Page 4, Portland, Observer, April 24, 1985
W onnot ( t e ie r e
EDITORIAL/OPINION
MELSON MANDELA
F20M PBiSoN
WITHOUT
CONDITIONS
he s dawoecous
a P otential
TUCEAT TO
P ublic codec
Sleeper hold: death hold for Black
As progressive as Harrington and Clark might
seem, they now sit on the throne o f an institu­
tion which says it ’s alright to throw opossom at
a Black restaurant, it ’ s alright to oppose any in ­
dependent review o f police practices, and it ’s al­
right to continue to use a procedure which a f­
fects Afro-Am ericans negatively. Harrington
was set-up by those in the bureau who sen, her
unprepared to face public scrutiny.
The sleeper hold is a death hold. There is
enough inform ation available to document the
lethal nature o f this hold. It only takes six sec­
onds to restrain a suspect, so why did the o ff i­
cers apply pressure for 15 seconds? Why is the
death hold still being used when it has been
blamed or restricted in other states?
Justice demands an end to the sleeper hold
utilized by the police bureau. A multi-racial in ­
quest should be called, and the community
should m onitor the Grand Jury proceeding very
carefully.
A n incident o f institutional racism resulted in
the death o f a Black male whose only crime was
to be born Black in America and living in P ort­
land. Oregon.
Tragedy, shock and bitterness has embraced
P ortland’ s Afro-Am erican community as facts
continue to emerge in the sleeper hold death o f
M r. Lloyd Stevenson at the hands o f a Portland
Police O fficer, and the tacky manner in which
Police C hief Penny Harrington and M ayor Bud
Clark have handled the situation.
Rather than answer questions at a Monday
afternoon press conference, Harrington insulted
the intelligence o f those who attended with a
classic show o f bureaucratic arrogance. She re­
placed the " N o com m ent" defense with an “ I
don't know ” one. Discarding the history o f the
misuse o f authority by police officers who patrol
our com m unity, Harrington refused to see the
obvious:
A white officer walks into a situation where a
Black male and a white male are involved in a
confrontation. The indoctrination o f a white
officer in Portland is that a Black male is always
" d ir ty , ” therefore Stevenson was wrong.
The o ffic ia l line promoted by the white media
was that somehow Stevenson was at fault, but
his sterling reputation and employment as a se­
curity guard, who had daily contact with various
law enforcement authorities and shoplifters,
refutes any credibility this theory might have.
Wha, happened to Stevenson could have hap­
pened to any man in this city, especially to a
man o f color. A fam ily and a community are in
mourning.
The police bureau's follow-up and defense
makes us wonder if we are paying the police to
“ protect and serve” or to “ restrain and op­
press.” Portland again stands embarrassed as its
“ finest” turns out to be Portland’ s worst.
z*
Street Beat
by Lam,a Duke and Richard J Brown
In light o f the tragedy surrounding the
use o f the sleeper hold, the Street Beat team
asked, “ Should Police Chief Penny H a r­
rington issue a permanent ban on the sleep­
er hold?”
Don Farm er
S elf-em plo yed
M Sperry
H o u sew ife
"If I was a cop I wouldn’t
want it banned, but if I was a
citizen I would "
"I supjxise they should
since one person lost his life.
They sey the odds of that hap
pening is great, but still one
person lost his life."
Je ffre y Jone«
Security O fficer
"Yes. I knew L.D. and I
can’t imagine that situation
happening to him. W e tost a
great man They could h8ve
used other measures "
HE HAS CEPEATUDLV
ADVOCATED
THE USE OF
ON SOUTH AFRICA
Sullivan Principles
easily circumvented
fey Penny Samuelsen
In recent months much controversy
has been fixused on U.S. businesses
operating in South Africa. The public-
outcry for immediate, complete w ith­
drawal o f all corporate investment
from South A frica following the
Soweto massacre o f 1976, when an
estimated I.(MX) Black Africans —
many o f them young students — were
murdered by South A frican police
during whai had begun as a peaceful
demonstration by Black school chil­
dren protesting the use o f the white
Afrikaans language in their school».
