Paqe 2, Portland, Observer, October 23, 1906
T o w a rd B la c k w o m e n ’ s e m p o w e rm e n t
EDITORIAL/OPINION
Crime plan should be
viewed with caution
Last Wednesday about 150 residents from the
Elio, and King communities gathered at the King
N eighborhood Facility to hear city and county
officials unveil the “ Street C rim e E radication
Plan” for their community. After the crime plan
was announced, m any citizens in the neighbor-
htxxJ facility were no, enthusiastic about the plan.
The residents living in the area entrenched with
drug dealers and prostitutes are correct in viewing
the Crime Plan with caution. Except for the rec­
om m endation by the District A ttorney to give
prostitution offenders stiffer penalties, the plan
d id n ’t offer any new m easures to address the
area’s crime problems. In fact, many of the mea­
sures that were mentioned in the Crime E radica­
tion Plan have already been im plem ented by
N eighborhood Crim e Association Com m ittees.
The plan failed to address the problem o f street
drug dealing entirely.
Not only should the Elio, and King residents
view the crim e plan with ap p rehension, they
should listen carefully to what city and county
officials are telling them about their commitment
to eliminate prostitution and drug dealing in their
com m unities. For example, at last W ednesday’s
comm unity meeting, L.t. Clark of the Police Bu­
reau and District Attorney Michael Schrunk said
the city is concentrating on the problem of prosti­
tution and drug dealing. H ow ever, last Tueday
night police C a p ,. Dan Noelle, East Precinct
C om m ander, told residents in central Northeast
Portland the main emphasis for police work in the
city is still on burglary and violent crim es. It is
interesting to note that although Capt. Noelle was
supposed to be on the panel he wasn’t present at
the neighborhood meeting.
Not only was C apt. Nevclle not present at last
Wednesday’s meeting, not a single judge attended
the forum . A judge should have been present on
the panel to answer the community questions con­
cerning the lack o f penalties for those who are
found guilty o f prostitution offenses and drug
dealing. The exclusion of those who sentence law­
breakers from the panel, led m any to question
the sincerity o f those responsible for enforcing
laws in the community. This suspicion is strength­
ened further when one evaluates wha, was said
during the meeting at King Center.
Throughout the discussion, the Mayor, the police
representative and the District Attorney all stated
that the reason drug dealers and those guilty of
prostitution offenses are released, is due to lack of
jail space. District Attorney Schrunk told the audi­
ence the reason for drug dealers returning to the
street corners after being arrested is that due to
the lack of jail space, the penal system is forced to
release those individuals who arc nonviolent.
IxLs, Thursday’s action by M ultnomah County
Commissioners to star, a work release and restitu­
tion program will m ake 60 beds available in the
East County Jail in February. However, this will
no, increase the number of drug pushers being ar­
rested in the Eliot and King neighborhoods since
Multnomah County judges have agreed to use the
additional jail space to put parole or probation
violators in custody.
If a committee called the "Regional Committee
on C onvention, Trade and Spectator Facilities”
can ask the Oregon State Legislature for $30 mil­
lion to help build a proposed convention center,
then city, state and county officials can ask the
State Legislature to help fund money for needed
jail space in this com m unity. M ayor Bud Clark
serves on this committee.
Until city, county and state officials deal with
the problem of jail space to house those who are
repeatedly guilty of criminal activities, the prob­
lem o f drugs and p ro stitu tio n will rem ain in
Northeast Portland. Strict actions along with plan­
ning and constructive ideas is the only way to a t­
tack the problem of crime in the community. The
crime plan announced last W ednesday a, King
Neighborhixxl Facility falls short of this goal.
EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY
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A long the C olor lin e by D r Manning Marable
There is a tendency within the media
to classify all o f Black America into
one single socioeconomic and political
package, ignoring its internal diversity.
Problems related to gender inequality,
(he absence o f pay equity and fu ll
p o litica l representation fo r women,
are frequently characterized as relevant
to white females alone The burden o f
racism affects all Black Am ericans
regardless o f gender — with the pos­
sible exceptions o f Clarence Pendle­
ton and ideologue Thomas Sowell.
Yet the structural inequalities ot sexism
arc indeed profoundly fell w ithin the
national Black community.
Econom ically, Black America has
become increasingly stratified along
gender boundaries Tor example, in
19X1, the average married Black cou­
ple earned $19,600, roughly 77 per
cent o f the median income o f white
tw o-parent households l o r Black
families with both spouses in the labor
force, their median 19X1 income was
$25.000. or about X4 percent o f the
median incomes o f similar white fam ­
ilies. But fo r Black women w ith no
spouse, their 19X1 median income was
only $7,500
Such disparities can be observed hi
health care, vocational hiring, and in
electoral p o litics Black women are
four limes more likely to die in child
b irth than white females, a statistic
which reseals in part the inadequacies
ot public health facilities and medical
care available to Black women. In
middle to-upper income professions,
Black women are still unrepresented.
