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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 23, 1986)
• • «. ? í . ‘ - / t »MMM X - i— Page 2. Portland Observer, April 23, 1986 The Challenge to Black Journalists EDITORIAL/OPINION Along the Color Line by Dr Manning Murable McClure-Volkmer Bill Will Increase Violent Crime Il was ironic that a day alter the U S House o f Representatives approved a B ill weakening the 1968 Gun Control Act, two FBI agents were killed and five more were wounded during a shoot out with two hank robbery suspects in Miami The B ill which was sponsored by Rep Harold L. Volkmer, D. M o ., and James A McClure, R Idaho, would make it easier to buy and sell firearms; to carry them across state lines, and lim it gun dealers' record keeping requirements which increases the number o f people who can legally sell firearms without keeping records In addition, it permits dealers to transfer guns from their commercial inventories to their personal collections. Iron) which firearms can then be trans ferred toothers without keeping records Despite opposition of the B ill by police organi zations, the House approved the B ill by a 233-1 X4 vote. I tie passage of the M cClure-Volkm er B ill by the House was a bad decision For it w ill lead to more tragic incidents such as the one which occur red in Miami The presence ot guns increases the severity of crimes committed Common sense suggests as much — no other hand weapon is so efficient at killing a human being In the U S , there are 9 7 murders a year tor every KM).(MM) people Guns are a factor in more than halt the murders that result from arguments between husbands and wives o f other people who know each other The vote by the House circumvents efforts by law enforcement officials to control violent crime in this country Instead the House caved in Io the National Rifle Association (N R A ), who spent an estimated SI 6 m illion to get the B ill passed And by doing so, w ill increase the level o f vmlent crime in this country EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY World of Voluntarism H\ (im e rn n r Vh .l/ive/i There are thousands o f stories in the world o f voluntarism This is one of them A retired Salem fireman heard an emergency cail on his CB radio, and it turned out to be from a motorist stranded somewhere north o f Anchorage. Alaska I he Salem man. whose CB picked up the long distance dispatch because o f unusual weather con ditions. phoned state police in Anchorage. They followed up on the tip Not only did they find the motorist, but they also reported back that in another hour he would have frozen to death This is an unusually lar-reachmg example o f the work o f members o f Oregon REACT — Radio Emergency Associated Communications Teams ( )n A pril 2 3 .1 w ill recognize Oregon REACT as the Civic Division w inner o f the 1986 Governor’ s Voluntarism Awards I began these awards for exceptional Oregon volunteers in 19X3 because I wanted to recognize and to encourage the generous work o f Ore gon's tens o f thousands o f unselfish volunteers You may know REACT best as the people who serv e coffee, tea. chocolate and pop at rest areas on the weekends; on a busy holiday weekend, they may serve 500 gallons o f beverages at a single rest area Our donations pay for most ot REACT’ s volunteer work Other Oregonians whom I w ill recognize as winners o f this year's voluntarism awards are: Individual Division: Joseph E. “ Joe" Burns o f Hermiston whose wide-ranging community ser vice includes heading the city council, chamber of commerce, library and hospital boards, airport committee, school and city budget committees, and Hermiston Development Commission The development commission was instrumental in ob taining the Coachmen housing and Lamb Weston potato plants for the Hermiston area Business Division: Davidson Industries of Mapleton, whose ever present voluntarism in cludes building the high-school track, renting a van to send the basketball team to the slate tournament, providing computers for schools, painting a local church, and donating money, material and equip ment to build a m illion dollar. Oly nipic-size p<x»l Special Recognition: The crew o f the U S S Cushing, now in Portland, more than 30 o f whom volunteered to collect, spin, deliver and stack firewood for low income seniors Even after the worst o f winter's weather had passed, these men still were helping Most o f the crew members come from outside the Northwest Each o f these winners — Oregon REACT, Joe Burns, Davidson Industries and the U S S Cush ing crew are making their communities better than they found them Volunteers set a powerful example. Lor example, during the holidays Davidson In dustries gives its employees hamburger, much ot which quietly reaches the kitchens o f the elderly and the needy That is why voluntarism was the centerpiece of my lirst inaugural address in January 1979 "T h e increasing role o f government in our live s." I said then, "has been a temptation to abandon our sense of community. “ Instead o f caring for one another, we hire gov ernment to do the job "A g in g parents who gave us love turn, in their need, to social workers "C hildren who need firm hands on their shoul ders are committed to the custody o f the courts ' ‘Our tax dollars have too often been used to buy escape from personal responsibility, and we are the p»M»rer for it. When we trade the joy o f helping others for the anonymous exercise o f paving tax dollars to buy services, we — all o f us — are the losers "M y friends, government can do many things, but it can't hire love.” Support Our Advertisers! Say you saw it in the Portland Observer! Í p o r tw n d observer 115 fex one yea» 125 tor tw o Boa 3137 Portland OR 97208 * 1 * SVll SiJ? < m o o m < Q ft, 3 )2 ^ * ~ = ¡7" I Slraat Apt I 1 C,TV STATE O regon N ew spaper _ Publishers z Ass. ih o n 5 * * ö ZIP 1 Portland Observer Th» TSwrland O e n rrw r IU S P S 98» «MOI I» pu t*a6ad »very Thuraday by Ex« RutMatvng Company, inc . 