P»0« 4. Portland Observer, April 3. 1985
EDITORIAL/OPINION
ON SOUTH AFRICA
Demand Affirmative Action
It ’s lime to drop the dime on Multnomah
County Commissioner Gretchen Kafoury’s side
step o f Affirm ative Action as she continues to
represent a section o f Multnomah County with
the highest percentage o f Afro-Americans while
only employing a Black secretary.
This type o f window dressing mirrors the lily-
white administration in the county. There are no
staff persons of color in any significant role ad
vising County Commissioners. And in 1985
Portlanders interested in the preservation and
participation o f A ffirm ative Action should find
this type o f A ffirm ative Action inactivity un
acceptable.
When she first took office, we publicly ques
tioned her about her staff. When questioned
directly by our political reporter, she said she
was hiring her campaign manager and a close
friend. Those are questionable credentials to
represent a district in Multnomah County which
is suffering from unemployment, poor housing,
uncertain medical coverage and a host o f prob
lems created by decades o f institutional racism.
Kafoury is perpetuating a hiring trend that locks
out community residents and people o f color
from employment and participation as key ad
visors to elected policy makers. As a white fe
male, Kafoury has replaced the discriminatory
‘‘Old Boy” network with a regressive ‘ ‘Old
G irl” network.
Kafoury’s actions are inconsistent with her
image and actions as an electoral champion of
liberal causes. The re-districting that created
District 18 was supported by Kafoury who will-
Street
eat
ingly gave up her legislative district. Certainly,
we commend and applaud her concern for low-
income, women, and other progressive issues.
But there is something paternalistic about liberal
politicians who say they support A ffirm ative
Action, yet they never show enough initiative to
hire a person o f color in a policy-making position.
For too long the Afro-American community
has been pimped politically by so-called liberal
politicians who knew wha, was best for us. Port
land politics are filled with these liberals who
reach a certain political plateau and the concerns
o f our commuinity are the first to go.
Kafoury is part o f a political clique who has
historically enjoyed the electoral support o f the
Afro-American community, but in times o f eco
nomic contractions, biasis from the liberal com
munity has favored those in the network and no,
Affirm ative Action.
The Afro-American community should not
operate with politically short memories. The
contradictions o f liberalism in America led M a l
colm X to this observation 25 years ago: "T h e
only difference between a Republican and a
Democrat is the difference between a wolf and a
fox.”
We expected much more from Kafoury than
political nepotism which is elitist, narrow and
waves with racism. Our community has an in
vestment in Multnomah County and we deserve
members from our community to be employed
to represent us, no, friends or political allies o f
the commissioner.
The M ayor and all four City Com
missioners sponsored a resolution on
April 3. endorsing a bill in the state
legislature directing the state to divest
funds from banks and corporations
doing business in South Africa.
“ The policy o f apartheid prac
ticed in South Africa and Namibia is
racist and contrary to American
values.” according to the resolution.
It further states that U.S. investment
strengthens apartheid by support
ing the economy and providing tax
revenues to enable the South African
government to buy the technological
and military means to enforce apart
heid laws.
The bill, H .B .2 0 0 I, was introduced
by State Representative Margaret
Carter. It is supported by numerous
community organizations, including
the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon,
the N A A C P , Democratic Party o f
Oregon. Black United Front. Rainbow
Coalition and the Oregon W om en’s
Political Caucus.
In March, 1983. the City passed a
resolution encouraging the Public
Employees Retirement System to
divest funds in companies that con
duct business in South Africa.
CfTYOP
PORTLAND, OREGON
Proclamation
WHEREAS, »any p eo p le b e lie v e c e r t a i n p o l i c i e s o f South A f r ic a n
governm ents t o be r a c i a t In n a tu re and c o n t r a r y t o Am erican
v a lu e a i and
WHEREAS, a number o f P o rtla n d r e a id e n ta a re o r q a n lie d to p ro v id e
in fo r m a tio n to t h e i r f e llo w r e a id e n t a re g a rd in g South A f r i c a )
and
WHEREAS, th e F o r» la n d e rs O rg a n ize d t e r Soutt. \ f »car. 1 reed»m has
d ev e lo p e d a a e r ie a o f a c t i v i t i e s t o p ro v id e o p p o r t u n it ie s
P o rtla n d r e a id e n ta t o in c re a s e t h e i r know ledge re g a rd in g
South A f r ic a n p o l i c i e s ) and
fo r
WHEREAS, th e Am erican Com m ittee on A f r ic a has d e s ig n a te d March 21 to
A p r i l 6 , 1985 as South A f r ic a Weeks th ro u g h o u t th e U n ite d
S ta te s as a method o f e d u c a tin g th e n a tio n abo ut South
A f r ic a n p o l i c i e s ; and
WHEREAS,
i t is b e n e f t c i a l to a f u l l u n d e rs ta n lin g o f th e is s u e s
re g a rd in g South A f r ic a fo r each c l t i r e n to s tu d y the m a tte r
and d e te rm in e h is / h e r own p o s i t i o n )
NOW, THEREFORE, 1, J .E . Bud C l a r k , Mayor o f th e C i t y o f P o r t la n d ,
O regon, th e ’ C i t y o f Roses’ , do her« >y p r o - l a i r th e weeks o f
March 21 to A p r i l ( , 1985, t o be
SOUTH AFRICA WEEKS
Police Chief Penny Harrington is inter
ested in bringing back a curfew for youths
17 and under. The Street Beat team asked,
“ How do you feel about a curfew?”
