Page 4. Portland Observer, March 6. 1965
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EDITORIAL/OPINION
OF T H E U M T E D STATES
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Make foreign policy consistent
Another example o f the double standard and
hypocrisy o f the Reagan Administration’s fo r
eign policy is its interoretation and perception o f
actions toward Nicaragua and South Africa.
How can demands for democatic reform be
stressed for Nicaragua while South A frica’s bla
tant sidesteps o f democratic rule is excused?
W hy did the Reagan Administration criticize
Nicaragua’s elections, where more than 50 per
cent o f all Nicaraguans voted the current govern
ment in power, while remaining mute and apolo
getic on South A frica’s elections that excluded
85 percent o f the electorate?
W ha, gives the Reagan Administration the
right to become Nicaragua’s border and im m i
gration officers as they condemn the presence of
Cuban and Soviet advisers while they dabble in
Third W orld countries without hesitation?
When does a group’s confrontation challenge
to their government cause the Reagan Adminis-
tratin to classify them as “ guerrillas as in the
case o f the African National Congress, while
praising Nicaraguan’s an,i-Sandinista as free
dom Fighters’’?
There is no consistency in Reagan’s foreign
policy, but there is plenty of exploitation, racism
and imperialism. Everything was fine in Central
America as long as American multi-nationals
and a few Central American families controlled
the wealth. Bu, when the people fought against
economic oppression and social stagnation,
Street
eat
by Lanita Duke and Richard J. Brown
Americans were told o f an impending C om
munist threat.
The truth of the matter is, it makes no d iffer
ence to a family farmer who shows him or her
how to plant corn. The only concern is feeding,
sheltering and providing for their families. The
reality o f what one group o f elderly white males
(Reagan’s cabinet) will offer Nicaragua is no d if
ferent from what another group o f elderly white
males (Russia) will provide.
The only difference is choice. The majority of
Nicaraguans chose the present form o f govern
ment and humanity demands that all human
beings be given the right of self-determination.
The Reagan Administration is violating this right.
They even re-wrote the rules to accommodate
their narrowness by removing their actions from
the jurisdictions of the W orld Court because
Nicaragua called for accountability over this
administration’s financial support and guidance
in the bombing o f her harbors.
As taxpayers, we should demand consistency
in foreign policy application. We should ques
tion why the Reagan Administration wants to
spend our tax dollars to overthrow Nicaragua,
while protecting the racism o f South Africa by
voting ‘no’ on United Nation’s resolutions to
boycott goods and services to a country ruled by
those who stole and raped her.
The mentality and implementation of Rea
gan’s foreign policies places our tax dollars on a
peculiar side — the wrong one.
New Zealand’s refusal to grant port ac
cess to American ships who may carry nu
clear weapons made national headlines las,
week. The Street Beat team asked, “ Should
one country have the right to refuse another
country’s ships who may be carrying nuclear
weapons?”
Lawrence Parker
Custodian
"Yes, nuclear weapons arc
dangerous. A country has the
right to deny access."
Linde Tryner
Houaewife
AND re P1REÓTED TBE F ollowing
AAESSA6F *ro v /HITI- SOUTH
Willie Myers
Retired
"Yes. Countries have the
nght to protect their ow n.”
"No. Equal access to all
ships."
Israel linked to South Africa
Along the Color Line by Dr. Manning Marahle
South Africa is not simply a police
stale which denies democratic rights
to the overwheming majority of its
people It is not just a racially segre
gated society, in which 3 million Black
children suffer from malnutrition,
and in which infant mortality rates
per thousand live births are 13 for
whiles and 90 for Africans. Il is not
solely a place where percapita spend
ing on education is 51,115 for whites
and 5170 for Blacks; and where dtcior/
patient ratios arc 1:330 for whites and
1:19,000 for Africans II represents in
its totality a renegade, fascist state, a
government lacking in basic human
decency, a regime which views all
people of color as permanently in
ferior. Its grotesque character and
Hitlerian social system would hardly
seem the place in which historically
oppressed people would Find any
reason to cooperate, much less gain
profits from.
And yet the great irony is that the
one nation which maintain the closest
ties with the political economy of
apartheid, other than the U.S. and the
United Kingdom, is the state of Israel
The February. 1985 issue of Israeli
Foreign Affairs documents an extra
ordinarily close relationship between
Tel Aviv and Pretoria. Jane Hunter, a
Jewish progressive, notes that Israel’s
claim of 583 million in exports to
South Africa does not include "pol
ished diamonds, Israel's top export at
51 billion a yhear, which are imported
from DeBeer’s Central Selling Organ
ization";
“ military
transactions,
probably several hundred million dol
lars annually"; joint undertakings
such as Iskoor, "a marriage of the
South African Steel Corporation and
Koor, a corporation owned by Israel's
Histadrut that conducts much trade
with South Africa." Conversely,
jobs.” But accotding to Sullivan’s
own annual reports, progress along
such lines is at best marginal In the
1983 report, it was noted that white
employees filled 94 percent of all
new managerial posts, and that non
white workers "lost ground steadily in
clerical-administrative programs over
the last three years " About three
fourths of all unskilled workers in
firms signing the Sullivan Principles
were Africans, while only 0.3 percent
were white. Two percent of all man
agers were Black, 97 percent were
white. Clearly, the strategy of reform-
from-within makes about as much
sense as trying to convince Hitler pas
sively to give up fascism.