1483 N E KWnga worth. Portland. Oragon 97211, Roar Odlca Box 3137. Portland. Oragon 9720B Sacond ctaax poaiaga peal al Portland. Oragon The f \ * O * * d O to rrw r N ê W p A l PER M to c ilia n • founded »BBS *5 -4 - t $ I O ezi * X, w < m ( )ne ol the greatest challenges confronting Black journalists today is what can he termed the "paradox o f desegregation." On one hand, the popular images o f Afro Americans have become more positive overall since the demise o f Jim Crow There are Black newscasters on radio and television, and Blacks on editorial boards Black professionals in the media seem to have overcome racial barriers But this is more o f an illusion than reality A recent profile ot American journalists was done by Indiana University Professors David H Seaverand G Cleveland W ilhoit, which was funded by the Gannett foundation I he study, entitled "T he American Journalist." stated that Blacks, Asians and Hispanics account for roughly 4 percent of editorial workers, compared to more than 5 percent in 1971 White females, hy wav ot contrast, have increased their margin from I in 5 in 1971 to I in 3 hxlay Seaver and W ilhoit discovered in their re search that the typical journalist is white, male, a “ political middle-of-the-roader" who knows little about minorities or then conditions Such journalists have few reasons to question the retreat from racial equality . w Inch is the found ation ol Reagan's civil rights agenda I hey believe in the myth o f value free journalism, w hich asserts that the reporter has no right to adhere to certain ideological views in their interpretation ol society They accept the position that a Black journalist is simply a journalist who happens to be Black, and that he/she has no justification to engage in "a d vo cacy" in regards to Blacks' deteriorating rights. What they tail to recognize is that their value free, nuddle-ot the -roadism is just a cover lor tailing to confront the systemic, institutional factors which preserve ami perpetuate white racism in America. The white media generally refuses to admit that virtually all journalism is a fo n n o l "propaganda" in the interests ot certain political, economic, and social class interests and that Blacks' interests never surface on the agenda Part ot the paradox ol desegregation is that some Black journalists, in their desire to acquire accep tance in the mainstream media, often dose their eyes to the omnipresence ol racial bias and distor tion When we lead Z < Month does anyone doubt that we are encountering the interpretation o f French journalists, with all the historical, cultural and political baggage ol that tradition When we read f ’riinJu nr l:\e .\lia . no one doubts that the perspectives ot Soviet writers advance a particular view on society and politics And when we read the Veu York limes. every thing from the selec tion o f stories to the orientation ot the editorials represents a type ol bias towards the white corporate estab lishment What is the stieial responsibility ot Black jo u r nalism in the period ol color blind racial discrim i nation* Black writers must see themselves as part ol a rich historical tradition, as the latest generation in the heritage ol tree, democratic-oriented jour nalists A bnet list would include: Mary Ann Shadd Cary , editor and founder ol the / ’znizzzr m l I i ceman hi 1X53, the first newspaper published bv a woman in North America; Ida B Wells, the anti lynching activist and editor ot the Memphis Io n hln’ht. abolitionist editor Frederick Douglass, publisher ot the \o n h Shir. T. Thomas Fortune, editor ot the \< n lo rk .-tec. W M Trotter, editor, ol the militant Boston ( iim n /m n , W .F B Du Bois, founder ol the NAACP and editor ol the Crisis. magazine; trade union leader A Philip Randolph, editor ot the Vrvsrzn'rz. and human rights ; spokesman Paul Robeson, editor o f Harlem's:- heedom newspaper in the 1950s What is ,i Black journalist? As w riters, as part o f this tradition o l Atro-American critical thought, we have a responsibility to comprehend that racism still exists, and that we should never apoligize lor taking an uncompromising attitude against raciat; inequality in our work Poverty and hunger s t ill' exist, and are becoming worse Unemployment, educational underdevelopment and political under representation have not yet been overcome. And our task and challenge, as Black journalists, is to raise questions revealing these problems, and to write w ith a critical vision o f social justice and human equality, the basic values which were em bodied