As o f 19X1, Black women comprised
Io the Editor,
I lie Committee to Save Antelope is
continuing al lu ll throttle with its el
forts Io repeal rile Rajneesh ( its
( fia rte r, by way o l the stale wide
initiative petition.
( veil though stale and federal an
th o ritie s may take action at some
jxhiii , it may lake months, it not years,
for those actions to gam substantial re­
sults I here is no indication that I hose
actions w ould substantially reduce
the com m une's p o p u la tio n , thereby
effecting M i Rajneesh's a b ility to
control Rajneesh (Antelope)
Mans others apparently also hold
these opinions, since completed p e ti­
tions aie com ing m at a greater rate
now than ever before.
Mr Rajneesh's reply Io our m ill
alive has been to older the Rajneesh
( its i ouncil to change the city's name
back to Antelope IX’spile what you
may have heard in the press, this ac
lion was not requested bv the old-time
residents o l Rajneesh (A n te lo p e )
I his smoke screen is only intended
to divert attention away from the real
issues at hand Namely, the blatant dis
regard to r the c o n s titu tio n a l pros i
sums for the separation of church and
state.
The repeal ot the Rajneesh C ity
C harter is the only v lable so lu tio n
I he Rajneesh ( its ( o u n cil w ill no
longer have the authority to levs taxes
or condem n property I he heavily
armed Rajneesh city police would also
be disbanded, and no longer have
the o p p o rtu n ity to harass the non-
Rajneesh residents. Nor w ill they con
tmuc to have access to the I- BI crime
information computer system
I w ould like Io encourage every­
one m the Portland area to w rite and
offer donations and request petitions
Our address is Save Antelope, P ().
Box 66, Antelope, OR 97001
We also need help in o rganizing
local committees. We're counting on
the average citizen in order that we
may succeed
W ill I A M G A D H E!
Executive Director
Save Antelope
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N a tio n a l A d v ertis in g R e p re s e n ta tiv e
A m a lg a m a te d Publiahera Inc
N a w York
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Party’ s Black Caucus; and conserva­
tive Republican businesswomen Gloria
Toole, second vice chair. As Philadel­
phia C ity C o u n cilw o m a n Augusta
Clarke observed: “ W e’ re m existence
because we are for the political jxiwer
o f Black women — Democrats. Re­
publicans, and independents; o u r
uniqueness is that this group is diverse
and independent and we speak for all
women."
I he rising clout o f Black women in
the electoral arena is apparent from
the 19X4 election statistics. Nearly 70
percent o f all Black women were regis­
tered, compared to only 62.2 percent
four years before. I heir electoral turn­
out rate o f 59.2 percent was s ig n ifi­
cantly higher than their 52 X percent
figure o f I9V1I
The election o f more Black women
can only promote the political and eco­
nomic interests o f the national Black
com m unity as a whole. But specific-
o rg a n izin g e ffo rts w hich target the
nonelectoral concerns o f low income
and w o rk in g class wom en — fro m
healthcare to public housing — must
also be initiated and led by women as
well. The b a ttle against racial and
gender inequality requires mass m obil­
iza tio n , de m o n stra tio n s, n e ig hb o r­
hood-level fo rm a tio n s , as well as
electoral reforms.
D r Manning Marable teaches p o ­
litical sociology at Colgate University,
Hamilton, New York.
Letters to the Editor
■ «*-• • A l RAU CI 1 I M 1 t .v .a Z ^ o X ' 1
rttdr -
Portland Observer
less than one percent o f the legal pro­
fession. com pared to 2 percent fo r
Black males and 14 percent for all fe­
males T w e n ty-tw o percent o f all
physicians are women, but only seven-
tenths o f one percent o f the total are
Black females. Clearly. Black women
are burdened with the dual opression
o f race and gender, struggling in a
society w hich tends to reward w hite
males at the expense o f the majority.
E arlier this year, more than 400
Black women from 29 states caucused
in A tla n ta to hold the first national
assembly o f the N a tio n a l P o litic a l
Congress ol Black Women founded
in 19X4, the Congress has attracted
2,000 members to date and was active
in elections at the grassroots level.
T hrough its fin a n c ia l su p p o rt, it
helped to elect Alyce G riffcn Clark to
the M ississippi State Senate last
November
The National Political Congress o f
Black Women has targeted several spe
c ific goals fo r the next decade
Through local and national fundrais­
ers, it hopes to raise $10 m illion to f i ­
nance the legislative races o f Black
women Key organizers have plans to
give workshops in the technical aspects
ot media relations, fundraising, and
die development o f lixa l leaders as po­
tential candidates. The overwhelming
m a jo rity o l Black women in politics
are Democrats, but the Congress has
attracted bipartisan support. National
leaders include liberal Democrat Slur
ley Chisholm, the national chair ol the
( ongress; vice chair C. Delores luck
er, the leader o f the D em ocratic
To the Editor,
I uesday evening, O ct. 15, 19X5,
7 TO p in , I was sealed inside Buckley
(. enter. University o f Portland.