In P o r t la n d , and c a l l upor. a l l c i t i z e n s o ’ P o r t ia n i’ »3
th e issues and to d e te rm in e » h o it .•»•••eoi.a' p r i n t t i - - .
it
v.
by Lanita Duke and Richard J. Brown
i
Patrick Cleney
10 Year» Old
Beyond “ neo-liberalism”
" I t ’s a gtxxl idea. It will
protect kids from muggers and
others.”
Darrell Eldridge
Marketing Repreeentatlve
" I t ’s a good idea, the long
er kids slay on the streets, the
more trouble they get into. I ’ll
support a curfew.”
Along the C olor Line by Dr. M anning M arable
E. Carmichael
Broker
" I don’t know if I can sup
port that. A 10:30 p.m. curfew
is not very realistic.
Judy Ceatrepel
Production Line Worker
" I would support it. People
aren’t safe on the street. We
even need a curfew for older
people.”
Mr». Clarine Smith
Retired
“ I think it’s a gtxxl idea. It
will help young people accept
rules and regulations and elim
inate some street problems.”
Mike Futch
1214
“ I t ’s good. Kids won't get
into trouble and parents won't
worry about their kids.”
X
Portland Observer
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There is a pronounced lendency
among Black elected officials and
civil rights leaders io blame most of
our current woes on the Reagan ad
ministration. Undeniably, the Rea
gannes are conducting an uncondi
tional war against Black people's
interests, manipulating clowns like
Clarence Pendleton lo hoist the ban
ner of "reverse discrimination.” Yet
few Afro-American leaders have
begun to reassess the limitations o f
their own political practice and theo
retical orientation, in the midst o f our
fight for racial equality and demo
cratic rights. "Neoliberalism ," or
Reaganism with a human face, repre
sents no real solutions to the national
drift to the right over the past decade.
Nor does a simplistic revival o f the
policies o f the New Deal or the Great
Society.
Most Black politicians and civil
rights spokespersons are liberals.
Obviously, some tend toward more
leftist or social democratic defini
tions o f what comprises liberalism,
such as Georgia State Senator Julian
Bond. Others are more moderate by
temperament or inclination— Charles
Rangel. Andrew Young, and Bill
G ray— but are nevertheless liberals by
any standard. Liberalism still retains
many fine qualities: a desire to imple
ment public programs which reduce
poverty and unemployment, expand
public health facilities, reduce taxes
on low-to-middlc income households,
and to reduce the bloated Pentagon
budget Liberals comprise the ma
jority o f Americans who want an end
to the illegal U.S. war against Nica
ragua; they are the core o f the freeze
movement; and they advocate the
abandonment o f the Reagan -apartheid
axis, better known as "constructive
engagement” with South Africa.
But liberals and liberalism are not
in vogue, at least among the majority
of the white electorate Why? Unlike
many conservatives, liberals lack any
theoretical orientation, beyhond a
well meaning pragmatism. Liberals
believe that all views, no matter how
controversial, merit serious discus
sion. They dwell within an endless se
nes o f paradoxes — no blacks, no
whites, just greys in slightly different
hues. They feel at home within am
biguity, and find something meaning
ful in vagueness. Liberals simply
don't like to make distinct choices.
And more than anything else, they do
not wish to be considered "extrem
ists.” Jesse Helms and other ultra-
rightists in politics are held in con
tempt not so much for what they ad
vance within the government, but
for their vitriol, their extreme be
havior and unwillingness to compro
mise.
And at last a basic reality of Amer
ican political culture emerges: a small
band o f dedicated, hardworking "ex
tremists," when properly organized,
can implement their program within
the political system and ultimately
svin over a majority to their views. To
do this, the “ extremists" must have a
cause, a reason for mobilizing peo
ple; and they must be willing to suffer
short-run losses and defections from
their own ranks in order to achieve
their goals. White liberals have al
most no causes, beyond a collection
o f platitudes. In contrast, the New
Right has a cause and a clear-cut vi
sion o f the future. Liberals like M o n
dale vacilate in critical moments: re
actionaries like Reagan virtually never
retreat. This is precisely why the
Democratic "neoliberals” and con
servatives will fail to overtake the
next generation o f conservatives, such
as Jack Kemp and Lew Lehrman. A
lukewarm version o f fiscal austerity
will alternate progressives from the
Democratic Party’s ranks, and will be
insufficient to attract conservative
Democrats from Reagan's constituency.
Nearly 150 years ago, the abolition
ists were an isolated band o f "ex
tremists.” The cause seemed utopian
— the abolition o f slavery. Yet on this
issue, they refused to compromise,
and ultimately they achieved a na
tional majority to destroy an immoral
system. Tw o decades ago, many whiles
attached M artin Luther King, Jr„ as
an “ extremist.” He had a dream —
the destruction o f racial segregation,
and ihe achievement o f Blacks' po
litical and civil rights. On this ques
tion, M artin could not compromise.
What should our political visuon be in
the mid-1980s? We must advance
politics in the abolitionist and civil
rights Iraditi ins, going beyond tra
ditional liberalism. Our first goal is
the abolition of racism, root and
branch, in any form; the destruction
o f South Africa's system o f apartheid,
the achievement o f full employment,
free public medical care, and univer
sal education. Poverty, in every form,
must be abolished; women’s inequal
ity. and especially the severe economic
and social oppression o f Black wo
men, must be ended. Liberals may
find these goals utopian. But until
the Black movement clarifies its vision
of a just, democratic stxial order, and
is willing to become as "extreme” as
the New Right for its own cause, the
trend toward Reaganism will con
tinue
Dr. M anning M arab le teaches p o
litical sociology at Colgate University,
H a m ilto n , N e w York. " A lo n g the
Color I m e " appears in over 140 news
papers internutionallv
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