Page 2, Portland Observer, September 18, 1985 EDITORIAL/OPINION Black colleges: Endangered? A long the C o lo r Line hv D r Manning Marable Purl I I o f a Two-Part Senes Peters should resign for a better Portland Stan Peters should resign as President o f the Portland Police Association. Peters’ constant de­ fense o f officers who engage in acts o f racism and crim inal behavior and his verbal attacks against Black community leaders and city officials has d i­ vided the C ity and increased racial tension be­ tween the Black co m m u n ity and the P ortland Police Bureau. Peters' actions have demonstrated he is unfit to represent honest officers in the Department. Be sides the racist and criminal acts o f individual o ffi­ cers, Peters has done more harm to the image o f the rank-and-file officers. Many citizens consider Peters a racist and point to his public statements: • Peters has called Ron Herndon, co-founder o f the Black United Front, a racist "o p p o r­ tunist” and a "vu ltu re .” • Former Oregonian reporter Linda Williams wrote a series in 1981 on police b ru ta lity against Blacks and the corrupt actions by the Special Investigation D ivision (SID). W il­ liams, who is Black, was told by the Police Union newspaper, the Rap Sheet, that if she ever needed help, not to call the police. • When Chief Penny Harrington recommend­ ed to M ayor Bud C lark to fire the officers who sold the " D o n ’ t C hoke ’ Em, Smoke ’ Em T -s h irts ," Peters said H arrington and Clark were too quick to follow recommenda­ tions by leaders o f the Black community in Portland. Peters also referred to Mayor Bud Clark’s staff as the “ Amateur H our.” • When the Police Internal Investigations A u ­ diting Committee was formed to monitor the manner in which the Bureau handled citizens' complaints against individual officers, Peters said the committee was "o n ly good fo r the bleeding U-arts." He also said, " I don’t agree with any u..ng they ’re doing.” • A fte r o ffice rs dum ped dead opossums in front o f a Black restaurant, Peters staged a police protest in downtown Portland in sup­ port o f the two fired officers (who were later reinstated). • It was recently revealed that since September 16, 1981, Peters has been drawing half o f a patrolman's salary without perform ing any work for the City. On Friday, September 13, Chief H arrington ordered Peters to report for fu ll-tim e duties in the Bureau's report unit. He responded by saying it was a p o liti­ cal move by the Chief to weaken the police union. Such irresponsible statements by the President o f the police union only creates friction between police administrators and the rank-and-file o ffi­ cers in the Department. The result is low police morale and poor police service for the entire City. When Chief Harrington ordered Peters to earn his City paycheck, there were no politics involved. Chief H arrington was only correcting an illegal arrangement ordered by former Chief Ron Still. Peters’ belief that the C ity should pay him for nothing, casts doubt on the integrity o f the entire police union. This lack o f confidence can only be changed by Peters resigning as Union president. A fte r the m a jo rity o f Portlanders voted out Frank Ivancie as Mayor, a new era started in City government. It was no secret that the Black com­ munity was glad to see Ivancie leave. When newly elected M ayor Bud C lark took o ffic e , form er Chief Still resigned and Clark appointed Harring­ ton as the new Chief o f Police. Harrington, to her credit, has tried to improve relations between the Police Bureau and the Black com m unity. Stan Peters is the only obstacle standing in the way o f the Chief’ s efforts. Not only d»x*s Peters prevent a better relationship between the police and the Black com m unity, his verbal attacks directed at Chief Harrington reveals his sexist attitude. There is little doubt, if any, that Peters and other officers in the Department resent taking orders from a woman. During Harrington’s career on the force, she has tiled dozens o f discrimination complaints against the Bureau for not promoting her because she was a woman. It sexism can be found within an organization, you can be sure racism is also present. When acts of racism and criminal behavior are committed by police officers, com m unity lead ers and others should have the right to question the behavior o f those officers without being ver bally attacked by Stan Peters II Peters and o ff i­ cers who engage in such acts don't like to be ques­ tioned by the public, they should resign from the Bureau. I he City and the Department would be better o tl without such individuals anyway. The only police departments where officers can kill or brutalize citizens without question from the public are in the U S S R and South Africa Why are historically Black colleges absolutely essential fo r Black A m er­ ica's future? The current crisis within higher education stems from what I call the "paradox o f desegregation." The m ajority o f white society has re­ jected the social policy goal of desegre­ gation in regards