shocked as Reagan
criticized them fo r distorting his civil rights
record.
In an interview on January 17th with USA
Today, Reagan said Black leaders have ignored
minority gains made in the last four years.
“ I have come to the conclusion that maybe
some o f these leaders arc protecting some rather
good positions..........and they can protect them
better if they can keep their constituency agricved
believing they have a legitimate co m p la in t,”
Reagan said.
Reagan continued his assault of black leader
ship and organizations by adding, “ I f they
(Blacks) ever become aware of the opportunities
that are improving they might wonder whether
they need some o f those organizations.”
Ronald Reagan’s statements are destructive,
insulting and racist. How dare he try to under
mine leaders and organizations who are just tell
ing the truth. His racist remarks are the after-
math o f the Urban League’s annual “ State o f
Black America,” which said under the Reagan
Administration people o f color and low-income
have had their civil, economic and social rights
trampled upon.
The reason Black leaders have no, dissemin
ated this so-called progress which Reagan alludes
to is because their constituency will not be lied to.
Under the Reagan Administration, Affirm ative
Action has become tokenism, the C ivil Rights
Commission has become the civil wrongs com
mission and the number o f Americans living
below the poverty line has increased.
Ronald Reagan has a lot of nerve. He is em
ploying one o f the oldest tricks in the books —
divide and conquer. Nationally, statewide and
locally, whenever people o f color organize to
make change, the institutions or individuals
forced to capitulate always question the leader
ship o f the movement.
On the national level, Reagan’ s tactics are
much more destructive to the nation as a whole.
The lac, that he sidestepped Black organizations
and leaders who have traditionally fought for
people o f color and low-income families is an
indication that he is trying to pick our leaders.
Reagan incorrectly assumed that Blacks are
"politically committed to the Democratic Party."
This same party that locked out the legitimate
candidacy o f Jesse Jackson is the same party
that fought for legalized racism in the form of
dual parties in the South. And this same party
ran their 1984 presidential campaign as if they
wanted Ronald Reagan to be re-elected.
Reagan does our country a disservice by pick
ing bits of information that he wants to hear and
choosing the "house Negro” that he wants to
hear it from . Reagan may think a ll’s well that
ends well, but he is deceiving himself at taxpay
ers’ expense. The powerless and the voiceless
w ill no, allow anyone to pick their leaders for
them.
by Bill Bigelow
I jest August elections were held in
South Africa. Just over two months
later Nicaraguans went to the polls.
How the U.S. government responded
to these two events tells us a lot about
what is genuinely behind U.S. foreign
policy.
W e arc all fa m ilia r w ith Reagan,
Shultz, and company’s denunciation
of the Nicaraguan elections. They were
a " s h a m ” , a “ p h o n y” , a l a d l e to
so lid ify the iron grip o f the Sandi-
nistas in then “ totalitarian dungeon.”
But what of South Africa's elections?
According to the State Department,
these represented a move tow ard
“ decisive political change.” Our lead
ers quietly lamented (he exclusion of
South A frica's Black m ajority from
the voting, but expressed hope that
the elcctons would accelerate the
process o f change.
What is it, really, that determines
whether the U.S. responds to an elec
tion in another country with congrat
ulations or threats o f annihilation?
Our government consistently burps
out rhetoric about “ d em o cracy” .
Ix t's take them at their word. What is
democracy? Patricia Kullberg, in an
insightful article in the November is
sue o f C e n tra l A m erican U p d ate,
argues that at the very least it means
“ that the people have equal political
power and the capacity to use it.” So
cieties in which few people decide
who will have work and who w on't,
what crops will be grown, and what
goods m a n u fac tu red , is not d em o
cratic — even though the pow erful
and powerless may be “ equal" when
they arrive at the ballot box.
Nicaragua is attacked. South A fri
ca is applauded. How does the A d
ministration decide?
South Africa's racist social system
•> MKI •
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Editorials lack
credibility
To the Editor.
This week in Portland, a victory was scored
when the collective efforts o f many forced the
resignation o f Oregon’s honorary South African
consul Calvin VanPell. It will take this same col
lective effort to offset the racism from the Rea
gan A d m inistra tion. Reagan has surrounded
himself w ith a handpicked Black leadership.
As they paint him a picture o f calm acceptance
of his unfair policies, the civil rights movement
w ill shock him back Io reality because the
ground will rumble with cries for justice.
mA I J ON SOUTH AFRICA
"Democratic"
double standards
"OK... we've gotten religion out of politic«. which leaves... two part* demagoguery
one part hypocrisy, and a smidgen of hot air."
is old news: over 70% of the popula
tion is relegated io 13% o f the most
useless land; these same people —
Black South A fric an s — have no
vote, cannot live where they wish and
can be imprisoned simply for speak
ing out against this oppression.
W h a t’ s new are the recent elec
tions. For the first lime, all so-called
Colored and Indian South Africans
were allowed to vote. The South A fri
can governm ent's goal was trans
parent: divide and rule. Split o ff siz
able numbers of Indians and Coloreds
and the potential non-white alliance
would be dealt a severe blow.
Sound " d e m o c ra tic " ? The U .S .
State D epartm ent ate it up. I netr
argument was as simple as it was
wrong: more people voting — more
democracy.
The reality was the opposite —
"successful” elections, in which C o l
oreds and Indians enthusiastically em
braced their newly-bestowed suffrage,
would have crippled the real move
ment towards democracy by giving
them a stake in an undemocratic sys
tem and pitting them against the ma
jo r ity , extra-electo ral opposition.
