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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 1986)
Page 2, Portland Observer, February 19, 1906 EDITORIAL/OPINION Training Exercise? Who do m ilitary o fficia l* think they're kidding when they >ay that the recent Oregon National Guard mission to Hon duras was "s tric tly a training exercise ’" white-haired old men in positions o f pow er, o f how they could he blasted away as pawns in their gam e'’ Honduras has been turned into an armed camp M illio ns in U S taxpayers' money has been poured into the country to stem the tide o f popular revolutions in Central Am erica long overdue Honduras is the base lor the contra war against Nicaragua, a war in which taxpayers' money is financing torture and murder o f civilians The effect o f the military build up in Honduras is to pressure and destabilize Nicaragua — that is what the training is all about As for Oregon's spineless governor, the responsibility As if the entire history o f the region lor the last decade and the U S role in propping up bloodthirsty dictatorships didn't matter O n the contrary, the training is preparation lor hostilities in C entral A m erica, most likely in Nicaragua or I I Salvador, hostilities in which Oregon boys could die Some ol "th e hoys, as relerrcd Io by their commanders, are still in high school Can they be expected to understand •he geopolitical forces at play in Honduras, and the IXX)t rests with him He could have opted not to send the Guard, yet chose to do so in spue ol opposition by legislative leaders and Oregon's Catholic Bishops causes o f Central Am erica's revolutions, gien the poor cdu cation they receive about the region, and the propaganda led to them by their superiors’* I pon their return. Ifsc young Guardsmen, jostling and Vke have a right to he critical IX) we want a re,seat of the tragedy o f Vietnam ’ IX i we want another generation o f bitter and disillusioned w ar veterans, in wheel chairs and on drugs? By putting a stop to such "train ing exercises." Oregon could contribute a small increment toward halting a Central A m en can tragedy in the making jo k in g , acted like they had just come back from a camping trip lo o young to remember the horrors o f Vietnam , they appeared lu ll o f the elan o f young hoys out for adventure IX) have an inkling ol the horrors that could he unleashed by Plight of the Black Single Mother EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY Once again President Reagan has proposed a budget which calls for more guns and less but ter If Reagan gets his way with the 19X7 budget, every segment o f mainstream America w ill be dropped one level downward in social position. The President’ s budge, w ill eliminate programs that are critical to the economic health o f cities and programs which help to stimulate private investment. Also programs such as mass transit, employment, school lunch programs, student loans (over I m illion students could lose their aid), and energy programs for the needed w ill be slashed His budget calls for a $10 b ill ion cut in farm and nutrition programs Despite the fact that farm foreclosures and child pov erty rates are rising at record rates American farmers are fac ing serious economic problems, some are predicting that as many as 65,000 farmers w ill lose their farms in 19X6 Some 14 m illion children live in poverty in the United States Since President Reagan tixik office in 19X1, poverty among children has increased noticeably. Today one out o f every five children in the United Staes lives in poverty Critics o f the administration blame the in crease in child poverty on the President and domestic policies Massive cuts in nutrition prog rams have had a devastating im pact on p<xir children M alnutri tion can lead to severe mental and physical disabilities Seniors w ill be affected by the Reagan budget also. New' guidelines in Medicare w ill re sult in higher premiums There would be a freeze on military and federal pension The President's philosophy o f "peace through strength" w ill continue Reagan is proposing a X percent real growth in military budge, It's been estimated by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) the Pentagon budge, w ill he any where from $274 billion to $2X9 billion This is a tremend ous amount o f money; what's even more remarkable is that the Pentagon already has billions (some pu, the amount at $53 7 billion) in unearmarked funds The rationale for such high m ilit ary expenditures are the same. The United Staes must keep up with the Soviet Union's military buildup Along the Color Line by Dr. Manning Marable advantage in that there are fewer adult income earners inside the household than in two-parent families Federal programs designed to combat poverty have not been effective in reducing pov erty for single mothers For instance, between 1959 and 1974, the percentage o f Black two parent households below the poverty line fell from 43 percent to 14 percent; for all white families. 15 percent to 7 percent; but for Black female house holders. 