Page 4. Portland Ofanrw , J ir e 12. 1965
EDITORIAL/OPINION
New labels: same product
Politics ’84 replaced the faces at City Hall and
in the city’s bureaucracy. But the end results re
main just as unfair, discriminatory and regres
sive as if the old administration never left.
Smiling, with a rose in one hand and the city’s
machine in another, the new administration has
dealt with crisis after crisis: a budget deficit, lay
offs in essential services, and the Stevenson trag
edy. Unfortunately, the decisions made and im
plemented are no different than the previous ad
ministration.
Affirm ative Action are just words. There has
been no real improvement nor are there any
signs indicative o f changing de facto discrimin
ation in city employment.
created great P.R. for Portland. And whatever
benefits derived from this selection were choked
away with the life o f Tony Stevenson. And there
is every indication to believe that the incompe
tency involved in Stevenson’s death will remain
on the force as the police union maintains vari
ous ingredients o f a police state in Portland.
Some members o f this new administration are
ignorant, insensitive and elitist. If Portland is
ever to progress, we must remain mindful of
the thorns in the City o f Roses and work toward
a collective solution. A different face in politics
has not produced a different policy. And the
illusion o f liberalism in Portland is slowly lifting
to reveal the realities o f racism, the new admin
istration is a perfect example o f a different label
with the same product.
Choosing the nation’s first female police chief
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U.S. helping South Africa
Along the C olor Line by D r. M anning M arable
A third argument against divest
ment ts that it could lead to “ disinvest
ment" — the total withdrawal of all
U.S. firms from South Africa IXsinvest-
inent would increase Wack uncmplov
merit rates, which in turn could create
severe social tensions and acceteraie
political repression against Blacks and
other nonwhiles. But this fails to take
into account that the white workers are
disproportionately represented in U.S.-
owned firms, and that the total labor-
force employed by such companies is
less than two percent of all adult work
ers. What do the majority of Black
trade uiiKHi leaders who have no ties to
the aparthcxJ regime say about U.S. dis
investment? I eaders of the federation
of South African Trade Unions
(E O S A T U ) and the Council o f U n
ions in South Africa, as well as the
unaffiliatcd Black unions such as the
General Workers Union and the
South African Allied Workers Union
state that total American divestiture
would not destroy apartheid, but
that it is absolutely essential in put
ting political pressure on the white
minority regime. As Thetnbi Mkalipt,
chairperson of E O S A T U ’s (. hemical
Workers Industrial Branch in Port
bltzahetlt, stated in 1984, "apartheid
has been promoted by the employers
and the government to divide the
white workers from the Black work
ers Whues see themselves in a privil
eged position because they are lavored
by apartheid. . .” The “ only w ay" to
build while-Black unity in the w ork
place is when “ there’s no more whites-
only jobs." Divestment would make
it more difficult for the apartheid
political economy to guarantee priv
ileges and low unemployment rates
to whites. It would certainly increase
the cost of spare parts for existing
machinery, curtailing some of the
surplus which goes to whites. Sullivan
at
signatory companies, as a whole, still
preserve the “ Jim C row ” system of
whites in top positions and perpetuate
African inequality.
Critics o f divestment are quick to
warn that such action is “ irrational”
because it would disrupt institutional
portfolios. College boards o f trustees
could be charged with “ fiduciary
irresponsibility.” A clean bill of health
on apartheid might bankrupt institu
tions, some have claimed But as of
1984, 40 universities had invested
more than J175 million in stocks
linked to apartheid. Between 1979
and 1984, divestment legislation was
passed in the states o f Massachusetts,
Michigan, Philadelphia, Washington,
D .C ., and in other cities and states
amounting to another $4<X, million.
As of December 1984, divestment
legislation had been introduced in 44
states; and the National Conference
o f Black Mayors has urged all U.S.
mayors and city councils to remove
public funds from banks with apart
heid connections.
There is also a considerable body of
evidence which indicates that divest
ment from South Africa can, under
certain conditions, actually increase
the value of an institution's holdings.
According to Nancy tllio l, director of
investments at Michigan State U ni
versity, the university’s portfolio
had earned an ad d itio nal 91 m illion
between June. 1980 and April, 198.1,
after comparing the current value of
companies sold vs. the market value
o f companies purchased. Joan Bava
ria, director of Franklin Research and
Development Corporation o f Boston,
staled m 1981 that research o f the
earnings records o f investment held
by the city o f Washington, D .C .,
“ demonstrates that the companies
not in South Africa had a better earn
ings record than those that are in
South Africa and that a comparison
BOB BROWN
The Observer welcomes letters to
the editor. Letters should be typed
or neatly printed and signed with the
au th o r's nam e an d address la d
dresses are n o t p ub lished! IFe re
serve the right to edit f o r length M ail
to: P o rtla n d Observer, P. O. Box
3137, Portland. O B V72OH
Oldsm obile/ Subaru
1006 S.E. Grand Ave.
232-4163
are Black). Joyce Elarris raised a good
p en t in her statement, but some po
lice in Portland also treat non-colored
people very badly — not just people
o f color.