In March o f 1977 the Sullivan Prin­
ciples were introduced by Rev. Leon
Sullivan, a Black Philadelphia minis­
ter. civil rights activist, and (ieneral
Motors Board Member, as an alterna­
tive to a full corporate pullout from
South A frica, and in consultation
with the South A frican government
(which heartily endorsed the final
version,. Sullivan had developed a set
of 6 principles or guidelines to be fo l­
lowed by U.S. businesses operating in
South Africa.
The principles called for: I • deseg­
regation o f work facilities; 2 • equal
and lair employment practices; 3 -
equal pay for equal work; 4- develop­
ment o f training programs for Black
employees; 5 - increases in the number
ol Black employees in management
and supervisory positions; and 6 - im­
provements in the quality o f workers'
lives in the areas o f housing, trans­
portation, education, recreation, and
health facilities.
In the last few monihs, Sullivan has
for the first time publicly admitted
the limited effectiveness o f ihe P rin­
ciples and has added one ihai requires
U.S. companies to publicly work
toward abolishing the laws o f ar>art-
heid One could say ihai because this
puis those companies in such an awk­
ward position, it is an indirect way o f
pressuring them lo withdraw from
South Africa.
Compliance with the code was to be
strictly voluntary, with no provision
being made for enforcement; yet
despite this, only 12 o f the some 300
U.S. companies then operating in
Barbera W ater«
Pecker
"The police should not use
a lethal hold There should be
other we-.'S to bring someone
under control.’’
Shirley B row d er
Spinner
"It should tie banned per­
manently The hold is danger ■
ous How many more people
will have to die before it’s
banned.
"You're damned right they
should ban it. I got harassed
just because I live in North
Portland
They have other
ways to stop a person besides
killing him.”
Portland Observer
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A l Williams, General Manager
Companies designated as "N a tio n ­
al Keypoints” must report directly to
ihe Minister o f Defense. They arc
strongly encouraged to train and
maintain internal reserve all-white
commando units to defend iheir facil­
ities against the possibility o f “ civil
unrest." Further, in the event o f “ na­
tional emergency.” they could be re­
quired io convert their plants lo m ili­
tary production, even to the extent o f
allowing the armed forces lo assume
total control o f all company opera­
tions.
Since Keypoint companies are
sworn lo secrecy by ihe South A frican
government, and as a condition o f op­
eration are prohibited from divulging
any inform ation about Keypoint re­
lated activities to their parent bixlies
in the U.S., it is unknown how many
American companies may actually be
working lo bolster and preserve apart­
heid. Given ihe fa d ihai much U.S.
investment has gone into the develop­
ment and production o f automotive,
energy, and electronic technologies in
South A frica, the number may be
ominously high.
W iih Reagan pursuing his arro­
gantly racist policy o f “ constructive
emgagement,’ ’ ii is vital that we do
not allow ourselves to he misled when
his administration cues the Sullivan
Principles as justification for encour­
aging trade with South A frica. And as
for the adm inistration’ s claim that
withdrawal o f U.S. investment would
hurt Black South Africans more than
anyone else, in the words o f the late
Sieve Bike — banned, imprisoned,
tortured, and finally murdered hero
o f the Black Consciousness Move­
ment in South A frica — “ . . if Wash­
ington is really interested in contribut­
ing to the deselopnieni o f a just socie­
ty in South A frica, u would discour­
age investment in South A frica. We
Blacks are perfectly willing io suffer
the consequences! We are quite ac­
customed io suffe rin g ."
Portlanders Organized fo r Southern
African Freedom (PO SA F), a local
m ulti-racial citizens action group
that supports Black majority rule in
Southern Africa and an end to U.S.
support fo r apartheid. For more in­
formation call 230-9427.
Letters to the Editor
M a rg a re t Johnson
U n em plo yed
The Observer welcomes letters to
the editor. Letters should be typed
or neatly printed and signed with the
author's name and address (a d ­
dresses are not published/. We re­
serve Ihe right lo edit fo r length. Mail
to: Portland Observer, P. O. Box
3137, Portland. OB 97208.