by the lives o f previous generations o f Black writers. />» ItuiiiM t i \ \ u n ui puliin ni mu id I i > i ¡ \ al ( nivale I 'liner H iunilhm \r»» ihttitf th e (.'ihn Im e appears n i m e t 140 ut u y tn p n \ m iei ii,innn,ill\ Legislative Report Shows Oregon’s Income Falling Behind National Average I he income ot ihe typical Oregonian lags further behind Ihe nation lhan al any lime m Ihe pa\l fitly years, despite ihe economic recovery ot ihe past three years, according Io a legislative report released today The report shows that in I 9X4, Ore gon [X't capita income ot $1 1.61 1 was nearly $1.200 below the national aver age ot SI 2.7X9 lo r every dollar ol income received by the typical Amen can, ihe average Oregonian receives only ahoui 9 1 cents This is ihe lowest ratio recorded since 1929. when such statistics first became available Catching up Io the nalion.il aveiagc w ill not he easy, according to the re port Many ot the (actors propelling Oregon's economic decline involve the national and global competition con fronting Oregon businesses The key to reviving Oregon's economy is tixused efforts Io increase value added in basic manufacturing and service severs in which Oregon has a comparative ail vantage tvcausc ot its natural resources or trained labor force Slate Senator Joyce Cohen and Rep resentative Jim H ill, Co Chairs ot ihe Joint legislative Committee on Trade and Economic Development, said that Ihe report indicates the need tor a con tinuing emphasis on dealing with economic problems in the slate's basic limber, agriculture and diversified manufacturing industries The report, tilled "Losing (¡round The (¡rowing Gap between (Jrcgon and National Income" was prepared hy Ihe Committee's staff, and is based on economic data collected from 1929 to 19X4 hy federal and slate agencies "T he data show that ihe programs Oregon had in place through 19X4 have done little lo counteract Ihe powerful negative trends in ihe national economy." said Senalor Cohen "We expect lhal the $X5 m illion lottery funded economic development program enacted by the 19X5 Legisla lure Io begin helping m 19X6 and later years,' .aided Representative B ill Al Ihe same lime. Ihe Committee re leased a stall memorandum describing "T e n Innovative Economic Develop men) Policy Ideas " The len ideas, drawn from local Oregon community programs and from other slates, range from a new slate economic develop menl strategy to computerized export assistance The ideas w ill he used by Ihe Committee in drafting proposals lor ihe 19X7 Legislature The thirty-page report, prepared by the Committee's staff, contains a de tailed analysis o f Oregon economic trends over Ihe past decade The major causes ot the decline in Oregon income, according lo ihe report, are related lo the decline in the competitiveness and productivity ol basic Oregon indus tries The major causes include • A decline in the demand lor Oregon wood products. • A loss ol growth in electronics and other diversified manufacturing. • t he reverberation o f economic de clme in growth dependent sectors such as housing and construction; and • the inability of Oregon I inns to he nefil from the national defense build up; This relative income decline is evi dent in many changes occurring in ihe Oregon economy I he report indicates that incomes have declined due to slow growth and declines in the after- inflalion wages paid to Oregon man ufactunng workers, and the replace mem ot high paid jobs lost in the reces sion by low-paid jobs during the economic recovery A shill from wage and salary earnings lo retirement be nefits. unemployment compensation and welfare has also lowered Oregon income, according to ihe report Projections o f future income levels show no immediate reversal of Ihe past down want trend in Oregon income levels Data derived from Ihe slate econometric model — used to predict tuiure slate tax revenues — shows that Oregon's inflation ad|usted per capita income is expected to grow very little through 19X9 These projections show the income ol the typical Oregonian dropping from 91% o f the national av erage in 19X4 io about 85% of the na tional average by 19X9 The relative decline in Oregon's in come since 1979 has had a marked ef fect on ihe stale's fiscal condition I he report estimates lhal il Oregon income had been at ihe national average. Orc gon would have collected nearly $100 m illion in additional slate income lax revenues The report concludes lhal the only way to increase Oregon incomes is to increase Ihe value added by production in basic manufacturing and service sec tors o f the economy Increasing value added, according lo Ihe report, depends on increased investment and productis ity in industries lor which Oregon has a comparative advantage. Copies ol (he full report are available from ihe Joint Legislative Committee on Trade and Economic IX'velopment. State Capitol. Room 132. Salem. Ore gon 97310 For further information, contact. Joseph Cortright, 37X-XXII > 3) .o«“ ■“ *>•« 'g td & h ' Mtabfcahed n 1970 Sutacnpoona I I S 00 par year n tha Tri County arar m aa ta t Sand e ir» aa» changa» K> ih» Pententi O tn rrvrr. P O Box 3137. Portland. Oragon 97308 Alfredi.. Henderson, Editor/Publisher A I H ill ia ms. 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