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
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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
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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