to public school sys­ tems — but this rejection has not in ­ cluded a desire lo m a intain the his­ torically Black colleges. For example, after a series of school desegregation victories in the Federal courts in the 1960s, public schixil sys­ tems were required lo develop rigorous in te g ra tio n plans which re a ffirm e d "th e original understanding" o f the I9M Brown decision, which “ required integration as the means o f insuring equal educational opportunity . " I he legal tu rn in g point was perhaps the 1974 M illiken vs Hradtev decision, in which the Supreme Court overturned a lower court order which mandated the consolidation o l D etroit's public schools with 53 white suburban schixil districts. A fte r 1976, according to legal scholar Derrick Bell, "th e Court stiffened standards o f p ro o f in even those districts where large scale busing would be lim ited to a single district. Arguments that segregation was un­ c o n s titu tio n a l regardless o f how caused were rejected P la in tiffs were now required to prove that schixil o ffi­ cials had acted affirm atively to segre­ gated schixils, and remedies were to be lim ite d to the harm caused bv the discrim ination." Since the late 1970s, many lix a l Black educational organi­ zations have not pursued desegregation strategies, and have opted to improve existing schixil systems within a major its Black context Iro n ic a lly , the desegregation ot Black higher education continues to accelerate Former Black colleges West V irg in ia State. I D iversity ol Maryland I astern Shore, and I incoln I Diversity ot Missouii have major itv w hile student bodies W ilh in a decade, I ennessee Stale I niversitv and other state supjxirted. Black colleges mav also have majority white faculties and student (stipulations I he demise ol h isto rica lly Bl.u k institutions might not be as regrettable if the recruitm ent o f Black fa cu lty, students and administrators had con­ tinued at white universities. U nfortu nately, the trend at white institutions during the past decade has been to ­ ward greater racial segregation, the total number o f Black college profes­ sors in the United States in 1981 was approximately 19,300, about 4 2 per­ cent o f all u n ive rsity fa cu lty. Over one-quarter o f this group are em ­ ployed at ju n io r colleges, and h a lf teach at historically Black institutions. Only a small m in o rity, probably less than 25 percent, arc employed full u n it at white, four year institutions. Since 1975, both the number and jiercentage ot Black faculty at white colleges has declined. There are innumerable ex­ amples fro m 1984-85 academic sta­ tistics: ol C ornell U niversity's 1,561 fu ll-tim e fa cu lty, only 25 arc Black (1.6 percent); o f 500 full-tim e faculty at the University ol Mississippi, 9 are Black 11.8 percent); o f 935 Texas Tech U niversity fa c u lty . 5 are Black (0.5 percent); o f C o lu m b ia U n ive rsity's 1,315 faculty, 20 are Black (1.5 per­ cent) I he paradox o f desegregation re­ quires a comprehensive strategy to save and ,0 H a ilsto rm h isto rica lly Black academic in s titu tio n s. E co­ nom ically, a national e ffo rt must be in itia te d to increase college endow ­ ments, particularly fo r those schools in immediate fiscal d ifficu ltie s. This must include all A fro -A m e ric a n churches, trade unions, sororities, fra­ ternities, civic assix'iatioiis, civil rights organizations and professional socie­ ties. It requires an intensive and coor­ dinated lobbying effort by Black repre­ sentatives 111 state legislatures and in the ( ongressional Black Caucus to preserse the existence o f all Black insti­ tutions jxilitically. and to incicase slate and tederal funds to these colleges. Black colleges must establish struc­ tural ties with two sear institutions to ensure that Black students make the transition to complete their B A. de­ grees A fundamental revision of col­ lege curricula is also necessary to meet the realities ol U S labor force pro­ jections 111 the next century A number ot wlute liberal arts umveisities have established departments o f “ Comjxrtct and Inform ation Studies" during the past decade, instructing undergrad­ uates in the theoretical and concrete analysis o f co m p u ta tio n , autom ata theory and in fo rm a tio n systems theory l ew Black universities have yet adopted courses in computer technol­ ogy. Part o f the problem, o f course, is (he lack o f capital needed 10 inmate ambitious programs in the sciences at many private schixils. Yet there is also the related tendency o f Black private colleges to attem pt to provide too many progmis with two few resource*. As educator I awrence E. Gary has raxed, “ Black colleges offer too many courses given the size o f the faculty. In some cases, one can find a department o ffe rin g 20 courses w ith o nly three faculty mem bers." Many Black co l­ leges have been lo o re lu cta n t, w ith some notable exceptions, to focus on several specific academic fields, while cross-listing courses at neighboring universities which have resources or faculty