Page 2, Portland Observer, August 14, 1966
EDITORIAL/OPINION
Non-protesters
by Nathaniel Scott
Every Saturday when George Page signs o ff
radio station KBOO, he emphatically states:
“ Back what you believe in.” In observation of
that graphic statement, it is becoming increas
ingly clear that many o f the Black students in
Portland believe in white supremacy.
Without a doubt, the majority of Portland’s
Black students, particularly those at Portland
State University, believe themselves inferior to
whites.
I f I am wrong, I ’ll be the first to apologize.
But from my vantage (or disadvantage) point, I
find Blacks’ participation in the South African
movement are becoming less and less.
Wednesday, August 7, at the demonstration
at Columbia Coin, 514 SW 6th Avenue, less
than ten Blacks showed up. And of that pitiful
few, I was the only PSU Afro-American black
there and not one African showed his or her
Black face.
When it’s time to Raggac or swill beer, most
Africans congregate wherever the happenings
are. And neither love, money, nor a team of
wild horses can keep Afro-Americans from a
blues or jazz festival. But just mention a demon
stration for the 500 plus Black men, women and
children slain in South Africa this year, and all
the revolution disappears like wind-blown
smoke.
The halls at Portland State University are
filled with political garbage; one Black shouting
another Black down, but when it comes time
to put his or her Black Axs on the picket line,
very few Blacks can be found.
It wasn't too long ago, during the 13th and
14th centuries, when Dutch slave ships began
raiding the coast o f Africa; today we have
African Afro-American. African Afro-Carib-
beans, African Afro-Cubans, and any number
of African people suffering the lack o f being
white. Or if you please, for being Black. But the
intriguing thing is, this new breed o f Blacks have
accepted a tarnished image as their deserved
fate.
Commercial TV has very few Blacks in mean
ingful roles. For hours on end one can view
that monster in their living room (and some even
have the nerve to have one in their bedroom)
without seeing Black face. And when you do,
it ’s either some toilet bowl commercial or a
comedy. The message being: “ Jungle Bunnies”
will be jungle bunnies.
It has been said that when Black students at
PSU want something they run to the Black com
munity. This does not exclude the University of
Portland (which has not been represented at any
o f the demonstrations) nor Lewis and Clark or
Reed Colleges, either, because they too call on
the Black community when in need. But time is
running out. The hour is at hand and all those
who wish to be counted need to line up with
Blacks or start carrying white ID cards.
It is beyond being shameful that we Blacks
who think we are free care so little about our
fellow sisters and brothers in Africa that we
can’t forego one hour of pleasure to demon
strate for them.
Rev. Colin Jones, a Black South African min
ister said, Blacks in South Africa are dying for
your chance to be free. And I say, if you arc
not a part of the solution, you are a part o f the
problem.
P.S. The Black community’s participation in
demonstrations is not all that hot, either. . . I
just chose to write about PSU.
EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY
Reagan most anti-civil rights
president since Rutherford Hayes
by Jerry Garner
President Reagan’s endorsement
by the Ku Klux Kian in the last two
presidential elections is not surpris
ing. The President has done more to
impede the progress o f minorities
since the administration o f Ruthcr
ford Hayes.
In 1877 Hayes withdrew federal
troops from South Carolina, Louisi
ana and Florida, thus officially end
ing the Radical Reconstruction. Radi
cal Reconstruction was a period in
which the Republican party was try
ing to recoastruct the South by giving
former slaves the right to vote and
also to provide legislation that would
allow Illacks to have the same social
and economic opportunities as Whites.
Radical
Reconstruction
began
with the end o f the C ivil War and last
ed until 1877 with the removal o f
federal troops. This removal was
part o f an agreement between the
Republicans and the Democrats after
the disputed presidential election in
1876 between Hayes and Samuel J.
Tilden Neither Hayes or Tilden had a
clear m ajority o f elctorial college
votes, due to election fraud and irreg
ularities in some states. Hayes was
given the election in return for a
pledge that all federal support for
Radical Reconstruction in the South
be removed A fter the removal, not
only did Blacus become disenfran
chised. they also became victims o f a
terror campaign waged by the White
League and the Ku Klux Kian.
The Reagan A dm inistration’s poll
des, like the policies o f Hayes, has
impeded the social and economic
process made by Blacks during the
C ivil Rights Fra Below are just a few
examples o f the Reagan Adm inistra
•/» M«l *
tion's anti-Civil Rights policies:
• Reagan replaced three o f his c rit
ics on the U.S. C ivil Rights commis
wion who disagreed with the A dm in
istration's positions on schixil busing
and the use o f racial quotas. It was
the first time in the 26-year history o f
the commission that members were
replaced by the President because o f
differences in C ivil Rights policies.