65 percent to 53 percent. To an extent, what Moynihan and Moyers blame as a "racial problem " is actually a "class and gender" prob lem In 1975, 39 percent o f all while female- headed families earning 54000 $6000 annually were below the poverty line For white female headed households with less than 54000 annually, the poverty rate was 63 percent, compared to X3 percent for comparable Black female househol ders. There are literally millions o f white single mothers with children, living below the poverty line, in urban public housing or in Appalachia Yet neither Moyers nor CBS discuss the "crisis of the Vanishing Pixir White Fam ily!” Docs welfare make Black single mothers less self reliant and dependent on government hand outs? Contrary to public rhetoric, the level of w el fare benefits actually dropped 22 percent between 1972 and 19X4 In New York City last year, the typical AF'DC family received only 54IG per month And according to the research o f Harvard professors Mary Jo Bane and David Ellwood, stales which have relatively low levels of welfare benefits frequently have the same percentage o f female headed families as stales with high be nefits For example, in Mississippi 16 percent o f all families are headed by women, vs. 14 X percent in California Yet Mississippi's AFDC payments are the lowest in the country , whle California's are almost the highest This indicates that the level o f payments has no direct bearing on the rise o f female-headed households One hidden reason for the rise of Black single- parent households is the decline in the ratio of Black single males who are employed In 19X2 there were only 47 employed single Black men for every KM) single Black women between ages 20-24, down from 69 men tor every l(M) women in I960 For the 25-34 age group, there were 59 employed single Black men tor every KM) women Unemployment, drugs and crime are eliminating an entire generation o f young Black males — and Black women have no choice except to raise their children alone Fo attack Black single mothers for their poverty is to blame the victim. Last month’ s CBS television report, "T he Van ishing Family-Crisis hi Black Am erica.” was highly praised in nearly all quarters as a long over due expose on the "crum bling” Black household The/Vew York limes termed the show "one o f the best television reports in years It plunged into an enormously important, culturally unpopular topic with intelligence and grace " Nevertheless, the show's mainstream liberal interpretation, es poused by commentator B ill Moyers, advanced a "b la m e -th e -victim '' thesis ol Black poverty. G ingerly, without actually informing its audi ence, CBS's goal was to revive the controversial Moynihan Thesis, which in 1965 argued that the Black fam ily was "pathological" and that Black males were marginal social figures The report’ s author. Senator Daniel P Moynihan, then assistant secretary ot Labor, had stated that "N egrochildren without fathers flounder — and fail Within the m inority community, skilled Negro 'models' after whom the Negro might pattern himself are rare " Moynihan noted that 25 percent of all Black ch il dren were born out o f wedlock, and suggested that "B la ck matriarchy” was the cause. "Both Negro men and women operate to enlarge the mother’ s role, undercutting the status o f the male and mak ing many Negro families essentially m atriarchal," he insisted. Moynihan's thesis was im plicitly racist and theoretically flawed He blamed the problems o f single-parent households squarely on the Blacks themselves, saying little about institutional racism, the lack of health clinics, high unemployment, legal segregation, pixir public schixils, and other factors Moyers and CBS could have avoided Moynihan's errors, but tailed to do so. First, view ers were hi, with shocking data: "B la ck teenagers have the highest pregnancy rate in the industrial w orld, and in the Black inner city practically no teenage mother gets married.” A series o f young Blacks were briefly interviewed, most below the age o f 25. with one to four children each The basic themes constantly repeated were twofold: first, that practically no young Black male apparently exists who takes any responsibility for his children and second, that the welfare system which pro vides Aid to Families with Dependent Children (A F 'IX ’ l actually is "counterproductive" and promotes Black female "p ro m is c u ity ." In other words. Black young women have babies primarily because the welfare system w ill " p a y " for them A more balanced interpretation o f the issue might begin with some harsh economic realities about the nature o f American poverty. Any single parent family is at a relative economic dis I 1 PORTLAND OBSERVER £>. Manning Marable teaches po litical sociology at Colgalg University, Hamilton, New York- 115 tor one •2 5 for two Bo» 1137 Portland OR Mr» ay© 1 S trati Apt 1 I Cl TV S TA Tf THE REFRIGERATOR Letters tX) the Editor Tu the Editor I if like In take this opjxirtunits in thank you tor your eixiperation and as si stance in getting the monumental task done which we laced in ihe past lour weeks Never betöre have I seen such a tremendous showing ol true love and caring Ih e Portland C o m m un ity pitched right in in serve ihe G arhnglon fa m ily . handle the media, correspon dence, transportation, lodging, lixxJ, maintainence. public reception, and most o f all held each other up with encouragement and prayer W e want Io also lake this mix.