Bobby Scale, form er co-chairman
ol the Black Panther party was about
to debate Stuart Pringle, a South A f ­
rican documentary film maker, on the
subject ol divestiture.
Bobby Seale started the debate with
a little personal history about himself
and the Panther p a rly . He to ld the
audience that the Panther party was
initiated w ith young people in m ind.
M r Seale then proposed to take a
coalition o f students, “ Peace Gorps,”
to South A fric a to aide the South
Africans in their plight 1 his statement
was met with applause from M r Prm
gle I c o u ld n 't help th in kin g . South
A fric a has b rillia n t minds already
there, going unheard Tutu, Bozak,
Mandella and W innie These people
have invested dearly in their country
M r Pringle spoke ne xt. His con
versation reached the point o f voting
rights. He staled, "H o w can someone
who cannot read the ballots vole?
Bobby in te rru p te d w ith , “ U rban
Blacks should vote first, they can read
W ho w ill vote representing the dead
from the Baiitustans?
Bobby Seale preached integration.
Stuart Pringle chanted capitalism with
courses ot " I G ot R h y th m " w hile
challenging Seale to a dance contest
W fiat happened to Seize the Power?
During the end o f the performance a
spokeswoman
fo r a “ w om en's
g ro u p " stated, " M r . Seale, it sounds
gixxl, but you are living an illu sio n ."
The old Bobby Seale o f the 6IK intim i­
dating and verbally abusive, shouted
profanities and rhetoric regarding the
nature o f the young woman's or gam
zation. I am not disagreeing with the
statement nor did M r Pringle Most
Black sisters agree that we have needs
particular to our families and we don't
separate ourselves from those needs,
but instead view ourselves as a unit o f
one B obby's delivery caused some
sisters to cringe, others covered their
eyes and some smiled feeling re lie f
that these w ords o f denouncement
were finally spoken.
A fte r the Seale P ringle perform
ance. I was reminded o f a scene from
the movies it showed a police inquisi
non.
th e three characters
heavy, good guy and suspect. I he
heavy's role was to lean on the suspect.
The good g u y’ s role was to w in the
suspect's confidence, by pretending to
fx- protective. The suspect finally gives
up. The movie ended with these words,
".All in a day’s w o rk.”
The speakers d id not talk much
about divestiture I came away feeling
that the subject. South A frica Divesti­
s *
• J
ture. was made to appear less than
crucial and that the speakers had no
real interest in South A fric a or hei
people.
In my opinion, M r. Seale and M i
Pringle could best utilize their talents
as the Panthers did in the 60s, not tak
mg students to South Africa but edu
eating them in the U .S .A . on the fo l­
lowing: I) U .S .A . vs South A frican
policy; 2) Capitalism vs. DemiKracy;
3) U S A .'s history o f Black voting
rights; 4) Integration vs. Segregation
and the e ffe ct; 5) A ntagonistic vs
Protaganistic Approach
I! M r Seale and M r Pringle can
accom plish this task, then perhaps,
just maybe, the 50 percent o f both
Black W hite students that M i Seale
proposes to take to South Africa, can
learn to accept and appreciate each
other, and take these teachings in to
their perspective com m unities and
teach their own.
( i lO R I I JOHSSO S
To the Editor.
We would like to thank you for the
excellent article in your last issue on the
March Against Street ( rime
We w o u ld like to emphasize that
even though the M ayor's Street Crime
Plan is basically an em pty package,
unless residents o f these n e ig h b o r­
hoods gel involved and p a rticip a te
with on going strategies that various
groups arc conducting, our com m un­
ity w ill never enjoy the fulfillment o f a
healthy and livable env ironm ent for
both young and elderly.
O f course, some o f these activities
do not address the roots of the prob­
lems, but do cut o ff the base o f street
crime activities from spreading. I he
King Eliot ( rune Prevention ( ominit
tee w ill continue to sponsor pickets at
Alberta m Grand to protest drug deal
mgs. Tor more in fo rm a tio n on dates
;uid times, please call N T. (. rime Pre­
vention O ffic e at 24X 4763. C iv il
groups, church and youth groups are
encouraged to particpate.
GEORGE M U I I ER
Eliot ( rime Prevention
( 'o-( hairperson
To the Editor,
You have the best photographer in
the Northwest — possibly the nation
in R ichard B row n. He takes the
best newspaper pictures 1 have ever
seen. He is al the right place, at the
right time, and gets the right picture
You paper w ould be only hall as in ­
teresting if he were not on you stall
He is very friendly, polite and capable
HOW \H D D . B/Z 11 TS
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