February 26, 1986, Portland Observer, Page 5
History and Status of Affirmative Action
1973 "o n ly 18% o f the police force and 8% o f the officers were black " But "th e
voluntary affirmative action program has raised black participation in the depart
ment to about 32%
w uh 30% o f the lieutenants and 23% o f the sergeants now
Mack " Sim ilarly, Robert O m an, writing in America reports that "President
Cartel in four years appointed more black lawyers to the federal bench than all
other presidents taken together had ever done before ” O m an views this as a
dramatic example o f affirmative action and raised the intriguing question as to
“ why were not more black attorneys appointed to the federal bench prior to the
Carter Adm inistration’ "
Nonetheless, the Reagan Administration along with a number o f white litigants
have charged th jt affirmative action is “ reverse discrimination ” They claim that
Affirm ative Action represents a "new racism" because unqualified blacks are
being hired at the expense ol qualified whites They argue that race should not be a
factor in employment in a color blind society The Reagan Administration also
opposes employers being required to keep Affirm ative Action rcciirds because
auch paperwork is viewed as too great a burden It is also claimed that Affirm ative
Action elevates group favoritism over the rights o f individual whites
Advancing these and similar claims, the Reagan Administration is intent on
dismantling Affirm ative Action fhe threat is serious because the very offices
Attorney General, Assistant Attorney General, Chairman ol the U S Commission
on C ivil Rights, and chairman o f EEOC that once pronuMcd Affirm ative Action
have now been tilled w ith staunch opponents dedicated to destroy ing it Addition
ally, the Reagan Administration is doing everything within its power to influence
the Supreme Court to overturn A tfirm ative Action
The Black community along with other minority groups and women lace a
challenge in NMb w hile they celebrate the first national birthday of Dr king they
must provide creative action that w ill keep Affirm ative Action intact and
strengthen it The real attack against Atfirm ative Action is geared toward prevent
mg women. Blacks, and other minority groups from reaching self empowerment,
determination, and dignity The history o f the black movement in this country
teaches that this battle can he won It must he won so that the efforts o f Dr k in g .
Me dgar Evers, Eannie Lou Hammer, and thousands of freedom lighters w ill not
have been in vain
Comparable Worth Court
Opinion Is Praised
An opinion by the U S Court ot Appeals tor the Ninth Circuit on September 4
affirmed the validity o f the U S Commission on C ivil Rights' position on cornpar
able worth A commission statement in the case o f AFSCME v State of
Washington notes that "th e Court o f Appeals relied on a definition ol comparable
worth which is entirely consistent with the detinition relied upon by the conunision
in its report on comparable worth fhe decision therfore serves to repudiate the
claims o f the General Accounting Office and Representative Mary Rose Oakar,
that in rejecting comparable worth as a legitimate standard under I Hie V II or the
Equal Pay Act, the commission relied upon a detinition ol comparable worth
which was inappropriate "
The court's opinion agreed with the commission in rejecting the notion that a
wage disparity between jobs predominantly occupied by women and those oc
cupied by men is pnxif o f discrimination
even if the |obs are alleged to be ot
comparable worth according to a particular job evaluation study
The commission in its September b statement said that it hopes that the dec ision
rendered by the Ninth Circuit w ill help return the focus of discussions about
employment discrimination to areas where such discussions are genuinely bcneti
cial. such as discrimination in hiring and promotions based on race, color,
religion, sex, or national origin, and the payment ot equal wages to women and
men tor equal work Discrimination on these grounds is already prohibited by Title
V II o f the C ivil Rights Act o f 1964 and the Equal Pay Act ot 196 3 fhe
commission unequivocally supports vigorous enforcement ol these laws, and
urges recognition o f the principle that everyone is a beneficiary o f a free market
Two Pivotal Leaders of the Civil Rights Movement
others including Fred Shuttleswonh, Andrew Young, James Bevel. IXirothy
Cotton. C T Vivian, James I aw son and Diane Nash Bevel planned that confron
tation to the smallest detail Dr king wrote in his hook. MTiv H r Can t H a il that
Walker developed the mechanics behind the confrontation and that k in g vividly
described the numerous tasks that Walker perfortiKd kin g wrote that "W y a tt
familiarized himself with downtown Birmingham, not only plotting the mam
streets and landmarks (target stores, city hall, post office, etc I, but iiK ticulously
surveving each stores' eating facilities, and sketching the entrances and possible
path o f ingress and egress In fact, W alker detailed the number o f stools, tables and