(As it was, over X()% of the Coloreds
and Indians chose to boycott the
elections rather than be co-opted.)
Don't U.S. rulers see through this
sham? O f course they do. They fully
support this process o f democracy-
avoidance. For a clue as to why, one
might note that direct U.S. investment
in South Africa has gone from $140
million to over $2.5 billion in the last
25 years. It's no wonder: profit rales
in South Africa through most of this
period were twice what they were in
the United States. Continuing injus
tice in South Africa doesn't hurt U.S.
economic interests; it helps.
I t ’ s obscene, but true: the U .S .
feigns a concern fo r dem ocracy to
mask its actual goal — a safe and
pro fitable investment clim ate. The
problem is that these two goals lend
to be at cross purposes: real democra
cy poses a m o rtal threat to e x p lo i
tation.
Unlike the restrained optimism the
U.S. expressed for elections in South
Africa, which excluded over 70% of
the potential electorate, continuous
vitriolic attacks have been heaped on
Nicaragua's elections. This, despite
the fact that no Nicaraguan of voting
age was excluded, and political parties
ol all persuasions were allowed—even
encouraged— to campaign.
I agree with your editorial of Janu
ary 9, 19X5, that Bud Clark and G ret
chen K alo u ry should be confronted
with their failure to include Blacks on
their staff However, I take exception
to one statem ent you made which
dilutes your im pact and calls into
question your credibility.
You slate that the failure to include
Blacks on their staffs “can only prtxiuce
policies that will make the Grand Wizard
of the KKK proud.” Black involvement
wiin policy ideas will certainly make
them more sensitive to Blacks and ad-
vocated more strongly. However, just
because policies arc developed by while
people does not mean they automatically
will reflect the racism of the KKK.
Pointed criticism is an important
function of your paper However, im
plying such a negative asstxialion for
your potential or actual allies leaves
very little tor those who really deserve it.
B IL L M A B L O W E
Credit to
Carter
Judge not
each other
To the Editor,
To the Editor,
I have attended eight or ten of the
Joint Sessons o f the O regon State
legislature.
I was State Representative o f Dis
trict 21 for six terms, 1963-1975.
This Joint Session was the most im
pressive of a ll. You were (here, I
understand. That's great!
Rep. M arg a re t C a rte r, D ist. 18,
was the O N E person p rim a rily re
sponsible for its momentous success.
She and her Jo yfu l Sound chorus,
with her own personal singing at times
stirred everyone with contagious en
thusiasm. Margaret led the whole au
dience in clapping, some in singing. I
notices even many of the august mem
bers o f the judiciary joined in clap
ping to the music, some in singing.
Twice the whole audience stood and
clapped with applause, longer than
any other event on the program.
The chorus' three numbers were
beautifully rendered, highly impres
sive, inovative, stirring and m agnifi
cent. M argaret deserves most o f the
credit.
Margaret had been in office only a
few minutes. She has already made a
great name fo r herself. I think she
will make a great lawmaker for us all.
Concerning the article which ap
peared in print about Brother Danny
Boyd and o f Ron M a r tin , I find
nothing pleasing about the gross in
terpretation concerning either. What I
do find grossly disturbing is that we,
as convicts and brothers, have dis
played what I feel this system desires:
conflict and dissension am ong ouit
Black-selves.
I am sure that Brother M arlin has
constructed avenues for Black prog
ress within the system.. .I'm sure that
Brother Boyd’s comments were nqt
to injure but aid us in understanding
what we must conquer through a
transition pernxl of a group structure.
To Brothers Ron M artin and Dan
ny Boyd I congratulate you for gener
ating dead minds to live issues, which
I see as an a ffirm a tiv e approach to
doing s o m e th in g . And as Brother
Malcolm X has said, "W e are not to
judge each other but to judge those
actions put forth .
He, loo, was a
convict and a Black man, or have we
forgotten? O r have we forgotten that
all we have to m aintain in this envi
ronment is our Black pride.
Black
m anhood. . .our Black-selves. , ,!
Walk in Balance.
H O W A R D D. W ILLITS
MARCUS
The Nicaraguan revo lution has
shifted state resources to programs to
benefit the m a jo rity o f the people:
health clinics, literacy program s,
day care centers. I and has been re
distributed and workers offered new
rights and encouragement. The econ
omy would still have to be considered
capitalist, but owners' prerogatives
are limited and profit is no longer the
sole criterion for production.
In short, it is the investment c li
mate in N icaragu a that is gloom y,
not necessarily the prospects for
democracy.
N icaragu a, one o f the smallest,
poorest, and least developed coun
tries in Latin Am erica, is no big loss
for U .S . capitalism . But the possi
bility that bigger fish, such as FI Sal
vador, Guatemala, or — God forbid
— C h ile , might fo llo w its lead and
take control o f their own economic
destinies is a chilling thought.
The U .S . government's slander of
Nicaragua's elections was as inevit
able as was its g lo rific a tio n o f the
South African balloting. Ultimately,
these decisions stem from economic
consideations not from a lust for
w orld w id e dem ocracy. W e should
recognize the deeper roots o f U .S .
policy. However incomplete and still
u ndefined, the Nicaraguan experi
ment challenges the dom ination o f
U.S. economic control.
Portland Observer
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