in other areas. The survival o f Black colleges also depends upon their intim ate involve­ ment w ith in the p o litica l and socio­ economic struggles o f their surround­ ing Black communities. This agenda must be expanded to embrance inter­ national and African issues, the prob lems o f technolgy and economic de­ velopment, in order to prepare stu­ dents to assume conscious positions ot civic and in te lle ctua l leadership as pari o f the national Black community. Black alumni and students must exer cise a m ore decisive p o licy-m a kin g role in the restructuring o f our colleges as well. It every while university in America was truly desegregated, there would still be a reason for Black academic in­ stitutions. As W E B. IXiBois observed a halt century ago, only a Black univer­ sity can fully examine the "conditions and know ledge" necessary fo r Black development. There is no conflict be tween Black colleges and the goal of equably. Dr. Manning Marable teaches po­ litical sociology at Colgate University, Hamilton, New York. ON SOUTH AFRICA EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY by John Huchanan Jerry Falwell has built his career as a rcligiH-jxilitical leader on an intolerant debating lactic. To hear him tell u, there's only one position that a "g ix x l C h ris tia n " can lake on ju st about every p o litica l issue. I f you disagree with Falwell, the devil made you do II, lo r, as he said o l those who oppose him: "O u r battle is not with human beings. Our bailie is with Satan him sell N ow. F alw ell is using in to le ra n t tactics lo defend one o f the most in ­ tolerant social arrangements on earth: South A ttic a ’ s racist system ot apart held. He is debating the issue o f Unit ed Stales policies towards South A in ta the way I k deflates most other pub lie issues: by questioning the patriot ism, I he personal character, and the religious la iih ot people who disagree with him th ro u g h o u t the w orld, people o l good w ill were shocked when Falwell called Bishop Desmond I ulu " a p h o n y " fo r supporting econom ic sanctions against South Attica. As the A nglican Bishop o f Johannesbuig and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, Bish op lu tu 's in te rn a tio n a l re p u ta tio n will survive I alwell's crude attack and his subsequent clumsy apology. But Falwell's attack upon Bishop lu tu 's is typical o f the tire and brimstone he pours upon those who oppose the South African government On May 26. Falw ell used his i i . i tio n a lly televised program "F a lw e ll 1 iv e " to denounce the Sojourners, a group o f evangelical ( hrisians w ho had dem onstrated in W ashington earlier that week in o p p o sitio n lo apartheid Instead o f simply taking is­ sue w ith the S o jo u rne rs' views on South A fric a , I .dwell declared they are n 't sincere about their religious beliefs Introducing two "red herrings” into the debate, I alwell attacked one leader o f the S ojourners, charging dial, as a pacificist, he wouldn't have fought H itle r, and claimed that the Sojourners have tailed lo protest So­ viet atrocities Since returning fro m South A frica , I alwell has also made an uglv personal attack upon the Rev Joseph 1 owety, president ot the Sou them C hristian I eadership t outer ence, suggesting ilia, his opposition to apartheid is not to be taken seriouslv because he "w ill speak lo any position lie ’ s paid f o r . " Falw ell has also ai tacked the World ( omicil ot ( hurdles and the South A fric a n C ouncil ot (h u tc h e s tor supposedly backing “ Marxist activities " Following his return Irom Ins bnel trip lo South A lrica . Falwell has mo bilized his entire ielevangehc.il appa ralus for a campaign to build Amen can support fo r the South A lric a n governm ent Reaching m illio n s ot viewers each week, his television pro grams " T h e O ld lim e Gospel H o u r " and " I a llw e ll I iv e " are 'vroadcasimg slick propaganda defend mg the Botha regime M eanw hile, I alwell is also using his religious pro gramming and his monthly newspaper, \1orut M ajorat Rc/»>rl, to urge ( tins lians to buy krugerrands, the South Alrican gold coin. Falwell may never do anything as thoroughly repugnant as his cut rent attem pts to cloak apartheid in the garb o f C hristianity. W hile I alwell is always eager to claim that his own p o litica l views arc mandated by the Bible, apartheid contradicts the most basic premises o f Americans’ religious and political heritages that all people are created in God's image and are en dowed w ith inalienable rights. It is particularly contemptible for Falwell lo urge Americans, as Christians, to bus krugerrands when these gold coins are mined by Bl.uk winkers employed umler conditions whose brutality de fies the m oral code shared by every major religion As a vehement " p ro fa m ily ' advocate, Falwell should be concerned that the miners' families ate forced lo live far away in their soj called trib a l "h o m e la n d s" and need special government authorization just to visit then husbands, lathers, and brothers m (he