chairs to determine how many demonstrators should go to each store
Because it was one o f Ihe best organized struggles o f the entire c iv il lights
movement, kin g 's Birmingham confrontation was successful Bull Connor was
knocked from his racist throne by the Black masses who followed the organiza
tional blueprint mapped out by W alker and Associate*
Wyatt Tee Walker
by Aldan M urrn
In an essay on Dr Martin Luther K ing, Jr , Lerone Bennett Jr wrote that,
"w h a t is important is that k in g , like Eranklin Delano Roosevelt. demonstrated in
Montgomery and later a rare talent for attracting and using the skills and ideas o f
brilliant aides and administrators " Die Reverend Dr Wyatt Tee Walker and
Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson are two outstanding examples o f brilliant indiv idu
als who worked closely with Dr kin g Walker and Jackson have made enormous
contributions to the C ivil Rights movement What is equally important is that both
continue to be pivotal leaders o f the human rights movement today The purpose of
this article is to reveal why M alker and Jackson personify the qualities cscenrtal tor
leadership and progress in the black community and the world
Dr Walker is o f Martin Luther k in g . Jr s generation He was bom August lb,
1929 m Brix'klon, Massachusetts and grew up in Merchantville. New Jersey where
he attended high school He received his Bachelor of Science and Master of
D ivinity Degrees from Virginia Union University In 1975 Walker earned a Ph I)
degree in A fro American Studies from Colgate Rochester University From
1960 b4 he served as Chief of Staff to Dr king and in 1982 he became Chairman
of the Board ol the Freedom National Bank ol New York and he currently serves as
Special Assistant to Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson Walker is also an author and
scholar having written six books and numerous articles He is a citizen ol the world
given that to date he has traveled to seventy one countries But most ot all Dr
Walker is a minister He is currently the Senior Munster ol Canaan Baptist Church
in Harlem with a membership over two thousand He refers to himself as the
"H arlem Preacher ” The above accomplishments represent only a fraction of
W alker's activities By any yardstick Walker is a workaholic Ihc primary
concern here is Dr Walker's role in the Black Freedom struggle
W alker grew up in a religious family that was economically p<x>r but rich in
education given that both his parents were college graduates Even though Dr
W alker's lather was a clergyman, the family still experienced poverty According
to W alker, " I remember faintly prayer« in my house where we prayed tor food lor
the next day I never owned an overcoat that was bought brand new until I finished
college " Walker's resistance Io racism began early In his words. " M y lather's
personality make up was such that I and (he rest ol the members o f my family were
very sensitive to any kind o f discrimination or racial slight or slur I remember at
nine years old two sisters and I invaded the little white movie theater in my town
So, from as tar back as I can remember. I have been sensitized to racial inequal
ity " In the late I9S(K the modem c iv il rights movement emerged Bv this tune
Walker was pastor ot G illfic ld Ba,Mist Church in Petersburg, Virginia and was
directly involved in organizing protest movements across the state ot Virginia
In Ihc late I9 5 lk Walker was President ol the Petersburg local NAACP, Stale
Director of the Congress o f Racial Equality (CORE), President o f the local
Petersburg Improvement Association fP IA I and a Board Member o l Dr kin g 's
Southern Christian leadership Asstx'ialion (S C IO These were the organiza
lional tools through which Walker confronted racial segregation hcadon Ihe most
important organizational tvxil in Walker's arsenal against racism was the black
church W alker, like Dr k in g , viewed Ihe black church as the center tor resistance
to racism and oppression Both felt that the church — because it embodied the
black community and Us resources
had Io save souls lor Christ and overthrow
racial oppression Thus, in Ihe late 1950s W alker aimed w ith the NAACP. C( >KI .
Pl.A, SCL.C ami the black church, led masses o f people in protest against segre
gated schools, libraries, lunch counters and the like It is beyond dispute that
Walker functioned as the guiding organizational genius behind the protest move
ments that swept Virginia in the late 1950s As the black writer Louis Lomax put it
"W a lke r was master ot all he surveyed in Petersburg, his home grown protest
movement was one ot the best in the nation
After becoming aw are of W alker's administrative abilities. Dr king persuaded
him to become the Executive Director ot SCl.C in I960 Walker swiftly shaped
SCLC into a solid organizational force Io understand the monumental ac
complishments of Dr kin g oik - must understand the brilliant behind Ihe scene-
work of Dr W alker and others like him Walker was a chief architect of the famous
confrontation with Bull Connor in Birmingham. Alabama in 196' Walker and
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