• The Administration supported
the Supreme Court's 6-10-3 decision
on June 12, 1984, which rules that
seniority prevails when layoffs arc
ordered. Even if recently-hired mi
norities end up losing jobs.
• On June 15, 1984, three days a f
ter the Supreme Court decision, the
Reagan Justice Department moved to
void a Cincinnati court order that
bars the Police Department from
laying o ff m inority offices with less
seniority.
• The Reagan Justice Department
urged all 50 states and k x a l agencies
to seek to remove racial preferences
from court-approved programs de
signed to remedy past job discrimin
ation against minorities and women.
In May o f this year the N A A C P filed
a suit against Attorney General Ldwin
Meese III in Washington to stop the
Justice Department.
The above decisions by Reagan
have not only slowed the social and
economic progress o f Blacks and
other minorities, his policies have
also influenced the rise o f racial ten
sion in this country.
Economists, politicians and the
media say the nation's economy is
growing at a rate that is creating new
jobs in both the public and private
sector. However, these jobs haven’ t
reached many communities, especially
Black communities where the Black
adult unemployment rate is anywhere
from 15 to 3(1 percent Black teenage
unemployment
nationwide
is a
shameful 50 percent or more.
This country is slowly becoming a
consuming country (more and more
products arc imported each year), re
sulting in more factories and plants
closing which in turn reduces the la
bor force. Since the Supreme Court
ruled seniority over A ffirm ative A c
tion, Blacks, women and other m i
norities will be the first laid o ff due to
past discriminatory hiring and pro
motion practices o f many employers
This competition for jobs creates
racial disharmony, resulting in racial
tension. This is now the case in the
Eire Departments ol Memphis, Wash
ington, D C ., and Boston, and in
the Police Departments o f Cincinnati
and Indianapolis.
A similar climate existed when
Rutherford Hayes was President.
Southern Whiles resented the en
franchisement o f Blacks in the South
and the power o f the federal govern
ment to protect their rights. But, as
slated earlier, after Hayes withdrew
the last o f the federal Army from
the South, the government was turned
over to native-born White Southern
Democrats, or Conservatives, thus
began the disenfranciseinent of
Blacks in the South.
If states across the nation followed
the advice o f Attorney General Edwin
Meese III and removed racial prefer
ence from court-approved programs
designed to remedy past job discrim
ination against minorities and wo
men, racial tension w ill increase.
Blacks along with other minorities
will once again become disenfrancised
in the United States.
Portland Observer
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Clarence Pendleton: A “great” Uncle Tom
A long the C o lo r Line by D r M anning Marable
The great pleasure in watching
Clarence Pendleton, Chairman o f
the United States Commission on
Civil Rights, is that you can never
tell what he’s likely to say next.
Sometime ago Pendleton made
headlines by denouncing the idea o f
“ comparable w orth,” paying women
and men the same for jobs o f equal
value. It’s “ probably the looniest
idea since Looney Tunes came on the
screen," Pendleton declared. Conse
quently, the Rcagancontrolled Com
mission voted down the doctrine o f
comparable worth last A p ril 11.
Speaking in Albany, New York,
and at Cornell University in late July,
Pendleton exhibited his rhetorical
grace again. The Black republican
was asked whether there was a need
for a C ivil Rights Commission, which
wav establivhed in 1957 to monitor
civil rights. C ouldn’ t Congress block
future appropriations to the Commis
sion? Pendleton replied: "Sure they
can. Not a bad idea, either." When
pressed by one reporter later, Pendle
ton explained that the Commission
might not be necessary after Novem
ber, 1989, when it is scheduled to ex
pire by law. “ If there’s nothing more
to study, if our mandate has been sat-
isifed, then why leave the commission
around?" Pendleton said.
But surely, with the national prob
lems o f racism, women’ s inequality,
anti-Semitism and other forms o f
social intolerance still existing, cer
tainly some sort o f public agency
must serve as a conscience on civil
nghts? Pendleton is not a man who
minces words: “ I don’ t happen to be
lieve that the government owes me
anything just because my ancestors
were slaves. I think it ’s paid that
debt. A ll it owes to me is to keep the
doors open.”