There are also hundreds of Afro-
American artists and athletes who
have performed in South Africa dur
ing the past decade, obtaining huge
fees to entertain white audiences.
Their presence legitimates the regime,
providing tactical support and com
fort to the opponents of Black free
dom. Just a short list of these enter
tainers includes: Aretha Franklin,
Eartha Kitt, Johnny Mathis, Steph
anie Mills, Della Reese, Betty Wright,
the Staple Singers, Ray Charles,
and Nikki Giovanni. Throughout
the U .S., Blacks have organized to
boycott the performances and records
of all artists — Black and white —
who have profited from apartheid.
The system of tyranny in South Afri
ca is crumbling, and within the next
decade will fall before the forces of
democracy. What we do inside the
U.S. can speed up that inevitable
process.
South African firms provide 35 per
cent of all non-U.S. foreign invest
ment in Israel.
The military links between Israel
and apartheid are even more striking
according to Hunter. South Africa
has purchased Israeli attack boats
"equipped with ship-to-ship Gabriel
missiles, Dabui Coastal patrol boats
and Klir jet fighters, radar stations,
electronic fences, infiltration alarm
systems, night vision apparatus."
South Africa is instrumental in the de
fense posture of the Israeli state as
well. Apartheid firms help Israel to
improve its own modest steel industry;
they arc helping to bankrole "devel
opment of Israel's fighter bomber for
the 1990's, the l.avi." Such extensive
ties help to explain why some Ameri
can Jewish leaders were reluctant to
become involved in the free South
Africa Movement demonstrations this
winter But the fact that "Israelis
have trained South Africans in every
thing from naval construction to
counterinsurgency techniques" must
be addressed by Americans who main
tain unquestioned support for Israeli's
policies, while at the same moment
offer moral condemnations of the
brutalities of the apartheid regime.
Black Americans are not immune
from criticism on these grounds. For
nearly a decade, the Reverend Leon
Sullivan has pushed the so-called
"Sullivan Principles" concept, which
sets racial standards for U.S. firms
doing business with apartheid. In
theory, the signatories of the Sullivan
Principles attempt to humanize the
barbarism of the system by promoting
desegregated workplace facilities,
mandated equal pay for jobs, and
training nonwhites for “ supervisory,
administrative, clerical and technical
Dr. Manning Marahle teaches p o
litical sociology at Colgate University,
Ham ilton, N ew York. "Along the
Color Line" appears in over 140 news
papers internationally.
Letters to the Editor
The Observer welcomes letters Io
the ed ito r L etters should he typ ed
or neatly printed and signed with the
a u th o r’s name and address ta d
dresses are n ot published). We re
serve the right to edit fo r length. Mail
to: P o rtla n d O bserver, P O. Box
3137, Portland. OB 97208
Clarence Severson
Press Operator
"That depends on if that
country is an ally. If they are,
they should let the ships enter.
Hut the other country should
tell them if they are carrying
nuclear weapons."
James Carter
Retired
"It should be the other
country's choice. I’m against
nuclear weapons expanding ’’
• Ml" •
Portland Observer
Association • Founded 1U5
283 2486
Bos 3137. Portland. Oregon 97208
A lfredi. Henderson. Editor/Publisher
A l Williams. General Manager
This is an open letter to the parents
in North/Northeast Portland
It has been brought to my attention
that a strange man has been hiding in
the shrubs around Humboldt School’s
playground, taking pictures o f chil
These two incidents happened after
the TV airing of the Atlanta children’s
murders. I feared this kind of thing
would happen. We do have a lot of
mentally deranged people out there
who would use this kind of movie to
imitate such a thing.
The Humboldt staff and parents
have met to discuss the issue. The
school district security is aware of this
The police department has been in
formed But we parents living outside
of the Humboldt area are unaware of
this. It could happen at other schools.
If you have small children, you
cannot use too much caution to pro
tect your children Don’t let them
play outside too late. Talk to them
about strangers. If possible, walk the
little ones to and from school for a
while. Most of all, know where your
children are at all times Be alert and
concerned now, and don’t wait until
a tragedy happens It will be too late
to help them then.
YES IN D LOVING
»15to< oo« V««'
»25 loi two
Bo* 3137 Portinoli OR 9120«
The Portland Observer wet ettab. ned in 1970
MfMBtR
To the Editor,
He was said to be driving a green
pickup and is of light brown com
plexion or o f foreign descent He has
been seen on two different occasions.
The last time he had another man
with him and was wearing a mailman’s
uniform.
15
PORTLAND OBSERVER
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