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Happy Holidays from the Portland Observer
PORTLAND O bserver
Volume XVI, Number 8
December 25, 1985
25C Copy
Two Sections
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Resolutions from
National Rainbow
Coalition Conference
Statement by the Reverend J ewe I
Jackson, ( hair man
th is press conference brings to an
end the N ational Rainbow t oa litio n
conference I he Rainbow campaign
o f *84 has been in tra n s itio n to
becoming an organization in ’ 85, and
w ill emerge as a fullfledged national
progressive p o litica l organization in
1986 We have ju st co m p le te d tw o
days o f w o rk in g sessions on “ how
to " establish a state-by-state national
organization.
We have also la id o u t our
p h ilo so p h y and o u r p ro g ra m I he
N a tio n a l R ainbow C o a litio n is a
grass-roots progressive p o litic a l
o rg a n iz a tio n w ith a p h ilo s o p h y o f
hum ane p rio ritie s at home and
human rights abroad. We w ill fight
and organize for equal protection un
der the law at home and to measure
hum an rig h ts by one ya rd s tic k
abroad
Program m atically, this conference
passed the following resolutions.
I. We resolve to study the
Democratic National Committee and
Democratic state organizations. Just
as when we put our money in a bank
we want to know what our return is,
so tix i those o f us who have invested
our votes in the D e m o cra tic P arty
want to know what our return is in
the Democratic N ational C om m ittee
and state Democratic organizations.
We want to know their employment
patterns, where they bank, to whom
arc their contacts lo r goods and ser
vices let, w hether its sla te m a kin g
process reflects those who vole lo r the
ticket, etc. In short, we want to know
if we are getting a fair return on our
investment.
2 W'e resolved to convene lawyers
from across the country on Jan 14 to
map a strategy for a massive national
legal assault on vio la ions o f the
Voting Rights A ct; and on Jan. 15,
the first o ffic ia l national celebration
o f the D r. M a rtin I uther k in g Jr.
H o lid a y , to engage in direct a ction
against the Reagan Justice D e p a rt
ment fo i its sins o f o m issio n and
comission.
3. We resolved Io demand that the
Justice Departm ent, currently under
the co n tro l o f Republicans, enforce
the law relative to v io la tio n s o l the
1965 Voting Rights Act
4 We resolved to demand that the
Democratic Party: (a) investigate the
lack o f enfo rce m e n t o f the V o tin g
Rights Act by the Justice Department;
and (b) live up to its pledge in the San
E rancisco P la tfo rm to conduct .1
serious study on im p e d im e n ts to
voting rights.
5. We resolved: (a) to urge the
fa irn e s s
C o m m issio n
of
the
Democratic Parly to adopt the prin
c ip lc o f “ p ro p o rtio n a l represent,!
tio n ” or "o n e person, one v o te " as
the only d e fin itio n lo r fairness; and
(b ) that the N a tio n a l Rainbow
C o a litio n w ill establish its own I a ir
ness Commission
6. We resolved to c o n g ra tu la te
G o v e rn o r Tony A naya o f New
M exico fo r successfully leading the
lig h t fo r d isinvestm ent in South
A frica in his state, and for appointing
a Black as Secretary o f State
7. We resolved to convene a M id-
Term Convention in W ashington, IX
in A p ril o f 1986 to co n tin u e the
process o f o rganizing the N a tio n al
Rainbow C o a litio n ; to project issues
o f concern; and to p ro je c t our
political involvement in certain ot the
36 gubernatorial, 34 U.S. Senate and
435 U.S. Representative races to be
field in 1986.
8. We resolved to make the plight
of fam ily farmers and farm families a
m a jo r o rg a n iz in g p rio rity o f the
National Rainbow Coalition.
9. We resolved to inteasify our op
position to South A fric a n apartheid
by c u llin g fo r a stoppage o f the
loading and unloading o f ships going
to and from ¡south A frica, a c u to ff o f
oil shipments to South A frica , and a
severing o f all trade ties.
10. We resolved to urge that the
struggles currently raging in Central
A m e rica be resolved th ro u g h
n e gotiations; that the cu rre n t U.S.
M ilita r y b u ild u p and threats o f in
vasion cease; and that we support the
current international peace march in
Central A m erica—which we w ill join
before its conclusion.
11. We resolved, in the face o f the
d ram atic increase in the num ber o f
poor people in America, to call again
for a national War on Poverty
Rep. W yden seeks more federal
narcotics agents for Oregon
"D ru g abuse is one o f the leading
factors contributing to the increase in
P o rtla n d 's crim e r a te ." This state
ment was m ade by Ron W yden,
D -O R . last Saturday at a news con
ference at Maranatha Church. Wyden
said he w ill request an increase in the
num ber o f fe d e ra l d ru g agents to
com bat the p ro b le m o f d ru g t r a f
ficking in Oregon.