But how are these proverbial doors
to be kept "o p e n ” unless a strong
civil nghts movement continues to
fight against social inequality? How
can minontics and women acquire
economic and political justice without
collective demands for greater democ
racy? Pendleton has a snappy rebur
ial " W ith this whole process we
continue to divide society. It causes
more disharmony than it causes har
mony.” In other words, don’ t talk
about racial and sexual discrimina
tion, and it will quietly go away.
Why are so so "fo rtu n a te " to have
Clarence Pendleton as head o f the
C ivil Rights Commission? The entire
retreat from human rights and social
justice typified by most o f Reagan's
appointees is a manifestation o f larger
currents o f race hatred which still
exist across the country . According to
the Atlanta-based National A nti-
Klan Network, over 1,000 acts o f
Kian and Klan-style violence have
been committed during the past five
years. Kian leaders endorsed Reagan
for President in 1980 and 1984 And
ex-Klansman C. P. Ellis recently
slated in a congressional hearing:
" A ll Klansmen don't wear robes. I
see the Kian philosophy in the court
room, in Congress, and I think I see
it in the White House." Since January
1981, several hundred thousand
Blacks have lost their jobs in the pub
lic sector; Blacks’ access to higher ed
ucation has been sharply curtailed;
Black infant m ortality rates are up.
due to the cutbacks in childcare and
family assistance programs; and
Black unemployment is still above 14
percent two years after an “ economic
recovery.” In short, institutional
racism, vigilante violence and eco
nomic discrimination are thriving
under Reagan's aegis. But, o f course,
to discuss these issues publicly may
provoke "d ish a rm o n y."
Nearly a century ago. Black Am er
ica's leading "U ncle T o m " was W il
liam H. Council!, the president o f the
all-Black state college in Orangeburg,
South Carolina. Councill was a no
torious toady who gave " o ily fla t
tery” to racists. He praised Jim Crow
laws, political disfranchisement o f
Negroes, and was silent about lynch
ings He cautioned against civil rights
agitation, and opposed "ra d ica ls"
like Frederick Douglass and W. E. B
DuBois. Councill believed that ac
commodation to racism was the only
means to promote "h a rm o n y.”
Booker T. Washington, the major
Black politician o f the era, detested
Councill so much that he refused to
sit beside him on public platforms.
In the great tradition o f Councill,
we now have Clarence Pendleton: a
man whose social theories are well
adapted to Black inferiority, political
disfranchisement, and women’s op
pression. W ith every pathetic speech
and public statement, he takes an
other dramatic leap into the past.
Dr. Manning Marable teaches po
litical sociology at Colgate University,
Hamilton, New York.
EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY
Nicaraguans gumble but
Sandinista support still strong:
by M illie Thayer
In the last two months, the U.S.
has declared a trade embargo against
Nicaragua, approved more than $14
m illion in "hum anitarian a id " to
the contra forces seeking to topple the
elected government there, and Con
gress has given President a virtual
blank check to invade this small Cen
tral American country if any o f a
number o f vaguely defined condi
tions is fulfilled.
The cost o f the economic war has
been high Prices o f goods have dou
bled and tripled in the last few
months; there arc shortages o f every
thing from carburetors to toilet paper,
and waiting in line has become a way
o f life.
Counter revolutionary violence has
taken a different toll. Some 8,000
Nicaraguans
including peasants,
teachers, doctors and other civilians
— have lost their lives in contra at
tacks while others have been kid
napped. Hundreds o f millions o f dol
lars o f damage have been done to
crops, farm machinery, vehicles,
schools, clinics, warehouses, coopera
tives, ports, roads, bridges and
homes.
It's a war o f attrition by the con
tras and their U.S. backers. Unable —
for lack o f popular support — to pull
o ff a dramatic overthrow o f the San
dinista government, they arc attempt
ing to slowly sap the spirit o f the Nica
raguan people, feeding a cancer o f
discontent that they hope will para
lyze the populace in the face o f a fu
ture invasion.
But w ill it work? In my nine
months in Nicaragua, I ’ve heard
grumbling, criticism and complaints
on almost any subject you'd care to
name. Freedom o f speech is amply
practiced. Opposition parties and the
right-wing sectors o f the church have
their followers and the pages o f the
anti-Sandinista newspaper arc full o f
their pronouncements.
But talk is cheap. The organized
opposition is not broad-based and
has little capacity for mobilization.
Their main presidential candidate in
the November elections, A rtu ro Cruz,
drew a crowd o f only 1 ,(XX) in his one
Managua appearance Despite the
concerted effort o f the right wing to
organize a boycott o f the elections,
voter turnout was over 80 percent and
the ESI N won handily.