Stop prostitution!
Th« A x rte m /
South A frica agreed lo participate in
ihe original program. Since then
many companies have come to recog­
nize the public relations benefits to be
derived from complying — at least
on paper — w ith the Sullivan Princi­
ples. and today roughly 40 - 50ty> o f
all firm s operating in South A frica
have signed agreements promising ad­
herence to the code. The number o f
Black employees affected is about
22.(XM, out o f a w orkforce o f 9 million.
Sullivan and his supporters have
dauned that the principles could be.
in Sullivan’s words, “ . . a tremendous
force fix change and a vital factor in
aiding apart had.” Bui critics are quick
to point out that since the pnnaples were
deliberately designed io function only
within Ihe context o f existing apartheid
laws, they fail lo address the fundamen
:aJ issues o f political, economic and
social sdl-deicrnnnalion for millions of
South African Blacks. They, therefore,
have bule if any value as a tixil for dis­
mantling ihe legally entrenched system
ol while supremacy in South Africa.
And indeed. ii would be in acule op-
posihon to their own best interests fix
U.S. companies lo seek anything beyond
cosmetic improvements in the working
conditions ol Black South Africans.
A fta all, fix many American cixnpa-
mes doing business I here, apartheid
provides the cheap labor pixil that at­
tracted them lo South African in the
first place
There is a growing concern among
cniics that while ai best ihe Sullivan
Pnnaples are ineffective, at worst they
may he providing some U.S. corpora­
tions with a handy mask o f “ sixial re­
sponsibility” behind which clandestine
—even sinister — dealings with the
South A frican government go un­
observed.
F ix example, as pari o f a kxig-range
plan to decrease ns vulnerability to
both international trade embargos
and internal attacks by Black free­
dom lighters, the South A frican gov­
ernment has designated some «M,
companies — including American
firms — as “ National Keypoints.”
This is ihe name given to companies
in those indusines — such as automo­
tive, electronics, and coal-to-oil con­
version — identified as vital to the
country’ s security.
..... - .....
\a
*4« MNt •
voting II
N aw Vork
To the Editor,
Since the C ity Club'» ridiculous
recommendation that prostitution be
legalized in Portland, there seem to
be more prostitutes now than before.
The problem has permeated to an
epidemic stage. In fact, it is spreading
faster than colon cancer.
It is disgusting for an organization
with the influence o f the C ity Club to
suggest, or consider, this as an alter­
native to a problem which has
plagued the inner Northeast com­
munity for many years. We in Albina
have complained lo the Mayor and
City Council fix years aboui prostitu­
tion, drug dealers standing on our
streets to no avail. I f they had dealt
with the problems, it would not have
escalated out o f control.
This problem would not be to l­
erated in any other part o f this city or
state, as it has been in (he Northeast.
If this was going on in Lake Oswego
or Northwest, the problem would
have ceased i f they had to call out
the National Guard. It would have
been considered an emergency.
1 can understand the C ity C lub’s
position because it ’ » membership is
mostly men. It wasn't until the “ get
tough" law with the "jo h n s ” that
they took a position. They never took
a position on anyihing else that con­
cerned our neighborhood and prob­
lem. Maybe they feel, if the net is
spread out, some important fish may
be caught.
VES!A L O P IN G DeWELSE
Children ours
To the Editor,
We’ re truly sorry all the subscrib­
ers o f the Portland Observer could
not have been at a public hearing last
week to "observe” a handful o f legis­
lators squirm
Senators McCoy, Hamby, seat heli
Monroe and Trow pul their names as
sponsors on SB 137, which declared
our children as the “ slate’ s most im ­
portant resource” and under "stress"
the state could assist in the rearing o f
our children.
A fter the Oregon Taxpayer’s U n­
ion came out in their March 1st news­
letter “ blowing the whistle on
SB 137,” wheels were put into motion
to try to get rid o f the hot potato. Our
children belong to us. They do not
belong lo the state and they are not
"resources" like timber.
ELIZABETH FREAUF
Salem. Oregon