industrial areas W hile the M oral M a jo rity has attacked the Equal Rights Amendment and even child abuse as "a n ti-fa m ily," it appat enlly fin d s nothing o bjectionable about apartheid policies that disrupt Black families Americans who under stand the cruelty o f apartheid will not follow Falwell's siren song to sell out their commitment to human rights (or X> (sieves ot krugerrands Not s u rp ris iiig lv , most religious leaders in South Attica, the I titled Slates, and throughout the world oppose apartheid On the same dav that Falwell announced his m illio n dollar camjsaign to support the South A fric a n governm ent, the leaders ol that n a tio n 's A nglican, ( a th o lic, Methodist, ( ongregational and Pres bvterian churches met with President Botha to urge the im m ediate aboli lion ot apartheid Here in the United Slates, leaders ot the P rotestant, ( atholic. and Jewish laiths have all spoken out against South A fric a 's racial policies. Jerry Falwell's statements on South A frica have halted lus own e ffo rt to win acceptance as a mainstream relig ions and political leader I arlier this seat, he ajvologizcd for his jvasl stale rnenls that have been construed as anti Semitic In recent sears. I alwell has apologized tor his eat her support ot racial segregation in America which I k once declared as “ ( iod's law " I alwell lo o k years to repudiate segregationism and anti-Sem itism . W ith South A frica seething with un rest, we d o n 't have lim e to wait for I alwell to apologize for his supjsort of the racist regime And. it the past is any guide to the future, I alwell w ill never repudiate the most consistent feature o f his public career: an intoler­ ant style ol debate that tie has used lo condone some ot the worst injustices o f our times, fro m the American South ol the 196tI's to South Africa in the I98t)\. John Huchanan is C hairm an o f People l o r the A m e rica n Hue, a 150,000 member national nonpartisan citizens organization working to pro ­ tect and prom ote constitutional liber­ ties 4zt o rd a in e d S outhern H aptisl minuter, Huchanan served eight terms as a Republican Congressman fro m Alabama He was ranking Republican on the A frica n A ffa irs Subcommittee o f the House foreign Affairs t ommit tee and has traveled in South Africa. the group " I remember the violence bv Paul Hunk ot South A frica, including against its " I would like to ho|K that there is still tin- avenue ot jKaceful solution 111 South A ttic a , but the governm ent's fa ilu re in the summer to meet w itli Hishop lu lu and its failure to recog mze legitim ate B l.u k leaders in that country, makes one wonder it there is still a cfiance " Avel (io rd lv , member ol an XI St delegation lo southern Alrica in lime and tills. adds that the only wav to end the immense difficulties in the Re public ot South A lric a to stop the enlorced racial separation called apart held Another delegation member says, " I he whole region w on't settle down u n til there is one person, one vole in a united state 111 South Alrica " I our members ol the group were de tamed lo u r times bv South A frica n government agents twice at gun point as they tried to make then wav Irom the independent nation ol I esotho to one o f the so-called in dependent homelands ol South A t rica the transkei. One o f them was Avel G ordly, who said, " I was tern lie d .” She directs the A I SC's Port land-based Southern Alrican Program in Oregon and southern W ashington. The four eventually were released after a tew hours, but were trailed later on their return lo Lesotho, which is sur nxinded bv South Africa Some ol the A t SC visitors also saw the destruction and heard ot lives lost in a South A frica n raid on the Bots­ wanan capital o f Garbarone. Said Jo­ seph Y o lk, head o f the A I SC Pece Education D ivision who was part o f neighbors such as Botswana and I e sotho when the South A frica n De­ fense Force attacked those countries. "It's so obvious. We oppose violent methods bv anyone lo r any purpose. I was appalled to hear South A frican olficials. who use violence and terror, call on anti aparltietd groups to give up violence South A frica itself employs violence and South A frican o fficials must themselves renounce the violence ol a|iailheid " Members o l the delegation said tliev were uplifted bv the spirit, com lin im e n t and awareness ol the op- piessed people in South A ttica, espe­ cially the young, despite the prevailing poverty, hopelessness and despera lio n . " I here is an intensity that en courages us to continue our efforts to develop creative efforts to end apart­ heid," said Avel Gordly. She added dial " I recall p a il ot a sign we saw at a refugees' dormitory in I esotho, which said, ' We d o n 't determ ine our enemies bv the color ot the skin, but by their deeds’ . " W hat more can be done'* Robert X dale, a Quaker stockbroker from P hiladelphia who was part o f the A I St. visit, savs he has come to the conclusion the no presence in Amen can corporations in South A fric a is preferable toother pro|xrmati< >n < all 23(k