Though some reports say contra
ranks are growing, documentation by
international observers has shown
that many o f the "re c ru its " arc ter
rorized peasants from the border re
gions, kidnapped and forced to com
mit crimes which make them fear a re
turn to their communities.
And Sandinista support? The in i
tial euphoria has certainly diminished,
activism in popular organizations is
down and recent austerity measures
have been met with less than enthu
siasm But when it comes right down
to choosing sides, there is no question
about where the vast m ajority o f
Nicaraguans case their lot.
A June 28th commemorative event
made this quite clear. On that day,
70,(XX) Nicaraguans from the capital
city walked all night long to Masaya,
a town 20 miles to the south, re-enact
ing the historic repheque or Tactical
Retreat by Sandinista forces which
preceded their victory over dictator
Somoza on July 19, 1979
Particpants this year were people
from all walks o f life, 80 percent o f
them under 30. The march began in a
field in the midst o f the p ixir eastern
barrios o f Managua. Six years ago,
this area was in insurrection. Though
Somoza's forces controlled the city,
the hated Guardia did not dare to
enter these neighborhixxJs which were
solidly in support o f the Erente Sandi
nista (ESI N). Residents had built
barricades and organized watch duly,
fix x l preparation and communica
tions systems in support o f the guer
rillas they views as " th e ir” army. But
for 11 straight days, Somoza’s planes
had bombed the area, leaving hun
dreds o f casualties. Rebel munitions
were running low and demoralization
was beginning to set in.
Meanwhile the ES1.N had taken
Masaya; however, they lacked the
forces to secure the surrounding
towns. A bold but d ifficu lt decision
was made: to retreat from Managua
to Masaya on fool under cover o f
night through Somoza-held territory
to prevent a massacre in the poor bar
rios o f the capital and to give rein
forcement to the Sandimstas in the
neighboring city.
So it was that 7,(XX) people — fig h t
ers, wounded and civilians o f all ages
— gathered together with little ad
vance preparation and set o ff across
the flat, open terrain to the south.
Miraculously, their departure was not
noticed until the next morning when
planes began to bomb the line o f
march By IO:(X) p.m. that night, they
had reached their destination with a
loss o f only six lives. As one man said
at the time, " I f we can do that, we
can do anything."
The Repheque was a psychological
victory and aniajor turning point in
the war The ESI N went on to take
the towns around Masaya and ar-
19.
What must have been a terrifying
experience at the time, has now be
come a jo yfu l, festive occasion which
symbolizes a renewal o f commitment
to defend the revolution's gains. The
mounting danger from abroad this
year found its response in the greatly
increased numbers o f participants —
more than double last year’s total o f
30,(XX).
Setting o ff around 8:30 at night,
this year's crowd became a human
river flowing through the streets dec
orated by residents with palm boughs
and flowers, posters and flags. Neigh-
borhixxl bonfires lit the faces o f the
thousands who came out to watch,
and the banging o f pots recalled the
days o f protest against the Guardia.
As the weary marchers passed through
little pueblos all through the night,
people came out to offer fix x l, water
and
encouragement.
Somewhere
along the way a candle flickered in
front o f a cross: Edyth Alvarez, June
28, 1979. One o f the victims.
In N indiri, the traditional resting
place near Masaya, there was ju b i
lance, embracing, dancing in the plaza
and sleeping in the streets. Sore limbs
and exhaustion were the badges o f
pride worn by every hobbling partici
pant.
Why would so many people put
themselves through such an ordeal?
Simply because, for all their faults
and despite the difficulties thrust
upon them, Sandinista policies have
meant concrete positive changes in
people's lives, you could hear it in the
words o f a landless peasant, one o f
the beneficiaries o f a recent distribu
tion o f land: "F in a lly justice is being
done to us ptxn people." You could
sec it in the faces o f the mothers
bringing their children in for free
polio and measles shots during one o f
many vaccination campaigns, or in
the pride with which people who have
learned to write in the country’ s adult
education programs signed thetr
names on election day.
From inc ranks o f these people
came th r 70,(XX) marchers o f this
June 28th, and there are many more
like them. The Repheque is mitre
than an all-night hike; it's an extra
ordinary statement o f support for the
Nicaraguan revolution and o f w ill
ingness to defend it, a statement that
the Reagan Adm inistration ought CD
listen to.
M illie Thayer works with CRIES,
Coordinadora Regional de Investi-
gaciones Economicas y Sociales, an
independent research institute baseo
in Managua. Nicaragua.