A c c o rd in g to W yd e n , he had
sta tistics show ing increases in
assaults, robberies, arson, burglaries,
and auto thefts in Portland. "P eople
w ith d ru g habits c o m m it some o f
these crimes to support their habits,'
he said Wyden said that in 1979 P ort
land had 12 federal drug enforcement
agents, compared to only eight today
He blames the re d u c tio n on 1981
federal budget cuts.
Rev. John G a rlin g to n , pastor o f
Maranatha, who joined Wyden at the
news conference, said Wyden's action
would bring a "ra y o f hope” to N orth
east P o rtla n d . W yden said that
drug tra ffic k in g was more prevalent
in Northeast Portland than anywhere
else in the c o m m u n ity . W yden said
that he w ill ask fo r the agents next
month.
j J e
L,
f i *
Addie Jean Haynes, President of LINKS, presents a check to Richard Menefee
for the Boise Eliot School Band. LINKS also presented the school with in
struments, all to help the school have a marching band. Looking on are (left to
&
; ‘ t •
rightl Ereddye Prophète; Glenn Ludtke, Band Director; Betty Campbell, Prin
cipal, Jeanne Hartzog; Mildred Reynolds, Yvonne Williams; and Lydia Roy.
(Photo: Richard J Brown)
Government blamed for increase in homeless
by J e m Hamer
The num ber o l homeless in
America lias been estimated anywhere
from tw o to three m illio n , the most
since the Great Depression.
Some 2.5 m illio n lo w -in co m e
people lose their homes yearly due to
evictions or other reasons.
M any o t to d a y ’ s homeless are
women and children (in 1985. three
out o f fo u r people w ho became
homeless were c h ild re n ), fa m ilie s ,
alcoholics, the unemployed and the
chronic mentally ill. Homeless among
the m e n ta lly ill has reached un
precedetited m agnitude and com
plexity.
Mentally ill individuals can be seen
wandering through O ld Town Port
land and other cities throughout the
co u n try . M any sleep on sidewalks,
under bridges, o r in condem ned
dwellings. In the Burnside area, more
than 60 percent o l the homeless are
alcoholics, while the mentally ill are
the second largest group o f homeless.
Some in the social service fie ld
blame the dom estic p o litic s o f the
Reagan a d m in is tra tio n fo r the in
crease in the num ber o f homeless
people across the nation. I ast year the
A m erican P sych ia tric A s so cia tio n
recommended that President Reagan
issue an executive old e r sim p lify in g
federal re g u la tio n s that hinder the
homeless
The re p o rt by the
Psychiatric Association was dismissed
as incom plete by a d m in istra tio n o f
ficials who testified last year before a
congressional subcommittee, holding
hearings on the homeless problem.
" T h e Reagan a d m in is tra tio n has
utterly repudiated programs designed
to create housing for the p o o r,” said
Robert M Hayes, fo u n d e r o f the
New Y ork based N ational C o a litio n
fo r the Homeless. Hayes made this
statement during a conference on the
homeless that was sponsored by the
Ecumenical Ministries Commission o f
Oregon.
la s t year the D epartm ent o f
H ousing and U rb a n D evelopm ent
announced there were at most 350,000
homeless people in the United States.
O rganizations serving the homeless
denounced this figure, saying it was a
m isleading “ p o litic a l s ta tis tic "
designed to ju s tify cuts in federal
funds to aid the homeless
There is no disputing the ad
ministration is spending less on low-
' income housing for the poor federal
assistance lo r low-income housing has
decreased fro m $26 6 b illio n in 1980
to $500 m illion in 1984
I he citizens’ Commission on C ivil
Rights accused the Reagan a d
ministration ol actively trying to undo
some o f the progress that has been
made in la ir housing since the C iv il
Rights Act ot 1968 was passed
Recently the President announced
he plans to re q u ire lo ca l and state
governm ents to pay lia lt o f the a d
m inistrative cost o f the main federal
program p ro vid in g rental assistance
to low incom e fa m ilie s. Presently ,
they do not pay any a d m in istra tive
costs.
Recently, the President announced
I k - was planning on selling the I edei.il
H ousing A d m in is tra tio n (I H A ) to
private bidders and cut housing sub
Tears of success Daiya Hasan sheds tears of success af
tor being crowned Miss Tan 1985 86 Sunday at the
sidles in 1987 fiscal year The I D A
has provided mortgage insurance to
51 m illion Americans since 1914
Rep
Barney I ta n k ( D M A ) ,
Chairman ol the House Governmen
tai O p e ra tio n s subcom m ittee on
Housing and U nem ploym ent, called
Reagan’ s proposal appalling but not
surprising, fra n k said that tie doubts
if Congress would approve Reagan's
plan.
Cosmopolitan Hotel See additional picture on page 6
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)