- to thank ihe community lor their prompt ami generous response to our needs Rodgers Cable Systems lor their cameras and the overflow hookup I he Cosiix>politan Hotel lor their as sistancc The community lor opening their homes and providing transportation Friend* Church lor transportation New Hope Baptist fix transportation Urban League lor helping C o ordi nate transportation Portland International Airport lor their assistance Ihe Portland Police Bureau lor Iheir assistance and traffic control Warner Pacific Coliege lor help in providing housing St Andrews lor fixxl ami housing Berean Baptist Church lor child care and fixxl New Hope Baptist Church lor Irans portal ion and M r M artin Suns who donated KKI lbs o f fish, sev eral hundred lbs ol truit and vegetables, and over KKI packages o f bread and rolls And again to all o f you who cixvked ihe meals, cleaned ihe church, removed garbage, served our guests and made yourselves available to w hatever needed doing GOD BLESS YOU A LL ZIP Rev Joshua D Phillips Pastor o f Maranatha Church Ml M«t • Portland Observer Th. Punleed O torrw r IUSXS 9 » «BOI a puMartad avar, TXurwWy by I ) » PuUNTwig Company. Inc . ,«83 N f K te g a worth Portland Oragon »7311. Poai Ortica Boi 3137 Porttexl Orapon 9 7 3 « Second d a a poataga pad at Portland, dragon ,,r— atavi»,* The Ponteed Oftorrwr wax eetaMahed n 1170 M IM M I N e W p A per M tocienoo ■ Founded IM S Subacnpnona U S 00 par year In the TrFCounty *a a Poet maalar Sand a.Mraaa changea M> the Potdeed Ohaarwr. P 0 Boi 3137. Portland. Oregon 9730». Alfred L. Henderson, Editor/Publisher A I Williams, General Manager v 288-0033 National Advartlalng Rapraaantatlva Am algam ated Publlahera Inc N aw York To the Editor: I enjoyed reading " B la c k E conom ic Independence Tops NB CSL legislative p la n ," Jan. I. ft w ill be Ihe middle class Blacks who w ill be required to make some Spartan ad justments, and il remains to be seen as lo how w illin g they w ill be Io tu rn their skills to "B la c k econom ic in dependence" so long as ihe option is open lo them to sell their skills as a higher price in Caucasoid Amerika. The dictionary defines autonomy as " s e lf-g o v e rn m e n t" — w hich is essentially a p o litic a l concept. E conom y a u to n o m y w o u ld presum ably refer lo a s itu a tio n in which a group is self-supporting; that is to say, the group is not dependent upon ihe latgesse o f others for its con tinued survival. A utonom y should be clearly distinguished fro m " a u ta r ch y” a term w ith w hich it is o fte n confused. Autarchy refers to national economic se lf-su fficie n cy, whereas economic autonomy refers lo the less ambitious concept o f economic self- support. Black E conom ic A u to n o m y , how ever, w o u ld describe a Black com m unity which produced in accor dance w ith the most efficie n t use o f the p a rtic u la r resource capabilities w hich it had, and then traded w ith other groups or nations in order to acquire things that it lacked A u ta r chy does not seem to me to be a feasible, nor even a desirable, objec tive fo r Black people to d a y, the degree o f interdependence w hich characterizes the w o rld o f 1986 p ro b a b ly renders a u ta rch y an unrealizable objective fo r any group o f people. I'm inclined to believe, if the Black community were to be provided some fo rm o f m o n o p o listic advantage in certain areas o f economic a ctivity, it might then have a basis fo r trading advantageously w ith the cau.asoid comm unity. When I was last in New York, at the U .N ., many o f our Third W o rld B rothers Sisters wondered why we were so isolated. I'm inclined to believe, the sole possible source w hich I can envision fo r o b ta in in g such a m o n o p o lis tic advantage is from our Brothers/Sisters in A frik a . I f they were to become persuaded to p ro vid e A m e rik a n Blacks w ith ex clusive rights to sale o f their property products ( o il, m inerals, cocoa, diamonds, etc.) in the United States, then it might ultimately be possible to construct a Black domestic economy with the caucasoid economy. Not too many Black fo lk are psychologically ready to deal w ith th is m odel fo r Black liberation, which really they are not ready to discuss the question o f economic autonom y. And so we see that the economic answers are heavily influenced by the sociological consid erations as w ell as by the p o litic a l ones. The entire b lu e p rin t fo r b u ild in g economic autonom y cannot even be anticipated at this jun ctu re . It may, however, be tim e to spell out some in itia l steps w hich a w ell-organized coalition o f Black groups could begin to undertake. Since the canons upon which this country supposedly exist is distorted by hypocrisy and prejudice, and the U.S. C onstitution is not respected as some o f us th in k it should be. The nation is unable to rally vigorous mass support fo r laws against dis crimination, but has laws supporting oppression The subject, b a rrie rs ,o Black people’ s p a rtic ip a tio n in the A m e rika n economy is either a very simple one or a very complex one, depending upon your point o f view. It is my opinion that it is a simple one in that there is, in the final analysis, only one barrier to Black participation in the Amerikan economy and that is in stitutionalized racism. I w o u ld like to close on an o p timistic note, but it's difficu lt tor me to fin d any cause fo r o p tim is m . I would like to be able to believe that all that is required is that A m crika be shown that Blacks are able, despite all the handicaps o f racism, to succeed as entrepreneurs on a large scale. I would like to be able to believe that A tnenka needs o nly be shown that our greatest business successes could be duplicated many times over in a really free m a rke t. The fact o f the m atter is, how ever, th a t I believe A m e rik a has already been shown these things. A nd not o n ly has she been shown that it is to her advantage to create a truly free market, but she also has been shown that it is to her distinct disadvantage not to invest in Black Amerika. The d iffic u ltie s w ith the N BC SL programs are obvious — but along with the difficulties it otters some real hope This is mote than can be said for our present unorchestrated efforts, which are unlikely to yield even a measure o f economic autonomy for our beloved Poor Black Community D r Jamil Cherovee