T H O M A S E. Q U IG L E Y
Disappointment
South Africa
To the Editor,
115 fot one y«ef
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A IJred L. Henderson. E d ito r/P u b isher
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D r M anning M arable teaches po
litical sociology at Colgate University,
Hamilton, New York, ‘'Along the
Color L in e ' ’ appears in over HO news
papers internationally
Letters to the Editor
Contact: Kenneth B. Long
J p ORTWND OBSERMER
o f stock price performance showee
that over time corporations without
South African investments did no
tably better than those involved ir
South A fric a ."
There are really few argument*
against divestment from apartheid
which hold up after sustained examin
ation. But we must be clear that eco
nomic disengagement will not lead to
the immediate end ol apartheid. I per
sonally favor the passage o f H R . 997
sponsored by Congressman Ronald
V. Dellums, which would prohibit
holding any current or making future
investments in South Africa either in
the public or private sector, and
would deny lax credits and deductions
for all U.S. firms doing business in
South Africa, over the more moderate
Et.D. 1460/60 615 Gray-Kennedy bill,
which prohibits new investments and
bank loans to the South African
public sector. Yet even the Dellums
bill, which will not pass, would only
severely cripple the regime. South
Africa is a society experiencing funda
mental social change, in which a
Black majority government ultimately
will emerge — a fact o f political life
which no outside force will halt. D i
vestment can only help to accelerate
the transition to democracy; invest-
ments-with-’reforms’ may only retard
this process.
The debate over divestment is ac
tually secondary to a larger question:
should certain humanistic moral and
political principles guide any institu
tion’s investment policies? Divest
ment from apartheid is only a first
step toward a policy o f "people be
fore profits.”
, ..
A Z Williams, G eneral M anager
288 0033
N“ 'or” * * " " « * " •
A m a lg a m a ta « , P u b lla h a r. Ine
New Vor*
I read my first issue o f the Portland
Observer last Sunday after mass It
is a very informative newspaper It
was the M ay 29th issue.
The article by Nathaniel Scott was
o f great interest to me because, back
in 1978, I spent several months in
Southern
Africa
visiting
family
friends that were missionaries. While
in downtown Johannesburg (South
Africa! I happened upon a security
police action. A Black male about J5
years old was getting the hell beat
out of him by two policemen.
I moved toward the scene to take
some photographs. The two police
men then grabbed at me and my
camera. They pushed me around a
bit, calling me names.
The policemen were both very
upset after checking my I.D ., then
started calling me and President
Carter names. At that point they
released me and told me to beat it.
One o f the policemen was while
while the other was Black (50 percent
o f the South African security police
To the Editor,
The Portland Observer should be
commended for it’s coverage o f the
"T o n y " Stevenson travesty.
However, upon reading the article
entitled "Eterndon discusses Black
issues," in your June 5th edition, I
couldn’t help hut come away with a
sincere feeling o f disappointment.
Having the utmost respect for Ron
and Nathaniel Scott, the article
seemed to add their voices to the
growing chorus o f " L e t’s ge, back to
business as usual,” and suggested
the final chapter on the life and death
o f L. D. “ Tony” Stevenson had been
written.
If this is true, it is indeed a sad day
for Portland’s Afro-American com
munity.
What! No boycott o f at least the
Shell Station that at least contributed
to the negative outcome o f the whole
affair? Even a candlelight vigil would
have been appropriate the night the
grand jury returned its dual verdict —
one for the record and the other for
the public — to mourn the death o f
justice toward the A ft Kan-American
«im m unity.
I see no redeeming actions being tak
en on the part o f the City o f Portland
and/or the so-called leadership o f the
northeast community that warrants
the carte blanche being handed those
in a position o f responsibility.
To my knowledge there has been
no commitment made by the M ayor,
Chief Harrington or the District A t
torney, or anyone else for that matter,
to even review their hiring practices
with regard to the police department.
Chief Harrington has demonstrat
ed from the very beginning her unwill
ingness or inability to effectively or
chestrate and coordinate her efforts
within the police department or the
community.
The entrenchment o f the reaction
ary elements within the police de
partment and Chief Harrington’s
compassion for the community to
tally neutralized her position and
subsequently added insult to injury.
And what can be expected from a po
lice department with a history o f cor
ruption, negligence and insensitivity
toward the African-American com
munity.
Nathaniel Scott’s article and Ron
Herndon’s comments, along with
othc so-called "leaders” o f the com
munity, indicated that when " T o n y "
died as a result of, at least, civil or
criminal negligence, so did the Black
community, in my opinion. Have we
resigned ourselves to live without
justice so we can live with the White
man?
S H A H E E D H A A M ID
Communications A Media
Coordinator o f
M asjid Muhammad, Portland